The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, is that it has never tried t...
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, is that it has never tried to contact us.
Member since:04.09.2002
Reviews:40
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Unfortunately after dreaming and dreaming of this car, the lord couldn't help my husband and he had to buy a Mercedes himself.
He is a big fan of German and Japanese cars, and since being able to drive, he has had one car after another. Beginning with the old just- roadworthy Nissan sunny, to the funky Suzukix-9. (Has anyone ever actually seen this car on the roads? I’m not surprised! it is a very bizarre looking beach buggy. see picture below.)
He has always wanted the famous 3 pointed badge and eventually, a good deal popped up!
He searched for his car from Great Trade Center, based in White city, London. They have a great online search facility. WWW.GTCCAR.CO.UK. We know many people who have bought their
cars from here. I will not go into great detail as this op is mainly on the car.
He saw a 1999 model C class (so back in 2002, this was a 3 year old car) We went to have a look at it and were pleased with it immediately. My husband was a little stuck on whether he should buy a low mileage Classic model or go for a Elegance or Avant-garde with a few more miles on the clock. After doing some research he found out that all specs came with most things he would ever need like air con, cruise control and CD player. I ended up with a Classic model with a CD autochanger. It had 26,000 miles on the clock, barely run in for a Mercedes. It cost £10,000 then, which we thought was very reasonable for a 3-year-old luxury saloon.
At the time I owned a fiesta and I cant describe the difference in words between the two cars. This car is personally way too big for me to drive…im a small car person myself, but I love being a passenger in this car ! There are many luxurious touches inside – the material on the seats is nice, the wood-like trim on the dash, the upholstered doors……nice.
The 2 litre engine can only really be described as adequate for a car of this size. I was told to avoid the 1.8 litre models due to the sheer weight and I'm glad I did. Don't get me wrong, it’s not underpowered but its not a sports car either. I think you have to realize that people who buy Mercedes cars tend not to look as much at the performance as they do for the quality of the fixtures and fittings and ultimate ambience of the machinery……god I’m starting to sound like my husband now !
Be in no doubt, sitting in this car is like sitting in no other. There is cruise control, but unfortunately the UK is not the best country to test it as most of the time even the largest of motorways seem to be at a standstill. However, driving on a quiet night up the M1 with an automatic gearbox and cruise control is amazing, the only worry is the steering and even that's power steered to help you.
It’s the quietest car I have ever been in and I know that the diesel model is not much noisier. We find the car a bit big in and around town and often have a problem with parking - but that’s when I bring out my smaller car. Also, this isn’t the best handling car in the world.
This has a very small turning circle, surprising for such a big car.
We have now had this car for over 2 years and to this day the only problems encountered have been two lightbulbs.
The boot is huge and space is absolutely no problem in this car. The back seat passengers and lots of leg room and arm rests and cup holders.
Surprisingly the insurance is a lot lower than you might expect for a car this size. It is in insurance group 11.
Stereotypically Mercedes saloons are often associated middle-aged men. (funny...cos we are in our 20's ! ) However, this is slowly changing as Mercedes try to appeal to the more cosmopolitan crowd with models such as the new C class Coupe and the SLK. They have also successfully broken into the small family car market with the A class.
However the C class will always be the introduction to the Mercedes family – ‘starter Merc’ - as it is the affordable family car and can be compared to other cars such as the Audi A4, Saab 93 and Volvo S40, not forgetting the BMW 3 series.
You can now get this car at very good value now that the new model has been released.
My car has now covered just over 55,000 miles and I wouldn't change it for the world.
Thank you Lord!
Pictures of Mercedes C 200
suzuki x 90
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Mercedes A-Class - Hatchback - Front (FWD) - 6 Speed - (Man) / Autotronic - (Auto) - 1992 cc - Max Speed: 116 mph - 109 bhp - Diesel - Available Trims: Elegance SE, Classic SE, Classic, Avantgarde SE, Long
A lot of Mercs look so unquestionably perfect from the outside that it's comforting to hear that you have to make allowances... sounds like not too tough an introduction to a big car though, liked your review...
MotoAthan 01.12.2004 12:34
lol at oblivious0r, if only he had actually read your article then maybe he would know what the picture of the suzuki was for. Btw ive seen a few of those suzukis in my area, that being Melbourne Australia lol
Jaynestep 28.11.2004 11:18
Good review, I used to hate the boxy shape of mercedes cars but they have some gorgeous cars now. x x
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