Well, borrowing A900SS's company car thread didn't do it (although it managed to put off his fleet department) so it's evidently going to take something stronger.
Being back on my feet yesterday in time for my half-term day off with the Beestlings, I took them to Reading, where I managed not to get lost (I always get lost in Reading) until we'd had a good clamber over this: tinyurl.com/e280cdi-link
We stopped at clambering partly because it was my first day out of the house and I was still feeling a little fragile, and partly because I'd told myself that this was the wrong model (Sport) with the wrong engine (E280) and that we were only trying it for size, but I came home wishing I'd driven the thing too, if only so I could be put off by the hard ride and the thought of £250 18" tyres.
You can probably tell I was impressed, at least by a stationary E. It's a really beautifully substantial Thing. Everyone fitted - even me behind my own driving position, even if I did make full use of the knee-shaped cut-outs in the seat back to do so. The boys and I fitted comfortably across the rear seat and had no problem making room to do up seat belts, so as an occasional five-seater, it would work fine. (The central tunnel would mean a certain amount of negotiation about foot space, though.) This one would even make an occasional seven-seater, since it has the pop-up pair in the load compartment - although the boys would have to find some smaller friends, because they're both too tall to have enough headroom in there.
The load compartment itself is just brilliant - long, straight-sided and yet somehow managing to have a lower floor than the V70, despite being rear-wheel drive.
But what really impressed me was the driver environment and especially the 'sports' seats of this model - big chairs that wrapped around and supported in all the right places, as if the extra padding had been designed by someone who understood human proportions, rather than (as sometimes seems to be the case) thrown in by the marketing department to make the seats look 'sporty'. It's the first non-Volvo I've sat in and thought 'These people make a good seat'.
And that's where I am now: imagining myself driving one of these - well, this one, actually, 18" wheels and all - across France while the sun shines and Martin Taylor plays Spirit of Django. And that's why I need someone to administer a dose of cold water - tell me that an E280 will cost too much to service, won't achieve 40mpg, is already three years old, isn't a Volvo, dammit! What am I thinking?
|
|
A Perodua Kenari would be cheaper to service, more economical, and kinder to the planet.
|
Won't try and talk you out of a late 211 (facelift), superb car.
The only thing i would try to avoid is the 7g auto gearbox, the 5 speed is far less likely to go wrong or need umpteen software updates to smooth it out.
I haven't bought a newer Benz meself but i don't rule them out for the future as i'm fortunate enough to have one of the best and longest established MB indy specilaists close by and he's looked after my cars for years.
A local excellent private hire company of many years, 3 generations, standing (whom i used to drive weekends for) runs MB's now and has done since purchasing 210 series 220d's some years ago...210 had better passenger space than subsequent models.
My indy maintains all these cars from new, the last time i called at my indy he had one of the private hire 211's in for some work, the car in question overtook me during the week and was blowing black smoke under power, anyway it needed 2 new injectors and the exhaust by pass valve cleaning out.
What was interesting was this car was just coming up to 4 hundred thousand miles and looked superb.
My indy assures me that they have required very little work other than routine servicing, however he doesn't do inspections, a service is a proper service nothing less will do.
The cars in subject are 220's, you might find the 220 version powerful enough for your needs and usefully more economical in all things.
A good indy will save you much money if you go down the MB route.
Correct wheels driven too...;)
|
You'd love it WDB.
I notice one pleasing side effect of mine which is totally opposite to that which I encountered last time I had a premium car. ( in that case a 5 series ) People for some reason defer to you on the road.
Weird but true. Can't see why but they do. I certainly don't invite it by bullying tactics or whatever. Only other car I noted that effect with was a Volvo 850 T5 oddly enough.
Come up behind other vehicles in lane three and hold a safe distance and most just move over. Except BMW 318s of course. They're on their own mission.
:-)
|
It's a difficult one to talk someone out of a late w211. I have a 220 CDI Executive (std satnav and heated seats) on a 58 plate. I chose one with the 16" wheels for the soft ride. On the road it feels really planted. Nothing upsets its composure. I bought my car when it was 3 months old with about 3k miles. Now it's coming up to 50k.
I really enjoy driving it. It doesn't feel like a big car. There's more than enough power and plenty of room for my family. 50+ mpg is possible on a run but 40 or less round town which I think is excellent for a big car.
Servicing costs up until now have been surprisingly low. The 15k service interval helps with that. I will probably continue to use main dealers for servicing. I like the peace of mind plus I have had bad experiences when using independents before. I also read somewhere that Mercedes charge less for servicing older cars to try and keep the business. It will be interesting to see how/if the servicing costs ramp up over time.
Tyres are ok at ~£125 a wheel helped by being 16" ones. Rears went at about 30k miles. The fronts at 40k.
I had the front drivers seat swab replaced recently under warranty as the artico (fake leather look) had developed a small split. Think if I had had the choice I would have gone for leather seats. I also had the key fob replaced as that had a crack. Otherwise nothing else has gone wrong.
I love the styling of the interior. I have had a w212 as a courtesy car and the interior was much more angular and Germanic, not to my taste. The satnav isn't great. Driving south on the M6 south of Birmingham I've seen it give a route via the M69 and M1 instead of simply continue on the M6. We keep a TomTom in the car just incase the inbuilt satnav misbehaves. One major benefit of having the satnav comand system is the quality of the sound system. I'm sure it sounds better than anything I have in the house. I love the hard disk for storing mp3 music and I like the convenience of the sdram slot too.
One disappointment which works in your favour are the low residual values of w211s. I'm hoping to keep mine for a long time so that doesn't concern me too much. So far I don't see any reason why I won't be keeping my w211 for the long term.
Knowing what I do now I would still have bought my w211 3 years ago. I think that just about covers it...
|
How many miles do you do?
This is a near £20K car with nearly 40,000 miles on it.
If you pile on a lot more, you will soon have a high mileage car which stands you in a lot of money.
Chances are it will do the work, but you'd need to have a few grand in hand just in case it needs a major repair.
Pal of mine gave up on Mercs because of the cost of the bits.
The last straw was a bill for best part of £1,000 when Mr Nobody clipped a door mirror in a car park.
|
Probably a fair point Iffy. I'm delighted to have one as a company car but were I to return to self-funded motoring I'd likely buy a Mondeo estate again based on my previous experience of them. The three I had didn't fail me but even if they had it wouldn't have been a king's ransom to put them right.
Having said all the above, the Merc is a honey...
:-)
|
I've managed at least to talk myself out of the Sport model in Reading, and it was the tyres that did it - 255x18 at £250 a time would make those occasional builders' screws an expensive nuisance.
An Avantgarde seems like a trickier prospect, though. 16" wheels are altogether more sensible on a car built (and bought) for comfort rather than door-handle cornering, although I might miss those beautiful wrap-around seats. There's one in Slough that might be just the job....
Mileage, Iffy - not honestly too much of a concern. Since we relocated in 2010 I've been doing less than 12,000 a year in the Volvo, while the weekend and holiday miles that the Verso has done probably total only 6-8000 a year. There'll be some redistribution of duties but we won't be putting megamiles on the car, so I don't mind someone else having done a few to run it in. We'll probably keep this next car, whatever it turns out to be, for a maximum of five years and 75,000 miles - and I suspect that's an overestimate of the mileage.
Contingency funding for repairs is a given - but so it should be with any car. Volvo parts can be expensive too, so we've had some practice with that. The compensation here will, I'd hope, be residuals: an £18,000 E280 will, in five years, return more than would the same £18,000 sunk into a newer V70 or Superb, even if the MB itself would then be eight years old.
|
>> Contingency funding for repairs is a given - but so it should be with any
>> car. Volvo parts can be expensive too, so we've had some practice with that. The
>> compensation here will, I'd hope, be residuals: an £18,000 E280 will, in five years, return
>> more than would the same £18,000 sunk into a newer V70 or Superb, even if
>> the MB itself would then be eight years old.
>>
I wouldn't bet on it...as previously mentioned emissions will kill any residuals on that car.
Do you really believe in 5 years time anyone will want a car with CO2 emissions of 215g/km ?
|
|
EDIT: Wanted to add, that car is a dinosaur and you will shoulder the burden...
|
Do you really believe in 5 years time anyone will want a car with CO2 emissions of 215g/km ?
You may have a point but I doubt the market will disappear altogether; there will still be people who need something capacious and want it to be comfortable. The only cost directly affected by CO2 ratings is VED, and 215g at today's rates would be £260, and the E280 Avantgarde at 202g would be the same. An E220 saves fifteen whole pounds at 188g. By contrast my S60 is 171g for £190, and a newer V70 would be sub-150g.
But these are all small differences in the overall cost of running a car, and it's hard to see them affecting resale values by thousands. I agree, one would have to start from the right price, which would have to be this side of £20,000, but if you had to guess, what would you think one of these would fetch in another five years?
VED bands 2011-12 from direct.gov.uk
E 131-140 £115.00
F 141-150 £130.00
G 151-165 £165.00
H 166-175 £190.00
I 176-185 £210.00
J 186-200 £245.00
K 201-225 £260.00
|
...but if you had to guess, what would you think one of these would fetch in another five years?...
Couldn't say, but it will fetch as much - if not a shade more - than anything else you buy for the same money.
In that respect, you may as well ignore depreciation.
To me, the VED differences are too small to consider.
Anyone buying a large estate will be a few steps up the scale, so the fact the one you will be selling might be £30 or £50 more is neither here nor there.
|
The way I look at it BMW, Mercedes, Audi are all leading the charge to sub-140 even Volvo has got the new D5 down in the 130's.
The VED bands are another weapon in the treasury armoury.
The manufacturers wouldn't be throwing all that money at developing these lower emissions vehicles without some justification/reasoning.
You asked to be talked out of the car. It's something I would certainly consider before putting that sort of money into a car.
Of course the Chancellor could decide to give the hard pressed motorist a rest over the next few years and nothing change and you'll have the pleasure of driving that car for the duration.
|
Looks a fine car WDB and sounds like you've already made your mind up...but not that one.
Emissions of 215 will get expensive over the life of the vehicle with you. The new 350CDi (possibly out of budget) is rated slightly lower than your existing D5.
Some might say road tax is a minor part of motoring but how would feel about handing the thick end of 500 over every 12 months ?
|
I had this exact model but without the boot seats and took it from 35,000 to 55,000 miles in a year. I had driven I6 e-class W211s before and was a bit worried by the Sport trim and 18" alloys, but the suspension is just fine - if anything it gets over the wallowing of the normal trim models. The one thing that can't be avoided with 18" wheels is the cost of replacement tyres.
The only other problem we had with it concerned the rear transmission tunnel. Our 3 kids used to fight to avoid sitting in the middle. A wide tunnel is uncomfortable for short legs to straddle, and the centre ofthe rear seat is less well shaped and padded for regular use. Of course this transmission tunnel problem afflicts all rwd cars, and our kids are much happier in the back of a fwd car.
They are very nice cars to drive and you can't beat the feel of rwd with the steering uncorrupted by power.
|
Er...He wants us to talk him out of it BB !
Um...they are good though eh?
:-)
|
Sorry - can't talk you out of this.
I tried a W211 automatic estate and a V70 manual before happening on my Subaru Legacy automatic (all 2 litre petrols). The V70 was tight on space for child seats in the back, drove OK, but didn't excite us much.
The Benz was a lovely place to be, very relaxed with the automatic, and quick enough with the two litre. A 220 CDI auto as GB mentioned would address any economy concerns.
I have to say the Subaru is an entirely different proposition. Mrs Gromit and I have driven it (enthusiastically) from Roscoff to beyond Bordeaux, with just fuel and food stops, and stepped from it without a twinge. Its improbably comfortable for a spacious wagon on 17 inch wheels. Room enough for two child seats, and a boot more than big enough for two greyhounds. Yet on a country road it feels as small and composed as my old 3 series did. Do try one. Or a Forester might be an option if you want a more upright seat position but don't fancy a conventional SUV.
Also, if you're not going to do big mileage, don't be put off by the fuel burn. A 2, or 2.5, petrol Legacy auto will return approx 30mpg - I've calculated I'd need to cover almost 20,000 km a year for the next 9 years to break even on the difference in price between the petrol car I bought and the diesel.
|
Can't talk you out of it either.
We bought an E220 CDI elegance estate (silver with black leather) just over a year ago (56 plate, so post facelift). We too had a Volvo (S60), and originally thought that we'd go with the V70. While it was very nice, the Merc just had a more special feel to it. Such a pleasant place to be! We also drove 500 miles down through France last summer (only breaks for the tunnel and lunch), and I got out feeling like I'd popped down to the shops.
It's not mad fast, or a great handler, but highly composed and very comfortable.
|
I've sort of talked myself - with some help from Gmac's 'dinosaur' language - out of an E280, even though they sell for similar prices to E220s. My reasoning is mostly that, while there's probably not much to choose between them in real-world economy, both will cost more to run than I've been used to and everything for a 280 will cost that bit more.
I'm still going to try driving both, though - even with the risk that the 280 will talk me back in. I mean, even a Mercedes four-cylinder diesel is still, well, a four-cylinder diesel. Don't I deserve more than that...?
};---)
|
|
Try parking in a multi storey cart park and weep.
|
>> Try parking in a multi storey cart park and weep.
>>
Not a problem, correct wheels driven so no need for supertanker turning circle..;)
Proper mirrors too.
|
|
Thanks, Madf, but that doesn't help. I've had ten years with a Volvo that requires elaborate multi-stage manoeuvres in tight spaces. The E may actually be the most wieldy bus on my shortlist.
|
Easier to park than a Qashqai WDB...Oh and did they do the 250d engine on the model you're interested in? That's the one I have. Same basic unit as the 220d but more power. Best of both worlds so to speak...40 odd to the gallon. Goes like a stinky thing.
:-)
|
No E250 as far as I can tell, Humph. The choice seems to be between E220 (4 cylinders, 2.1 litres) and E280 (V6, 3.0 litres). There's also the E320, with a more powerful version of the 3.0, but I can't see us needing or affording one of those.
I think I need to drive a 220 to dispel any lingering thoughts that four cylinders somehow make it second best. I could always run back to a five-cylinder V70 if I don't get on with it.
|
|
Don't think it'll be a worry. You can't really hear it at all unless you're spanking it. Even then it manages to sound quite refined.
|
Mercedes Benz E-Class W211 - talk me out of a Mercedes - anyone? - Dog
