My C200 drove through a big puddle on Renown Rd in North Rocks, flooding the engine and requiring a tow truck. GIO assessed the damage and declared it a write off. As a result, I'm now looking for another car.
Contents
Criteria
The criteria are much the same again:
- Auto transmission, Kat needs to drive it
- Hatchback or wagon is nice, if it's not fugly
- Features like bluetooth and satnav would be nice
- Cruise control and the like is mandatory
- Parking distance sensors are 95% mandatory
- Not expecting to drive heavily, maybe 100km every week or two, plus the odd long holiday/photoshoot trip
- Higher running costs are okay with me
The insurance payout is $14,269, meaning I've got a budget of about $15-20k. I'm willing to stretch to the higher end if it has the nice things that I wanted to add anyway.
Examples of some things I would've paid to add to the C200 as aftermarket:
- Fat wheels
- Bluetooth/newer entertainment system
- USB ports up the wazoo
- Fold-down wing mirrors to aid parallel parking (good view of gutter)
- Flappy paddle gears, because I'm a bad person
Really good features
I loved a great many things about my C200, and it turns out that many of the features that I took for granted in my 10yo car **aren't standard** nowadays on lesser vehicles.
- Speed limiter for effortless driving at the speed limit
- Climate control, vs. abstract fan speeds
- Vanity mirrors
- Automatic headlights
- Automatic wipers
- Heated mirrors, not as important here but nice
What's new and shiny
We went and had a squiz at some dealerships, there's some nice offerings these days. A new car is mostly out of my budget, but a newish model that's a couple of years old will probably have most of the nice modern tech.
- Mazda3 is still a bloody solid car, but the SP25 class is where it's at.
- Trims are SP25, SP25 GT, SP25 Astina. Only the Astina has leather seats
- The cheapest GT/Astina with less than 100,000km on the clock is $27k
- Cheapest base-level SP25 is $16k
- They have all the bells and whistles, at least in recent incarnations
- Hyundai i30 is better than it has any right to be, it's a solid competitor to the Mazda3
- Get a 2nd gen model, they're 2011 or 2012 onwards. GD model code, vs the older FD
- The Estate/Tourer is apparently pretty good
- Trim level names changed between generations:
- Active
- Elite / SR / Active X: add alloys, auto headlights, auto wipers, satnav
- Premium / SR Premium: adds 17" alloys, leather, folding mirrors, fold-flat rear seats, reverse camera
- Can be had for about $16-17k
- Suzuki Swift is not bad, but I would say only in the Swift Sport incarnation
- Tight, lively to drive, well styled
- Still says "I'm a student" to me
They just knocked $930 off this one, now asking $18,945 with 20,000km on the clock: http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/_/OAG-AD-12154782
- Good power-to-weight ratio, modern 7-speed CVT transmission, premium 98 petrol but fairly frugal
- Toyota: neither of us are in love with the Corolla
- Subaru: haven't looked at, an Impreza is probably the competitor in this class
Mercs
I've taken a good sample from Carsales and whittled down to a few good examples.
- A 2-door coupe with very low mileage, 2006 model, $17,900 asking price. The fitout is on the bland side (small wheels, no hood ornament), but 50,000km on the clock should be worth a couple grand in saved servicing costs.
- Sporty steering wheel and pedals, sporty Merc rims of normal 16" size
- A sported-up sedan with 100,000km on the clock, 2006 model, $17,950 negotiable.
- Flappy paddle gears, sport everything, classic W203 body shape, nice hood ornament even though it's labelled as Avantgarde
- Sporty sedan, 2007 model, 79,000km, new W204 body shape, $19,990 negotiable for moving overseas
- Very fat AMG wheels, no hood ornament, interior plastics might be a bit worn
- A few years older 2-door coupe, a beast of a thing, CLK500, $19,500 with no mention of negotiability, listing hasn't been touched since 2015-12-23, suggesting they might take a hit on price
- Sports wheels and suspension
- Airbags only for front row (not sure if they were available for back row)
- Leather trim and woodgrain everywhere (wood looks very light in colour), electric seats, has satnav?
- Claims to be Elegance trim, but has no hood ornament
Redbook suggests value of $14,900-17,900: http://www.redbook.com.au/cars/research/used/details/2004-mercedes-benz-clk500-elegance-auto/SPOT-ITM-254494
Valuations
I got some valuation on three cars via Glass's Guide, PDF here: http://www.mycarprice.com.au/Certificate.aspx?trns=GCV0028782&email=1
- CLK500 - good value if it's in good shape
- Below Average: $19,000
- Average: $22,000
- Above Average: $27,200
- C200 Avantgarde 2006 - they're asking a lot, but it **is** riced up
- Below Average: $9,900
- Average: $11,300
- Above Average: $15,100
- C200 Elegance 2007 (new W204 series) - seems like quite good value, and low mileage
- Personal Buy Sell: $23,600
Adan's advice
Had a chat with Adan from Maag & Stucki, he mentioned a few things:
- The W204 is a solid, sensible choice for the money
- CLK350 has a history of some more complex problems, which could be costlier to fix
- The CLK500 that I sent him would be a better choice before the CLK350
Riced up components
Waving my hands, how much do I think the extras are worth? Assuming I wanted to do it myself after buying.
- Fat wheels: $2000
- Better entertainment/navigation unit: $500-1000
- Sporty transmission etc: ?
B-class
How about that B-class? Apparently they're practical, but not that pretty. Eg. http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Mercedes-Benz-B180-2010/SSE-AD-3343388/?Cr=3
This 2010 model just dropped $1000 to $17,950, probably closer to fair value for it.
- 104,000km on it, but it should have some decent go in it.
Redbook suggests a price more like $18,900-21,400: http://www.redbook.com.au/cars/research/used/details/2010-mercedes-benz-b200-turbo-auto-my10/SPOT-ITM-253428
Colours
Honda Civic
Generations:
- 8th gen: 2005-2011 (FD sedan, FN hatch)
- 9th gen: 2011-2015 (FB chassis)
- 10th gen: 2015-current (FC chassis)
Current trim levels are:
- VTi (15" wheels)
- VTi-S (chrome handles, auto wipers+lights, climate control, keyless entry+start, leather wheel, more speakers, 16" wheels)
- VTi-L (folding mirrors, foglights, leather seat trim, reverse sensors)
- Sport (bigger engine, paddle shifters, LED mirror blinkers, sunroof, power seats, satnav, 17" wheels)
8th gen is probably best, 9th-gen is apparently very ho-hum. 10th-gen is practically brand new.
Kat likes the 10th-gen look.
Examples: (these are all VTi-S)