It is quite a long time. Pls, can somebody honestly advice us (my family of 4) of best out of this cars. Auto for 1999 C200 and manual for the 2002 honda accord EX I4.

They both have excellent reviews online.
Somebody offering me C200 for 850k and honda for 1M.

This is going to be our first car and only car at least for now.

W202 c class. Bullet proof engine. No drive shaft problem. Am sure you wouldn't want your family in a car whose front wheels can fly away at anytime even on topspeed! Again its auto so madam can also drive. Fuel efficient, parts available and extremely affordable.

wait a minute! I believe that C200 has a supercharged engine (if am not mistaken, W202 C200s have 'kompressor' badges on em).
Mercedes switched from supercharged powerplants to turbocharged ones because of the longterm reliability issues of the former. My advice; Find a naturally aspirated W202 (the C280s are a good example) if u intend to settle for one.... Those supercharged Cs can be annoying when their issues arise.

Thanks sirs.
2 argument for benz c-class none against, while honda is yet to have a believer. Thanks so much guys.

I need more reviews and personal experiece

Baby-boy's cool, just make scheduled checks on yr front-wheels regularly i.e maintenance checks



- steady n spacious ride for a family
- nice looking
- good for long trips


i no too get patience 4 Benz maintenance wahala wen it starts

Thanks @all.
Safety first before any other things. So, I'm going for C200. Now that I'm going for C200, here are my questions.
What do I need to look out for before I take delivery of the car? And, what do I need to change immediately I take delivery of the car?
Thanks you all once again.

Rust.harness wire conditions and rpm which should be below 1000 and also test the AC. The rpm should increase automatically with the AC on. By the way are you buying toks or Nigeria used?

A female cousin of mine drives the w202 (not sure if its c180 or c200 though). She would always praise the car whenever i ask her about her . She would always say that the fuel guage appears to be faulty, since it hardly drops, considering the distance from her house to office. But if i were to go for W202, it must be c280 abeg! I like dem powerful biko! Thats me anyway.

As for the 2002 Accord, its a nice looking car. Its roomy, more than w202. Actually, manual transmission of that Accord model year will make a lot sense. The auto transmission wahala is out of the picture. But you didnt state which spec it is? American or Euro specs? Both are 2 different looking vehicles.

Anyway, since you have chosen benz, good luck.

Ikenna

@smartchoice and Ikenna, thanks.

Rust! How bad sir? Wire harness and rpm? Hope they are not great issues.
I'm going for Tokunbo.

@Ikenna. Safety, safety and safety. Honda front wheel flying off at highspeed could be too dangerous to disregard. Meanwhile, manual trans C202 will not be bad .
The honda is Amec specs. I don't like the shape of the euro specs my wife too don't seem to like what she saw in pictures.

platinumricky: wait a minute! I believe that C200 has a supercharged engine (if am not mistaken, W202 C200s have 'kompressor' badges on em).
Mercedes switched from supercharged powerplants to turbocharged ones because of the longterm reliability issues of the former. My advice; Find a naturally aspirated W202 (the C280s are a good example) if u intend to settle for one.... Those supercharged Cs can be annoying when their issues arise.

I think it's the C230 that has Kompressor badge on it and also labelled with red on the engine block.

@OP, I'm still a huge fan of MANUAL transmission Honda Accords, from Babyboy upwards, but given the choice right now, with a 900k - 1m budget, i shall purchase a W202 C280 benz coz not only is the benz a BENZ with the C280 being top of the line in luxury, looks and engine power, I've heard from a a C280 owner that contrary to what anyone would assume about the fuel consumption of a 2.8litre V6 engined Mercedes Benz, his car fuel consumption level is almost at par with a 4 cylinder Toyota Camry! I thought he was exaggerating until i went online and realised his claim may well be close to very true. It appears a good number of C280 owners actually get fuel consumption figures even better than what Benz specified. According to him, maintenance hasn't been too difficult too.

You should be fine with the C200 I believe. I've been in a C180 auto trans and while i was pleased with the solid feel at 120km/hr, i wasn't too impressed with the take off/launch from rest. I hope the C200 will be faster tho. Just make sure no one sees your car engine except a competent, tested and trusted Benz mechanic.

All the best.

Find Out!:


I think it's the C230 that has Kompressor badge on it and also labelled with red on the engine block.

@OP, I'm still a huge fan of MANUAL transmission Honda Accords, from Babyboy upwards, but given the choice right now, with a 900k - 1m budget, i shall purchase a W202 C280 benz coz not only is the benz a BENZ with the C280 being top of the line in luxury, looks and engine power, I've heard from a a C280 owner that contrary to what anyone would assume about the fuel consumption of a 2.8litre V6 engined Mercedes Benz, his car fuel consumption level is almost at par with a 4 cylinder Toyota Camry! I thought he was exaggerating until i went online and realised his claim may well be close to very true. It appears a good number of C280 owners actually get fuel consumption figures even better than what Benz specified. According to him, maintenance hasn't been too difficult too.

You should be fine with the C200 I believe. I've been in a C180 auto trans and while i was pleased with the solid feel at 120km/hr, i wasn't too impressed with the take off/launch from rest. I hope the C200 will be faster tho. Just make sure no one sees your car engine except a competent, tested and trusted Benz mechanic.

All the best.

Thank. Your words of advice noted. What diqualifies honda, for me,is the fear of possible of front wheel gonig off.

C200 is a great car;you dont need to worry about engine replacement; above all you can keep it as long as you want to so far you follow the normal maintenance tips. She even has an extended maintenance period 12- 15 month or 10,000 km, whichever one comes first if you follow the recommended MB engine oil for your servicing(mobil 1). This makes it very cost effective to service

smartchoice: W202 c class. Bullet proof engine. No drive shaft problem. Am sure you wouldn't want your family in a car whose front wheels can fly away at anytime even on topspeed! Again its auto so madam can also drive. Fuel efficient, parts available and extremely affordable.

In my 95 c180 i use 17 litres of fuel from Calabar to PH, in a 4 hrs drive

smartchoice: Rust.harness wire conditions and rpm which should be below 1000 and also test the AC. The rpm should increase automatically with the AC on. By the way are you buying toks or Nigeria used?

Don't forget the tensioner pulley and the alternator.It will have to break one day due to it age or mileage

Ikenna351: A female cousin of mine drives the w202 (not sure if its c180 or c200 though). She would always praise the car whenever i ask her about her . She would always say that the fuel guage appears to be faulty, since it hardly drops, considering the distance from her house to office. But if i were to go for W202, it must be c280 abeg! I like dem powerful biko! Thats me anyway.
Ikenna

For the w202, like my c180, the manual tranny is a lot more sharper than the auto tranny at takeoff and highway

Find Out!:


You should be fine with the C200 I believe. I've been in a C180 auto trans and while i was pleased with the solid feel at 120km/hr, i wasn't too impressed with the take off/launch from rest. I hope the C200 will be faster tho. Just make sure no one sees your car engine except a competent, tested and trusted Benz mechanic.

All the best.

Rust
Wire harness
Pulley
Tensioner
I will take note of these things when I get the car. Hope they are not expensive fixes?

Thank you all for the contributions.

just make sure the check engine lights are not on when the car is running. if so ask for a better deal say about 750-800k

au.hanson:


In my 95 c180 i use 17 litres of fuel from Calabar to PH, in a 4 hrs drive




Don't forget the tensioner pulley and the alternator.It will have to break one day due to it age or mileage

thats like 2k fuel for 4hrs. not bad for old boy!!

If you have not owned a Benz, you ain't gat a car. I am working on acquiring the E 200 very soon.

Saw this online,

" "Nothing is more expensive than a cheap Mercedes". This is especially true because a car that has been abused, or one who's owner failed to perform regular preventative maintenance, will cost many times over it's initial purchase amount in repair bills and headaches. Counter to logic, you really are better off buying the best condition, usually the most expensive, example you can find because the small layout of extra cash now will surely reward you in the future"

Mercedes W202 C200 Auto box and lack of power problems

Basically now and again, almost always at very slow speeds, the car becomes incredibly sluggish for the rpm its at, barely driveable if trying to accelerate back up to speed, and usually (but seemingly not always) refuses to kick down while doing this.

Sometimes it seems like its stuck in a higher gear when stopped too, struggling not to stall and hunting when on the brakes in drive at a standstill. If you pull off when its doing this it will always be very sluggish.

No warning lights show, and if you stop, turn the ignition off then straight back on it works perfectly for a bit, then does it again after a while.

If your rpm is hunting then there's a big problem. Well maybe not so big but there is a problem.

Gee2728: thats like 2k fuel for 4hrs. not bad for old boy!!

i paid N1,650 though

kingschild123: Mercedes W202 C200 Auto box and lack of power problems

Basically now and again, almost always at very slow speeds, the car becomes incredibly sluggish for the rpm its at, barely driveable if trying to accelerate back up to speed, and usually (but seemingly not always) refuses to kick down while doing this.

Sometimes it seems like its stuck in a higher gear when stopped too, struggling not to stall and hunting when on the brakes in drive at a standstill. If you pull off when its doing this it will always be very sluggish.

No warning lights show, and if you stop, turn the ignition off then straight back on it works perfectly for a bit, then does it again after a while.

I'm just wondering why everyone seems to complain about these 4 cylinder engines being sluggish in Nairaland, because mine isnt so( its very vibrant and robust, tho witout a hum), though is a manual tranny too..i think i would have to test a 4 cylinder auto tranny of this variant one day.

Simple problem, I also would advice that you check your over voltage protector(ovp) at your front hood, passenger side;your coils , if possible replace them(just about 5k for new ones each) , they would have been old enough for her age, also check your throttle body(the actuator), your nuzzles and clean them very well with carburetor cleaner, make sure you use bosh oem plugs, if you cant afford them for new , you would atleast afford them at the after market(our popular Belgium market) i have use one bosh bought here for over a year now without any cough.

To round it off, there's just one magic left, check your catalyst, just pour 1/2 gallon of thinner to your fuel tank half full or full tank and rev it up with highway RPM of 25 to 30 RPM steadily for 30 min and above you'll see the magic happen

When you have done all these, take it out on a trip open it up and pull her real hard. Hnceforth, please start enjoying your ride

N/B for the OVP, find a friend with a healthy car, collect his OVP and test in your car to confirm its state , and test yours too in his car

The last time I had an issue of sort was in my W202 C230k. I took it for diagnostic and an error"sporadical rpm" came up. The mechanic simple deleted the error and change the ATF and till date am all gud. Its been 5 months since then with no issue.

kingschild123: Mercedes W202 C200 Auto box and lack of power problems

Basically now and again, almost always at very slow speeds, the car becomes incredibly sluggish for the rpm its at, barely driveable if trying to accelerate back up to speed, and usually (but seemingly not always) refuses to kick down while doing this.

Sometimes it seems like its stuck in a higher gear when stopped too, struggling not to stall and hunting when on the brakes in drive at a standstill. If you pull off when its doing this it will always be very sluggish.

No warning lights show, and if you stop, turn the ignition off then straight back on it works perfectly for a bit, then does it again after a while.

omowaleit:
Thank. Your words of advice noted. What diqualifies honda, for me,is the fear of possible of front wheel gonig off.

front wheel going off on baby boy is just an exaggeration. Ok Honda frnt wheels go off more than any cars but its not as bad as u put it. And I have never seen a 2002 baby boy when go off.

benz is a very great car. i own the c200 kompressor...the only issue ive had is that sometimes the engine bluntly refuse to start. someone said my smart key sensor is weak (dont know how true that is) want to take it for diagnosis.
overall, a very great car design with comfortable interior.