2001 Mercedes-Benz E-Class E280 2.8 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Poor design badly executed

Faults:

Always something wrong with this car.

Brakes, ESP, Safety Sensors and airbags.

Safety sensor in drivers seat fault disabled ALL the onboard safety systems. Took two dealers 10 months to fix, totally unacceptable.

Tyres last about 22,000 miles and cost close to £200 each.

Rear seat latch fault never fixed by dealer.

General Comments:

Glad to get rid of this terrible car.

Overweight with poor use of interior space.

Ridiculously high fuel consumption 15-22mpg.

Terrible dealer service, buyer beware!

Good ride quality (in a straight line).

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 6th June, 2003

28th Mar 2004, 21:01

I own a Mercedes E280 (MY SECOND) fuel consumption averages around 25mpg which isn't bad for a 200bhp vehicle of this size. It takes a huge amount of luggage and seats four in comfort. New branded tyres are around £90.00 each and my car has 24k miles on the original tyres. Cracking car,fast, safe and luxurious. I think the reviewer must have a bad one, quite unusual in my experience. My previous one was sold at 130k miles and never needed anything other than routine servicing.

9th Aug 2009, 06:54

I would never buy a Merc of the early 2000's, Mercedes made the big mistake (in this period) to put all its wiring on 2 wires. Electronic problems were all around (except when you're lucky). That proves that, in their effort for simplicity, this didn't work with the complication of their variety of electronic stuff.

2001 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Avant Garde Estate 320 turbo diesel from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A great car that I will buy again

Faults:

This car has not had any serious problems although I have noticed that the paint work has chipped badly on the bonnet.

A light has failed in the speedometer and this also happened on my previous car, an E300. which finally resulted in a new lighting cluster for the instruments, apparently it was not possible to replace a single bulb! I am expecting the same problem with this car.

General Comments:

A great family car with loads of space and comfort.

We travel through France at least once a year and we drive the 800 miles in one day. The car is comfortable economical and extremely relaxing to drive, even when averaging high motorway speeds.

We have low profile sports tyres and are currently on our second full set that needed to be fitted at 45000 miles.

Maybe not such a good idea although they look good!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd February, 2003

3rd Nov 2008, 09:32

I own an '01 E320 and I have had nothing but problems with it. I purchased the car new. 2000 miles into ownership the air conditioning went out. Of course the repair was covered under the warranty but it put a bad taste in my mouth regarding quality control, and overall attention to detail. After that the car was trouble-free for about 5,500 miles. Then the rear window motor failed. In addition to that, the rear defogger failed as well. The window regulator was replaced and the rear defogger only needed a fuse. Once again there was no charge. After another 7,500 miles the TRANSMISSION failed. Well, needless to say I was becoming incredibly frustrated. If that repair wasn't covered under warranty, it would have cost $3000. I have nothing more to say, other than, unless you are getting a substantial warranty with your used E320, don't even consider buying it. Also, the car was not that special in any respect. It wasn't fast, it wasn't incredibly comfortable, fuel efficient, well assembled, and even certain parts of the interior had a flimsy feel, unlike Mercedes from the 1980's.