Wow guys!!!!! After reading some of the responses, it's almost like you have to carefully plan which Mercedes to pick based upon how much it's gonna screw you over with model specific flaws......

I was figuring on the C class simply from a commuter/mpg rating point of view.....I have become so accustomed to the excellent fuel economy of my 1997 E320 that I want a vehicle with similiar fuel economy.......My wife still has our 1995 E320 wagon, and we always kept our 1983 300SD as a back up vehicle so I'm essentially looking to replaced my CRUSHED E320 with something....

Any C class advice will be greatly appreciated, and I'm on a 5K budget, unfortunately.....Thanx in advance, guys

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Currently Driving
2006 E320 CDI
1999 E300 Turbo Diesl
2002 ML500
1995 E320 Station Wagon


MBs I've owned
1997 E320 Assassinated by Pine Tree
1987 300E Wife Killed Engine
1981 300D Stretch Limo Total Loss
1970 250 Coupe 212,000 mi.
1974 450sel 184,000 mi.
1974 240D 377,000 mi.
1977 300D 204, 000 mi.
1979 280se God Only Knows!
1983 240D 130,000 mi.
1972 220D 280,000 mi.
1983 300SD 244,000 mi.

Hey guys, here's a pic of the other side of the tree on top of my 300SD, you can see the SD in the background.

__________________
Currently Driving
2006 E320 CDI
1999 E300 Turbo Diesl
2002 ML500
1995 E320 Station Wagon


MBs I've owned
1997 E320 Assassinated by Pine Tree
1987 300E Wife Killed Engine
1981 300D Stretch Limo Total Loss
1970 250 Coupe 212,000 mi.
1974 450sel 184,000 mi.
1974 240D 377,000 mi.
1977 300D 204, 000 mi.
1979 280se God Only Knows!
1983 240D 130,000 mi.
1972 220D 280,000 mi.
1983 300SD 244,000 mi.

I dont see any pic.

5K - I still suggest another nice W126.

Well... its fairly obvious that tree had been dead for some time. You can see the dry rot in the section plus the scaled off bark. Its not fresh dead by any means. Was going to come down at some point. Sorry for your loss. But it was an accident waiting to happen. If you have any more like that, you migt want to think about approaching your home owners insurance about some preventative intervention. They might just be willing to remove them for you. I imagine your going to claim the home damage on that one?

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1983 300D-Turbo - Deep Blue w Palomino MB Tex (total loss in fire 1/5/09 RIP)
1995 E320 W124 Polar White/Grey Mushroom MB Tex
2005 F150 Supercrew - Arizona Beige - Lear topper
1985 Piaggio Vespa T5 - Black and Chrome

www.cphilip.com

Be sure that you have every receipt for any parts you have bought for that car available, and don't accept their first offer either. If you don't like the offer, you can demand they fix the car back to the condition it was. Dad did that once for a grain truck. He wound up getting another 5k on a truck they were offering 5k for originally.
Read up on bartering. BTW, make sure you have first right to buy the car back. Will probably be sold for 500-1K. Use the car for parts for the other one.

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All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stand by and do nothing.

Too many people tip toe through life, never attempting or doing anything great, hoping to make it safely to death... Bob Proctor

'95 S320 LWB
'87 300SDL
'04 E500 wagon 4matic

I beg to differ. The only car I regret selling in my 97 C230 with 170k. I did a lot of work to it, but only because it didn't break my wallet, and I am a perfectionist. I'm starting to believe the 722.6 is overly-maligned, as I had 170k on mine with no mechanical issues, just electronic - and if the car's 10 years old, chances are the electronics have been addressed. Either way, that car was light and fun. Throw some Bilstein HDs and some bigger wheels on one, and they make for fun cars. No head gasket issues like the 6cyl. 30mpg on the highway.

Will, thanks for the reply, I'm trying to gather as much info on the W202s that I can so that my decision making process is not reduced to a crap shoot.

I am leaning towards the C class soley for its fuel economy.....I see the kiss of death coming to $1.50/gal fuel and I am certain that gasoline will eventually go back up to 4 dollars a gallon.......Thus, I want a Mercedes gasoline powered vehicle that either meets of exceeds the mpg rating of my assassinated 1997 E320.....

Any info on the models and years that fit my criteria and a budget of about 5K would be more than greatly apppreciated

__________________
Currently Driving
2006 E320 CDI
1999 E300 Turbo Diesl
2002 ML500
1995 E320 Station Wagon


MBs I've owned
1997 E320 Assassinated by Pine Tree
1987 300E Wife Killed Engine
1981 300D Stretch Limo Total Loss
1970 250 Coupe 212,000 mi.
1974 450sel 184,000 mi.
1974 240D 377,000 mi.
1977 300D 204, 000 mi.
1979 280se God Only Knows!
1983 240D 130,000 mi.
1972 220D 280,000 mi.
1983 300SD 244,000 mi.

X2

The suspension components are a weak point but the 111 engine is bulletproof. The ASR has saved me in the snow this week. It is a nice car for the 5K you can get it for. You can get 30 easy on the highway. I do a lot better in the summer. That makes a difference with 4.00 gas. Not as much at 1.69.

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

thanx mpolli,,,,,,,Very informative....I'll be looking for a 1997

__________________
Currently Driving
2006 E320 CDI
1999 E300 Turbo Diesl
2002 ML500
1995 E320 Station Wagon


MBs I've owned
1997 E320 Assassinated by Pine Tree
1987 300E Wife Killed Engine
1981 300D Stretch Limo Total Loss
1970 250 Coupe 212,000 mi.
1974 450sel 184,000 mi.
1974 240D 377,000 mi.
1977 300D 204, 000 mi.
1979 280se God Only Knows!
1983 240D 130,000 mi.
1972 220D 280,000 mi.
1983 300SD 244,000 mi.

If your use to the E class ride I would suggest that you spend some time behind a C class before you purchase one. You might not like the ride of the smaller chassis. If your looking for fuel economy then the diesel E class is worth looking at however the prices for the used E class diesels are more $.

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Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles

There is nothing wrong with a '98 or '99. I have seen nice '98's around here for under 5K from private parties. Jut add 3 or 4K to get one from a car lot.

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

I currently have (3) W202 cars a 97 C230 (blue) brought me from hell & back NOT for sale so far the best of the bunch, a 94 C280 (green) just replaced the headgasket Oct 08 so far so good ,the wiring harness has been replaced don't know when. Lots of pep from the inline six engine. The last one which was purchased Nov 08 the C220 (white) is kinda sluggish but holds her own once it gets up there (65 mph)

So far I've owned (5) W202 C cars sold my 99 C230K & 97 C280.Missed them dearly that's why they've been replaced with the current three cars.

Attached Thumbnails

   

sdpartz, so basically are you saying that the C220 required the least amount of repairs....What year was it, btw?////// Thanx!

__________________
Currently Driving
2006 E320 CDI
1999 E300 Turbo Diesl
2002 ML500
1995 E320 Station Wagon


MBs I've owned
1997 E320 Assassinated by Pine Tree
1987 300E Wife Killed Engine
1981 300D Stretch Limo Total Loss
1970 250 Coupe 212,000 mi.
1974 450sel 184,000 mi.
1974 240D 377,000 mi.
1977 300D 204, 000 mi.
1979 280se God Only Knows!
1983 240D 130,000 mi.
1972 220D 280,000 mi.
1983 300SD 244,000 mi.

I just got the 95 C220 no clue on maintenance yet. I would recomend the 96 & up years (no wiring harness issues) as stated on the previous post I'm happy with the over all performance of the C230 but lacks some torque which the C280 has.

Too much Vitamin C

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg