Pro's and Con's in buying a second hand S-Class
 

Firstly... Hello to everyone in this forum

I'm considering buying a 2001 Mercedes S-Class, but I have a couple of questions first about the car and would like some tips.
Please tell me what engine should I go for, keeping in mind that I am still a student and I don't have endless funds :P and what extras are a "must have" or are completely useless on the car. I also would like some tips about what to check on the car prior to buying it.
Also a small list of pro's and con's about owning and living with a Mercedes S-Class would be really appreciated.

Thank you in advance

RE: Pro's and Con's in buying a second hand S-Class
 

First thing is how much can you afford to spend? Second. Where do you live?

RE: Pro's and Con's in buying a second hand S-Class
 

Agreed, and how much can you afford to spend keeping the car going each year. Here are the pros and cons for a 2001 s-class:

Pros

1. A safe car
2. Very bling to drive if you are a student
3. Confortable, and quite - good for long distance driving
4. Not worth a lot these days, so a lot of car for your money

Cons

1. High running costs
2. High running costs
3. High running costs
4. High insurance cost if you are young
5. If you pay road tax (like we do in the uk - you will pay a lot £400 a year), is lickly to be top bracket.
6. Big engines, so they have the potential to use a lot of petrol if you drive them like a 18 year old.
7.Average build quality, compared to older mercs and other cars made at the time, so expect lots of problems once the milage is high.
8. A big car, so parking is not easy, main issue is the width, so small narrow parking bays are out.
9. Early W220s had lots of suspension, transmission and electrical trouble - all VERY expensive toFULLY fix.
10. Mercedes garages - will rip you off, take to an independent and you will be ok.

If you are young, then go for a S280 or maybe S320. And then think hard if you want to spend a lot on the car. Here in the UK I would say, running costs in terms of servicing, mots etc, would be - minor service at least £500GBP, major service £1000, MOT £200,if you drive a S280 or S320sensible, you could get 25mpg.....

If you plan to drive say 10,000 miles a year I would estimate here in the UK it coudl cost as much as:

Petrol:£1600
MOT: £200
Road tax: £400
Insurance: £1800-£3000 (assuming you are young and a student and dont have too many NCB years)
Service: £800 (mainly because its 2001, and there are prob lots that need doing).

So thats about £5000 to budget, to be on the safe side. Plus £7000 for a good example car.

Also, dont get one with built in sat nav, as if you read the small print on most insurance options/dealsopen young people(true here int he UK), the will specifically NOT insure the car if it has a built in sat nav......never worked out why though.

RE: Pro's and Con's in buying a second hand S-Class
 

Thanks for the quick reply,

I live in Romania and I would like to spend somewhere around 20,000 EUR for the car. I'm not going to drive it like an 18 year old and will probably do around 20000-25000 Km a year. My previous cars were a 2006 Chevrolet Lacetti 1.6 Petrol, 2005 VW Passat 1.9TDI and a 2007 BMW 525d... I'm looking for a good comfortable and realiable car for long trips (i.e Romania to Germany and back), so my question would be: Is the 2001 S-Class a good buy considering the few things I want from it ?

RE: Pro's and Con's in buying a second hand S-Class
 

Yes an S-Class will be a very confortable and should be reliable (engine wise) asuming it has been well mentained. Make sure it has a full service record!

€20,000 is about £16,000 GBP, which IS A LOT for a 2001 s-class. I would expect you to pay around £9-10k (€12,000) at a Merc Dealer for a 2001 S-Class. In the current climate large cars with big engines, e.g. S-Class depreciate very fast, and are not worth a lot once they are over 5 years old.

For example, at present, for that money, you can get a 2004 320CDI for that, with only 54k miles on it. And that is from a main Merc Dealer,so is prob abut £2-3k more than a non merc dealer. I think you are thinking of paying way too much for a 2001 model!

Seehttp://directmercedes.co.uk/vehicle....%2526page%253d

RE: Pro's and Con's in buying a second hand S-Class
 

Thank you very much for the quick replies and I promise I will be very careful not to spend too much on the Merc :P