Faults:

Air springs rear, coil springs front, blower motor, seat cover, oil pan.

General Comments:

Former taxi cab.

Original drivetrain, never opened or repaired.

Very comfortable and adequate power, though it’s equipped with the smallest diesel engine!

Some issues has occurred, but it’s what you can expect on a high mileage car.

High build quality, very reliable, high comfort and very low consumption for a relatively big car.

Average mileage 40-47 mpg or 17-20 km/l or 5-6 l/100 km.

Faults:

Wipers have scratched the glass badly, door squeaks even when new, broken bonnet latch.

General Comments:

After many years with Lexus, decided to switch to a Mercedes instead. Some pre registered cars were offered on sale, and the cheapest E class was as expensive as a mid range C250 CGI.

It's a hit and miss car. Some parts are nice - I like the ambient theatre style lighting, it's fast for a 1600kg+ car with a 1.8 L engine (specs indicate 0 - 100 km/h in less than 8s with the new 7 speed gearbox). Refinement is poor, too much road noise infiltrates the cabin.

Some equipment is useless - there is a PCMCIA slot for media - I have never seen these media cards on sale. You have to be careful with the media display centre - it scratches easily and replacement is $3000.

The steering wheel is offset and not in line with the seating position.

After 125 years of car making, and the E Class being a core Mercedes model, you'd expect it to be perfect. It isn't.