2001 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Elegance review from UK and Ireland

Apart from the usual consumables, there have been quite a few breakdowns. The Michelin Primacy HP tyres I fitted at 42,000 miles lasted very well, and were still on the car when I disposed of it at 59,500 with plenty of life left.

0 - 33,000 : From invoices supplied with the car, during this period.

Catalytic converters failed and were replaced.

Front roll bars replaced.

Brake light switch replaced.

33,633 - Corrosion in doors.

38,303 - electrical problem with indicators, went away of its own accord.

40,125 - corrosion in rear wheel arches and offside front wing.

40420 - all ABS, brake assist and electronic stability warning lights on - this is a known fault in this model, easily fixed by replacing brake pedal stop light switch.

49,449 - drive shaft oil seals leaking.

50,162:

Mass air flow sensor failed.

2 HT leads replaced due to misfiring.

CD unit in boot failed (loose wire).

56,238 - Replaced front brake discs (noticeable corrosion in sub frames, brake pipes, etc when car examined on ramp. Heat shield bolts all corroded, and heat shield lying on top of exhaust silencer).

56,438 - Front coil spring broke.

59,500 - Major ABS fault estimated at around £1000 to repair, plus another broken coil spring.

This is a big powerful and comfortable luxury car and a relaxed motorway cruiser. Full consumption is good for its size - only around 20mpg in stop/start town traffic, but up to 32mpg on long distance cruising.

Car has always has full MB service history, and I bought an MB warranty each year, which covered most of the repair costs, although the warranty was expensive, and I might have been as well without it and paying for repairs as they happened.

However, reliability is not good and repairs are expensive. My previous Nissan Primera was far more reliable. Car was finally disposed when the cost of the last repair was about 50% of the value of the vehicle.

The big fault with this model is corrosion. There are multiple problems with poor quality paintwork and corrosion that should just not happen to a car of this standard. The corrosion problems in Mercedes of this age are now well known - an Internet search will bring up lots of information. Mercedes are covering some, but not all of the corrosion on an out-of-warranty basis, but by the time I parted company with the car, it was clear that serious corrosion had taken hold, and would become very obvious over the next couple of years.