Mercedes C 230 Kompressor

I have previously owned 3 Mercedes cars and really do like the brand not only because of the prestige of owning one of these cars but also because they really are good value and roadworthy. I have only ever had to replace tyres in the past but had been looking around the garages at the 2 door coupe style, especially in the silver exterior with light grey leather interior. Drool, drool and more drool.

A couple of weeks ago we happened ...
...saw a dark blue pearlised Mercedes 230 Kompressor sports. You know that moment, when you see something even though it is totally opposite to what you were looking for, and you fall in love. Well, that happened to me. I fell in love with this car which was dark blue with black leather interior. I had always INSISTED that my next car would not have a dark coloured interior. I hated dark. I loathed dark. I would not have dark in the inside of my car. ... more

I have previously owned 3 Mercedes cars and really do like the brand not only because of the prestige of owning one of these cars but also because they really are good value and roadworthy. I have only ever had to replace tyres in the past but had been looking around the garages at the 2 door coupe style, especially in the silver exterior with light grey leather interior. Drool, drool and more drool.

A couple of weeks ago we happened to be looking at one of our local used car garages when we saw a dark blue pearlised Mercedes 230 Kompressor sports. You know that moment, when you see something even though it is totally opposite to what you were looking for, and you fall in love. Well, that happened to me. I fell in love with this car which was dark blue with black leather interior. I had always INSISTED that my next car would not have a dark coloured interior. I hated dark. I loathed dark. I would not have dark in the inside of my car. No, no, no. Dark cars are terrible to keep clean. So why did I end up owning this dark coloured car? I can’t really tell you why. I can just tell you that love conquered me in the end!

Mercedes have a policy that integrates environmental protection and their objectives are for the natural resources to be used sparingly. So, they say that the customer can help by making sure that tyres are checked regularly, do not violently use the accelerator, don’t overload the vehicle, don’t warm up the engine when the vehicle is stationary, monitor the fuel’s performance and switch off the engine when in traffic jams.

Fuel consumption will be high if the car is driven at very low exterior temperatures but driving on dual carriageways/motorways, I can get approximately 25-30 mpg. I have been quite surprised and have actually noticed that I seem to have a better fuel performance from this Mercedes than my last Mercedes which had a 2 litre engine.

On the second day of owning this car, I noticed that the air conditioning wasn’t working. I got the book out but it just didn’t work so I took it back to the garage and I must say they were brilliant and told me to bring it back the next day. So, I duly took it back the next day and they gave me a brand new Ford Fiesta to use whilst my car was in the garage. They rang me about 4 hours later to say I could collect the car. It wasn’t a big problem at all, the air conditioning unit just need some gas in and it now works very well.

Exterior
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The exterior has all the “S” factors - sleek, slinky, sophisticated but with a little bit of sporty added in and also the unmistakable Merc badge sticking out at the front.

It has four doors and ANG alloy wheels which hubby really enthused over.

All the windows have a slight blue tint with the windscreen having a blacked out area at the top for a sunscreen. The other good thing I noticed is that the chassis number can be seen through the bottom of the windscreen. I must say that none of my other cars have ever had this feature (probably because they were old ones!)

The central locking system is operated by the electronic key which has various other features such as:

** Unlock driver’s door
** Unlock the whole car
** Open boot lid
** Activate security system

The one thing I do miss is the security system from my previous Mercedes. I had this system fitted and I could press the key to lock the car and activate the security system and then it would automatically close all the windows and sunroof. I haven’t been able to do this on my Kompressor model but I am still wading through the manual! There is still a lot for me to learn about this car.

Another feature that I really do like on this car is the one whereby as soon as you start the engine and reach 10 mph it automatically locks all the doors. Now, in this day and age, I am extremely conscious about keeping the car doors locked whilst driving and now I don’t have to keep reminding myself to do this as the car thinks for me instead! It does also have a button on the dashboard to manually lock the car from inside as I have read that there is a feature whereby you can disarm the automatic locking of doors at 10 mph. Personally, I wouldn’t disarm it. It is a good safety feature.

Interior
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Black leather interior with a dashboard in black/silver which actually looks very modern even though it has a kind of Art Deco appearance. As I absolutely love Art Deco this feature really appealed to me. The seat fitted snugly around my body but I did notice that it was a “harder” drive than my previous car and I am just starting to get used to that fact.

The air conditioning feature is brilliant as last week there were quite a few hot days and it was really lovely to keep cool whilst driving.

Automatic gearbox with various selector levels:
Parking
Reverse
Neutral
Five forward gears
Standard and winter switch (it is advised to always use the “S” switch unless it is winter when you can switch to “W” and the car will pull away in 2nd gear. Apparently the tractive power is much easier to control and the tyre grip and car’s stability are increased on slippery surfaces. This is great for me because after leaving my home I have to drive up a very steep bank to get to the main road and it is a nightmare doing this whilst snow is on the ground so this feature will be a definite help to me.

I must admit that I don’t usually use the gears although I have noticed my husband use one for going uphill. Apparently, if you change down at too high a speed then the downshift will be blocked.

There is a 10 stack CD player and radio and the great thing about this is that there isn’t an aerial attached to the car’s exterior. The sound system is really first class and I am thrilled to bits with it.

Other features include cruise control with variable speed limitation (any road speed above approximately 25 mph can be stored; digital clock, centre consol, heated bucket seats, child lock switch, lever for adjusting the seat height, back seat head rests, cigarette lighter (this will NEVER be used in my car especially since hubby has given up smoking these past 7 months).

The room in the back of the car is quite adequate for passengers although these days the only passengers I seem to have are my grandchildren and my dogs! Still, leather is easier to clean than cloth!

The looks small from the exterior but is quite large inside and I guess it will be able to hold quite a lot of shopping!

Driving the car
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At first I was quite hesitant about driving this car as I knew it was a fast drive. Hubby kept repeating how fast it was and that I would need to be careful to check my speed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyhow, I do not do speed. I don’t like unnecessary speed. However, I like to know that the car is capable of quickly picking up speed if the occasion arises and I need to get out of a tricky situation.

So, my turn comes. Hubby said it was about time I drove the car. Stops the car and says “you drive”. Now I hate driving a new car (well, it wasn’t absolutely new, it was second hand but a new car to me, if you know what I mean) with hubby by my side. I like to drive the car by myself so that I can get used to the feel of the car and feel how powerful it is before hubby sits next to me. Well, I just had to get on with it and drive. It drove like a dream, it feels fast just holding the steering wheel never mind putting pressure on the accelerator pedal but boy, oh boy, can it move. This is some sleek machine, let me tell you.

I am going to have to be very careful not to exceed speed limits because there are an awful lot of speed cameras in Dorset and when driving this car it just doesn’t seem as if I am going fast at all but the speedometer tells me different. So I must be careful at all times. I am always saying “camera coming up here, slow down” etc. etc. which totally annoys hubby and I don’t want egg on my face and be the first one to get a fine from a camera!

This car has a full service history and I will make sure that it is serviced regularly as this helps to maintain a good selling price and also helps to keep the car in tip top condition.

My comments
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As I don't smoke and very rarely drink then I like to have a nice car when I can afford it. I work hard and like to see something for all my efforts, as I know we all do. In my early years of marriage I did enough scrimping and scraping so that I could have a nice house and nicely dressed children.

Now it is my turn and I have spent my money on a car I really love and believe me I really do love my Mercs. Perhaps there will come a time when I will not be able to afford to own one but, at present, I can and I just gaze in love every time I see my car.

This car is very fast and seems reliable and has some features that I think will be of great help to me in the winter months but, again, the air conditioning unit is a fantastic feature for the summer.

All in all, it is a great car.
 

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