Mercedes C180 Sport

[Sagalout]

Ignore Fox

Theres nothing wrong with the image of the c class. You'll see a damn sight more tatty mondeos on housing estates than you'll see tatty 190's or C Classes. And poverty class? Do me a favour - theres nothing more poverty class than an old mondeo with stuck on bodywork - and I dont care if it has leather or not! Even the C180's where over £20K when new in the early 90's. Mercedes didnt sell a **** load of them for nothing - they were regarded as excellent quality cars, which you pick up for excellent prices today (if you look hard enough)

And quality is not defined by leather and BHP.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Ignore Fox

Theres nothing wrong with the image of the c class. You'll see a damn sight more tatty mondeos on housing estates than you'll see tatty 190's or C Classes.

The difference being a tatty Mondeo is 500 quid not £3000.

And poverty class? Do me a favour - theres nothing more poverty class than an old mondeo with stuck on bodywork - and I dont care if it has leather or not!

See, this is EXACTLY the attitude which goes with buying a cheap Merc. People spend a few grand tops on an old Merc with no kit and a lethargic 4 pot and suddenly they are in the position to look down on all other cars, irrespective of whether the car in question is any good or not, becuase, well, they drive a Mercedes.

For context, that'll be an 'old Mondeo' several years younger than your first class executive express, sorry, C200 Automatic, also with a list price of £20k but not quite sure how relevant list price is.

And quality is not defined by leather and BHP.

Nor is it defined by the letter C.

 

[DRZ]

I hate to say it, but I am with Fox on this one. I know a few people who drive ancient Mercs who lord it over people in far superior cars that just dont have the superiority complex image that comes with the Mercedes badge.

There is nothing wrong with buying that car, its just not exactly value for money considering everyone who knows what they are about will just think "pff" and everyone else either wont care or are so easily impressed as to make it a worthless exercise

 

[Scania]

In Germany, a C Class is effectively a Mondeo, in terms of its actual class. Its only us snobby Brits who seem to go all (3 pointed?) Star eyed about them.

My brother in law changed his company Mondeo Ghia (pre RASP iirc) for a Merc C180 and hated it with a passion.
Changed that for a 318Ci which whilst not being fast in any respect, "felt like a 328 compared to the C180", his description not mine.

Not exactly Sporty.

 

[Matt82]

in germany, surely a mondeo would effectly just be a mondeo? lol

 

[Sagalout]

I wasnt lording it over anyone - fox was the one trying to insinuate that that C Classes are driven by ******, which frankly I'm not standing for.

And saying that I'm a badge snob is is an absolute joke considering I'm the one who just tells people to buy what they want and enjoy their cars, instead of slating everytone who doesnt choose a mondeo or a 530D. Frankly theres way too much **** spoken on this forum by people who havent even driven the cars but spend all there time reading aboiut them on the internet. Some of you are too young to have even driven cars in the 90's yet speak with typical internet authority about the 0-60 time and BHP of just about any car produced. And as for image and what others think? I'm not the one buyinbg alloys and stick on bits of plastic to try and impress other road users! Lets face it, none of that tat makes it go faster or drive better so its presumably being added because you think it makes the car look better? I just like a nice, factory original car thats cheap to buy, cheap to run and, whilst being 9 years, because of the quality materials feels like a nearly new car.

To the original poster: Just test drive the car and see for yourself if you like it. It wont be fast, but to some of us that dont like to pretend we're jensen button on public roads thats not an issue. Take it for a drive and compare it to other cars for the same price. If you 'feel' it buy it. If you dont, dont. At least then you'll have more experiecne with the car than the vast amount of poeple posting on here.

End of rant.

 

[4T5]

in germany, surely a mondeo would effectly just be a mondeo? lol

Oh Dear.
In Germany those Mercs are taxis with plastic seat covers.
I am with Fox totally on this one. 3K can get you a nice car that would be much more fun and better looking.
If you want a Merc get your 1200 quid out for the 560sec and use the rest for insurance. Now that is a proper Merc.

I should say i resent the insinuation that words are just spouted out willy nilly.
I am a 40 year old man and have been through quite a few motors. I don't list the motors i have owned or driven or hired or test drove or fixxed because that is not me but this does not mean i have No experience with these motors or an opinion that is not well thought out.

 

[Sagalout]

I wasnt talking about you mate, in fact to be blunt I was talkking about Fox.

Any yes, they are used as Taxis in germany. Saw one on ebay the other day with 430K!

 

[Kappa]

Saw one on ebay the other day with 430K!

 

[Sagalout]

actually it was 409K

but yeah, thats some mileage! Still went for nearly a grand aswell, which even I would agree is well over the odds for that car.

 

[OllyM]

Test drive it, if you like it, buy it.

You've got to actually like a car to buy it - it doesn't matter how often somebody tells you something else looks better on paper because you can buy it for the same price with more kit etc.

However, if it's a manual, don't bother. The foot operated parking brake will drive you mad, and the gearbox is really rubbish. The problem is, on the C180, the automatic will sap even more of the limited power. I bet you'll find it quite sluggish.

 

[richolmes72]

I was in a similar situation, wanting a car that stood out a bit compared to all my friends/other uni students.

You should think about a Jaguar XJ. For £2000, you'd pick up a v.good condition 93-94 4.0, Full leather, cruise, climate, elec seats/windows, sports gearbox. Mine was older, more sparesly specified but just £715 with 12 month MOT and 5 months tax.

Any older luxury car will have a bit of a poor image to some people.

Someone the other day remarked "thats Phil Mitchells car from Eastenders" Oh dear, i hope thats not what most people think of my car

I'll agree that an old merc (even a mid 90's one) looks good, but they NEED Leather and elec windows all round to look good, and preferably a 6 cylinder engine, a 4 pot just won't be smooth enough or have enough torque for the automatic gearbox.

 

[Von Luck]

Nice car - although with something like that, mods can easily push it over the line into 'pimp' or 'dealer' territory.

I tend to ignore a lot of the regurgitated waffle on this forum about "this is the best in class blah blah", if we all drove a 5 series or Mondeo the world would be a very dull place.

I know Mercs can be heinously expensive to service at dealers, but don't know about independents. Might be worthwhile doing a bit of research as running costs would be my main concern.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I wasnt lording it over anyone - fox was the one trying to insinuate that that C Classes are driven by ******, which frankly I'm not standing for.

You've done nothing to convince me my opinion is wrong, merely re-inforced it....

And saying that I'm a badge snob is is an absolute joke considering I'm the one who just tells people to buy what they want and enjoy their cars, instead of slating everytone who doesnt choose a mondeo or a 530D.

Ooooh I wondered how long it would be before this tired, dull, boring and completely inaccurate comment reared its head in this thread. You must be really struggling if you have to start making that up..

End of rant.

Nice rant. Shame it doesn't really address any of the points in this thread and appears to be simply a rant for rants sake. If you want to discuss the points made in this thread sure, lets do so - but it seems you've not really got anything to address them with so you've had to start ranting - a classic sign of an arguement lost, especially as you've felt it neccesary to bring my car into this thread not once, but twice, even though its not a Mondeo thread, its a Mercedes C Class thread.

And as for trying to impress other road users, I'm not the one in an old Mercedes with wheeltrims trying to look prestigious whilst looking down on all the Ford and Honda drivers

Put simply, a cheap Mercedes offers almost all of the disadvantages of Mercedes ownership whilst offering virtually none of the advantages, and in almost every case, is a purchase made becuase the owner wishes to, well, I've made my point. There is NO more quality in a C Class than there is in a newer, better specified Volkswagen Passat or something for the same money. All it has that the others dont is that three pointed star - but a three pointed star on a car whose prestige long faded.

 

[Scania]

The foot operated parking brake will drive you mad

Hateful invention !

I despise the foot operated handbrake on my e38, the plus sise is lots of space where ones handbrake would be!

Not really an issue with an automatic (although it still narks me!) I could'nt stand one with a manual.

 

[Sagalout]

Nice rant. Shame it doesn't really address any of the points in this thread and appears to be simply a rant for rants sake. If you want to discuss the points made in this thread sure, lets do so - but it seems you've not really got anything to address them with so you've had to start ranting - a classic sign of an arguement lost, especially as you've felt it neccesary to bring my car into this thread not once, but twice, even though its not a Mondeo thread, its a Mercedes C Class thread.

Perhaps if you hadnt made a sweeping statement about all C class drivers being ****** I wouldnt have felt the need to bring your mondeo into it? I dont generally **** of anyones car, be it a pug 106, rover or whatever. I respect peoples choices, even if its a 13k Elise on TPO insurance!

And as for trying to impress other road users, I'm not the one in an old Mercedes with wheeltrims trying to look prestigious whilst looking down on all the Ford and Honda drivers

I dont think you get it - I'm not trying to impress road users at all. My wheels are factory standard - I havent felt the need to bolt aftermarket ones on becuase I dont care what people think about it from the outside and I sure as hell cant see or feel the benefit from the inside. So, just to clarify, I realise its not a prestige car, its not a fast car and its not a luxury car. However its a very good car. Every review says its a very well built, solid, reliable car and thats what I look for in my motoring.

Quality is subjective and I wouldnt disagree that a VW passat or Audi A4 is just as good, but its also no cheaper to buy or run, especially when you take residuals into account. People drive cars for different reasons and I respect that. I dont trash threads about hot civics and imprezzas saying you need a softer more refined ride as I realise different people want different things. 9/10 times my car has 2 kids in the back and therefore 'enthusiastic' driving is not a requirement.

Put simply, a cheap Mercedes offers almost all of the disadvantages of Mercedes ownership whilst offering virtually none of the advantages, and in almost every case, is a purchase made becuase the owner wishes to, well, I've made my point.

Again, personal opinion. I personally love the styling of the c class (not too keen on the W203 hatchbacks). I like the traditional MB grille, the boxy design, the single wiper (although I pray to the gods everyday it doesnt fail!) the feel of the switches, the clunk of the door, the simple and elegant fascia, the quirky footbrake even. The indestructible cloth trim which just doesnt age (not keen on leather - looks fantastic I'll agree but just dont like the feel in summer even with aircon). A lot of people prefer to appreciate 200BHP and hadling like its on rails. Thats fine - I wont criticise anyone as thats what they want out of THEIR car so I'd appreciate it if you would accept what i want out of MY car.

So, i apologise for my earlier rant and comments about your car - I shouldnt have made them but your comments made me see a bright shade of red, but sweeping generalisations about cars and their owners do you no justice. You're an intelligent lad who obviously contributes a lot to this forum (more than me by far) but sometimes you do need to take off the blinkers a little bit about what and how people drive.

 

[MrWhippy]

i'd back both fox and sagalout for bringing their opinions to the table. the OP was aking for opinions after all and he's better off hearing it from both sides.

i start to lose interest in the posts when they stray away from offering opinions and start trying to address opinions of others which contradict there own. it's not like this is an argument that can be won or lost.

anyway, before i too stray off topic

it's pretty obvious you're tempted, so what do you have to lose going and giving it a test drive? and then what do you have to lose testing out a couple of viable alternatives?

and then make an informed decision.

and if you end up going for the merc, don't forget, although dealer services are extortionate, sometimes the main dealers can supply MB parts cheaper than third parties can supply third party replica parts. so always ring them for a quote (for parts).

 

[Oracle]

tup ell oo

 

[[TW]Fox]

Exactly - use the opinions - you've got one huge anti C Class and one huge pro C Class - to make your own mind up.

If you drive it, and think its rubbish and don't buy it, what does it matter what Sagalout thinks?

However, if you drive it, decide you love it, buy it, and think its wonderful, what does it matter what I think?

Thats the beauty of forums, so many opinions, all so different, many worthless, all at least half useful in some way