Junkyard Find: 2000 Mercedes-Benz C230
During my junkyard travels, I see plenty of high– zoot European luxury sedans, as once the owner of one of these complex masterpieces of technology stops getting every problem fixed, they depreciate down to hooptie-Sentra price levels in a hurry.Today’s Junkyard Find is a fairly clean 21st-century C-Class with some rough edges, discarded because it’s not worth spending $2,500 for some minor mechanical repair on a car that’s worth $1,800.
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Junkyard Find: 2003 Mercedes C230 Kompressor Sport Coupe
European luxury cars depreciate quickly once they leave the hands of careful first and second owners and start being treated like throwaway rusty Chevy Malibus or Daewoo Leganzas. For this reason, I see more S-Classes than C-Classes in big self-service wrecking yards, and the coupe version of the W203 is an especially unusual Junkyard Find.Here’s one that crashed hard and now ends its days in a Denver-area junkyard.
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Piston Slap: But, But, But…It Has a Stick!
Jack writes:I have a W203 Mercedes-Benz C 230K/1.8L. Would a rear-drive GM DOHC 3.4-liter V6 with a turbo make the 300-plus horsepower I think this car needs? Would an LS V8 fit? Would a 392 Dodge Hemi fit? Unless AMG, even the Mercedes-Benz V12 is only 5.0-liters. My car has the six-speed found in manual transmission Camaros.Thanks!JKD
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  • Wjtinfwb Ford can produce all the training and instructional videos they want, and issue whatever mandates they can pursuant to state Franchise laws. The dealer principal and staff are the tip of the spear and if they don't give a damn, the training is a waste of time. Where legal, link CSI and feedback scores to allocations and financial incentives (or penalties). I'm very happy with my Ford products (3 at current) as I was with my Jeeps. But the dealer experience is as maddening and off-putting as possible. I refuse now to spend my money at a retailer who treats me and my investment like trash so I now shop for a dealer who does provide professional and courteous service. That led to the Jeep giving way to an Acura, which has not been trouble free but the dealer is at least courteous and responsive. It's the same owner group as the local Ford dealer so it's not the owners DNA, it's how American Honda manages the dealer interface with American Honda's customer. Ford would do well to adopt the same posture. It's their big, blue oval sign that's out front.
  • ToolGuy Nice car."I’m still on the fill-up from prior to Christmas 2023."• This is how you save the planet (and teach the oil companies a lesson) with an ICE.
  • Scrotie about 4 years ago there was a 1992 oldsmobile toronado which was a travtech-avis pilot car that had the prototype nav system and had a big antenna on the back. it sold quick and id never seen another ever again. i think they wanted like 13500 for it which was steep for an early 90s gm car.
  • SunnyGL I helped my friend buy one of these when they came in 2013 (I think). We tried a BMW 535xi, an Audi A6 and then this. He was very swayed by the GS350 and it helped a lot that Lexus knocked about $8k off the MSRP. I guess they wanted to get some out there. He has about 90k on it now and it's been very reliable, but some chump rear-ended it hard when it was only a few years old.From memory, liked the way the Bimmer drove and couldn't fathom why everyone thought Audi interiors were so great at that time - the tester we had was a sea of black.The GS350's mpg is impressive, much better than the '05 G35x I had which could only get about 24mpg highway.
  • Theflyersfan Keep the car. It's reliable, hasn't nickeled and dimed you to death, and it looks like you're a homeowner so something with a back seat and a trunk is really helpful! As I've discovered becoming a homeowner with a car with no back seat and a trunk the size of a large cooler, even simple Target or Ikea runs get complicated if you don't ride up with a friend with a larger car. And I wonder if the old VW has now been left in Price Hill with the keys in the ignition and a "Please take me" sign taped to the windshield? The problems it had weren't going to improve with time.