some queries

TroubledPhantom SG

Hello fellow brothers, sorry to bother you guys ah.

I'm quite new in buying a car, previous history in cars is a Nissan Sunny owned by my mother. I've drove it for 2 odd years and am quite comfortable with it. Since my mom is deciding to buy a new car, we've sold it a month ago.

My family is a small one, only my mother, my younger brother and myself. Only me and my mom would be driving.

Currently we're looking at getting a new car, I'm looking at the Mercs C200 Kompressor. From sgcarmart.com, a brand new one would cost around $151,888.It's a 1.8l model. I've personally drove this car which my friend owns and it's very comfortable and a great drive.

However, my mom says that the Mercs C230 is more worth at $173,888 as it's a 2.5l and only costs $20 odd K more.

I've not tried this ride so would like to ask fellow brothers how is this ride like? From the specs I've seen on sgcarmart.com, C200 actually has more torque than the C230 even though it's only 1.8l comparing to the 2.5l. I hope you guys can shed more light on this matter? Thanks in advance to all.

Another question I have is that is it better to pay for the car in one shot instead of installments? We've paid for our Nissan Sunny in installments and I feel that we can save on the interest paid if we pay in one shot. However, some of my friends says that the car company will treat you worse compared to paying in installments as they do not have any liabilities as we do not owe them any money and no matter how bad they treat us they're not affected as we do not need to pay them money already. Not too sure on this part, any help? Thanks again mates.

On the maintanence of a Mercs, any ideas how much does it costs a month on average on petrol, road tax, insurance and the other usual stuff such as maintence costs, servicing and parts?

And what about the parts on the Mercs, will stock part suffice? Or do I need to get some things changed? I'm fine with the looks of the stock one, nothing needs to be changed for this. But internal parts?

Thanks to all who have taken the time to read this, sorry if it's a bother.

Thanks again

lianamaster SG

I have no knowledge on Merc....so can't help you on that....

But it's better to pay off all than to pay by instalments. That's the best. But, as always, since the authorised agents usually tie up with finance companies, they will earn some commission from them if they recommend some of their packages to customers.

Anyway, after you purchase the car, you wun see your dealer already what, so who cares about his attitude....

n0x SG

Hello fellow brothers, sorry to bother you guys ah.

My family is a small one, only my mother, my younger brother and myself. Only me and my mom would be driving.

However, my mom says that the Mercs C230 is more worth at $173,888 as it's a 2.5l and only costs $20 odd K more.

On the maintanence of a Mercs, any ideas how much does it costs a month on average on petrol, road tax, insurance and the other usual stuff such as maintence costs, servicing and parts?

Thanks to all who have taken the time to read this, sorry if it's a bother.

Thanks again

the c200 and c180 are both 1.8 litres supercharged, thus the kompressor tag...

the c230 is 2.5 litres NA..

i have no experience with the c class.. but purely from a technical point of view... i would reccomend u get the c200 because:

1. more torque (low end) is better in sg roads

2. save on road tax

3. cheaper ( savings of $20k)

and it would be reccomended as per what lianmaster has said to pay in full..

however if need be .. can sign 1 year - 3 year installment yi shi yi shi yi xia depending on cirumstances...

hope this helps =)

nightsky87 SG

the c200 and c180 are both 1.8 litres supercharged, thus the kompressor tag...

the c230 is 2.5 litres NA..

i have no experience with the c class.. but purely from a technical point of view... i would reccomend u get the c200 because:

1. more torque (low end) is better in sg roads

2. save on road tax

3. cheaper ( savings of $20k)

and it would be reccomended as per what lianmaster has said to pay in full..

however if need be .. can sign 1 year - 3 year installment yi shi yi shi yi xia depending on cirumstances...

hope this helps =)

If one really wants to save on road tax, I think the overall costs of getting a continental car is much higher than the negligible amount one saves from a road tax difference of 1.8l vs 2.5l. Cheaper, sure, but take note that when you buy the C200 instead of the C230, you may be missing out on accesories / trim level that will definitely be higher on the 230 than the 180/200.

Technical wise, the C230 being a V6 has 245nm of torque which is lower than the 200's 250, but honestly I do not think the 5nm of torque will make that much of a difference on sg road conditions (how much torque do you need from one traffic light to the other), and the loss in any noticible torque is more than offset from the smoothness of a V6 as opposed to an I4.

Payment wise, when buying the car, paying in full or installment to CnC does not make much of a difference to them, they will not treat you any worse (remember, you are buying a MERCEDES), and if you feel like you are being treated shabbily at any time, feel free to ask the SE to F Off and I'm sure the rest of the SE will rush to do your business. Customer is always right.

Costs associated with owning a Mercedes, this one you have to ask a bona fide Merc owner. Parts wise you should have no problems, and stock will more than suffice, since its a new car maintanence wise should be done with CnC. If you feel the need to dress up your Merc, the AMG catalogue is easily available from CnC as well, and internally, the Merc will be more than sufficient especially with the 'Agility' package which is the selling point of the new C.

nightsky87 SG

Just to add, the C230 is on 7-Gtronic which means it is in effect a 7-speed automatic as compared to the 200's 5-speed automatic. Overall, the C230 is a much better package if you can afford it.

Student SG

1. Note the cc difference result in road tax. Yes, people here will say "Aiyah, if can buy mercs, whats the road tax", but see the performance aspect etc to justify this extra amount you pay annually.

2. c230 =170k+? At the current buyer market and fire sale around, can get cheaper for sure.

3. Yes, refusal to take up a loan will result in some poor services, but do not generalise. In addition, when sending to cnc for servicing, if your car is c180 or a class, get ready to be pushed back by SLKs, SLs, S class cars. Unwritten rule.

4. AMG kit will do no harm. Insurance etc will depends who your putting the car under. Mum or you? Pros and Cons here.

5. Road tax will not kill you. Justifiable.

6. FC is not that bad but I have the tendency to go hard when doing spirited driving, so it sucks. Btw, I do believe at current petrol price, its not a worry to get a high fc car, but its too good to be true seeing the price of petrol now. Get ready for a rise.

Sum it up, maybe consider a beemer is not too bad aye? or join us at sg merc for more discussion =)

lianamaster SG

I wish for a Merc this Christmas...

TroubledPhantom SG

Thanks for the info guys. So the C230 is not turbocharged like the C200. What about the C280? Seems like not bad of deal too. Will be going down to C&C in January after the festive seasons. 1 thing I'd like to clarify, what is 7-Gtronic?

Thanks and sorry for being troublesome.

nightsky87 SG

Thanks and sorry for being troublesome.

Nope, the C230 is a naturally asirated V6 engine, it is not supercharged; neither does it need to be. It's a great engine already. The C280 is a higher capacity V6, it is 3.0 litres instead of the 230's 2.5 litres, but only choose the C280 if you feel you will, for any reason, need the extra power and torque.

The 7-G tronic is only for C230 and above. The C180 and 200 are using the regular 5-speed automatic transmission, while the 7G-tronic is an improved gearbox boasting 7 gears instead of the usual 5. While it might not be feasible to go into an indepth discussion, the main gist of having more gears is usually for better acceleration (wider range of gear ratios), better fuel consumption (same reason, including higher FD ratio). It all translates down into better day to day driving and you will find overtaking a breeze.

But don't take my word for it, you can test drive the different models at the showroom and feel the difference for yourself.