I am planning on buying a 2002 or 2003 mercedes c230 Kompressor and was wondering how long a Kompressor engine lasts compaired to a normal engine is there a major difference (in any car not just a mercedes). I would prefer the car to last me a while is this a common problem for this car or are there more common issues. I'm pretty much sold on the car, I love the way it looks and the fact that its a 2 door, and the price, I know there are going to be problems with it and it will be more expensive to repair b/c it's a mercedes but any import would be appreciated.

 

In my opinion, and I have had several supercharged and non-supercharged cars, it really depends on several things.
I don't really think the engine is compromised just by having a supercharger. Or a turbo. Yes, it's one more thing to go wrong, but whether it does or not is kind of a roll of the dice. In my case, my C230K had a problem. Yet there are many, many cars like mine that never have a problem. The boost isn't that high, so therefore, it's not as though you are wearing out the engine prematurely. I have 90K on mine now, and the engine is fine. So having said that, I wouldn't let the supercharger issue deter me from buying one, but my next car will be a V6 for sure. No more four cyl. for me. I drove the 7-speed transmission 2007 C car with the V6, and wow....what a difference. All that noise from the four cyl. and the kompressor GONE. VERY smooth. Love the tranny, although it shifts all the time, it's smooth. And several different V6 engines to choose from. Nice.