My Wish Came Through (haha)

[Heartlander]

Yeah I get where you're coming from. But that's why new buyers should make friends with old birds to guide them.

 

The way I drive (handling on sport, powertrain on track and pure manual shifts after warmup), my FC is atrocious. I think slightly less than 6km/l though I haven't calculated. I go wide open throttle frequently and I accelerate ...er...within the limit wink wink lol.

 

If I left it fully in normal mode with auto shifts, my FC would be better but I still don't think I can hit 7km/l. My foot is too heavy for that. With a lighter foot I can achieve 7+ but I would die of frustration haha.

 

I don't worry about FC. Life's too short.

 

I would think many newbies on cars are more reserved type, and this forum as it is does not really encourage interaction or "mentorship". The new member intro thread imo is abit cliché and don't think many newbies will want to declare themselves there. A more useful approach imho would be having a thread/section where old birds volunteer their time on regular basis to meet up with newbie to wash car or help them to solve certain issues like weird noise from certain part of the car or just improving the car audio, sort of allowing newbies to "choose" who they are comfortable with to get personal help from the offers available, and in return offer simple kopitiam meals or kopi for the favour rendered, not becoming a commercial service type of arrangement. This will definitely be useful and create bonding for the forum, but would need a group of dedicated old birds to make it work. Anyway just a thought.

 

And thanks for sharing about your FC. Surprise that the actual FC is only about 6km/L even with a heavy foot, not far from quoted figure. Even the FC for my previous humble Vellfire also have dipped dipped below 7km/L before even though it is not a performance car haha. 

[1fast1]

I would think many newbies on cars are more reserved type, and this forum as it is does not really encourage interaction or "mentorship". The new member intro thread imo is abit cliché and don't think many newbies will want to declare themselves there. A more useful approach imho would be having a thread/section where old birds volunteer their time on regular basis to meet up with newbie to wash car or help them to solve certain issues like weird noise from certain part of the car or just improving the car audio, sort of allowing newbies to "choose" who they are comfortable with to get personal help from the offers available, and in return offer simple kopitiam meals or kopi for the favour rendered, not becoming a commercial service type of arrangement. This will definitely be useful and create bonding for the forum, but would need a group of dedicated old birds to make it work. Anyway just a thought.

 

And thanks for sharing about your FC. Surprise that the actual FC is only about 6km/L even with a heavy foot, not far from quoted figure. Even the FC for my previous humble Vellfire also have dipped dipped below 7km/L before even though it is not a performance car haha.

It's actually sub 5km/l see the image in my edit.

 

I drive on non-expressway routes though. Lots of stop go, road hogs and the occasional speed trap. Damn irritating.

[Alligator]

Ok now that the process has completed, I would like to share about my latest motoring experience.

 

I have owned a 2015 Vellfire for a year, and due to many reasons I shared previously, decided to change it to 2 small rides. As I did not want to pump in much cash, I could only look at rides of upto $80k each. Good thing the Vellfire was offloaded at very good price, I eventually only need to pump in another $10k.

 

Now what can you get for less than $80k? One thing

I was not keen to go PI route again unless bopian.

So the typically options if getting new rides are small japanese rides like Jazz or Note, or Korean cars like basic Elantra and K3. Then I also looked at used cars which I have never done before to see if any cars worth it. Eventually I fixed my eyes on 2013 B200 which would cost about $65k which are latest model but pre-facelift. My confidence grew after I visited a few used car dealers as the condition of the cars were really good for any 5 year old cars. The leather are basically still wrinkle free and all the internal panels and buttons are still in very good condition, unlike the jap rides I have had which look old after just 2 to 3 years. Eventually I settled on 2015 B180 which is essentially the latest facelifted model. As the 2 rides are for my wife and myself, my wife wanted to get a Jazz initially but she was put off by the Jan/2019 delivery timeline. She was not keen on Elantra/K3 after seeing them in flesh. After awhile, my enthusiasm on B180/B200 rub off on her and she decided to get a B180 as well.

 

Now I will share why I think B180/B200 is a viable alternative compare to typical jap/Korean fares. For about the same cash outlay, it is 7 years of former vs 10 years of later. I am willing to forsake the 3 years to have better motoring experience. It is a Mercedes after all, though a lesser one so to speak. After doing test drive of Jazz/Note and seeing K3/Elantra in flesh, I am ok to give up 3 years of ownership for the B-class ride. I love the B-class ride as it is almost perfect for what I want in a small car - compact on the outside, spacious in the inside, and full of all the hi-tech features in a very safe and powerful package. Imagine century sprint of 9.1sec, assist parking, integrated TPMS, latest safety features, etc ,etc.. And best of all, it is still the latest facelifted model.

 

And I also did abit of research on ownership cost. I used to think servicing and parts for Mercedes is going to cost much more, but reality is not really that bad. For servicing, C&C offers servicing packages of 3 and 5 servicing. For B-class, it cost about $810 for 3 servicing, and $1400 for 5 servicing. If you factor in servicing interval of 15,000km for Mercedes, 3 servicing would be more than enough to cover 2 years of servicing. This means before any replacement parts, servicing cost for my case would come to $810, which is actually lower than what I was charged for my previous jap rides over the 2 year period with 4 servicing. No doubt I have to cater more for replacement parts which is going to cost more now.

 

And the road tax I have to pay for my B180s also cost lesser than the Vellfire, $740 + $740 vs $1800. But I have to pay more for insurance. Even for petrol also I have to pay more but not much more as the FC for Vellfire is about 7.5km/L whereas B-class should get about 12km/L sasily, so not much difference.

 

And then I have to navigate the used car dealers to get the used B180. This part is the most tricky and dreaded as have read many horror stories. Eventually I would say I am just lucky as both cars were transferred within a week of taking over the rides after finalizing the finance part. I know I should have done more by checking service records at C&C before confirming the deal but I chose to belief the STA reports and test drives and everything look and feel normal.

 

And after owning both rides for a week and 3 weeks respectively, I have been happy with them so far. I would not be willing to shell out the money for them brand new, but pleased tat able to get them now at about 50% off their past purchase prices. I would think they are good deals for 3 year old cars.

 

The motivation has been to try something new as not getting young anymore. And if it does not pan out well, can just sell them away and get something else that is safer. Whichever way I see there is no harm in beating this path. And right now both my wife and myself are enjoying the rides very much as it really offer much more than the typical jap/Korean fares. And if both rides are still in good shapes 7 years from now, just need to renew the COE for another 5 years.

Hope this will inspire more to do the same.

 

My apologies for the long story, as impossible to do it in 1 or 2 paragraphs. Hope you enjoy this sharing. Cheers.

 

 

Now that you have driven your COEd B class x2 for some months, what are your reviews ? I'm asking be is I'm considering a COEd B class too

[Sdf4786k]

Yeah I get where you're coming from. But that's why new buyers should make friends with old birds to guide them.

 

The way I drive (handling on sport, powertrain on track and pure manual shifts after warmup), my FC is atrocious. I think slightly less than 6km/l though I haven't calculated. I go wide open throttle frequently and I accelerate ...er...within the limit wink wink lol.

 

If I left it fully in normal mode with auto shifts, my FC would be better but I still don't think I can hit 7km/l. My foot is too heavy for that. With a lighter foot I can achieve 7+ but I would die of frustration haha.

 

I don't worry about FC. Life's too short.

 

EDIT: Blardy hell, even worse than I thought.

 

wow.. your regular Petrol station attendant may become your BFF. 

[1fast1]

wow.. your regular Petrol station attendant may become your BFF.

I'm quite popular with the attendants and counter staff at at least 3 different Shell stations.

[Jb15]

Congrats, I sat in a friend's B class recently and felt the power and size was good. A little underrated car indeed. Reminds me of my spacious hatch but with my hot hatch power.

Ok now that the process has completed, I would like to share about my latest motoring experience.

 

I have owned a 2015 Vellfire for a year, and due to many reasons I shared previously, decided to change it to 2 small rides. As I did not want to pump in much cash, I could only look at rides of upto $80k each. Good thing the Vellfire was offloaded at very good price, I eventually only need to pump in another $10k.

 

Now what can you get for less than $80k? One thing I was not keen to go PI route again unless bopian. So the typically options if getting new rides are small japanese rides like Jazz or Note, or Korean cars like basic Elantra and K3. Then I also looked at used cars which I have never done before to see if any cars worth it. Eventually I fixed my eyes on 2013 B200 which would cost about $65k which are latest model but pre-facelift. My confidence grew after I visited a few used car dealers as the condition of the cars were really good for any 5 year old cars. The leather are basically still wrinkle free and all the internal panels and buttons are still in very good condition, unlike the jap rides I have had which look old after just 2 to 3 years. Eventually I settled on 2015 B180 which is essentially the latest facelifted model. As the 2 rides are for my wife and myself, my wife wanted to get a Jazz initially but she was put off by the Jan/2019 delivery timeline. She was not keen on Elantra/K3 after seeing them in flesh. After awhile, my enthusiasm on B180/B200 rub off on her and she decided to get a B180 as well.

 

Now I will share why I think B180/B200 is a viable alternative compare to typical jap/Korean fares. For about the same cash outlay, it is 7 years of former vs 10 years of later. I am willing to forsake the 3 years to have better motoring experience. It is a Mercedes after all, though a lesser one so to speak. After doing test drive of Jazz/Note and seeing K3/Elantra in flesh, I am ok to give up 3 years of ownership for the B-class ride. I love the B-class ride as it is almost perfect for what I want in a small car -  compact on the outside, spacious in the inside, and full of all the hi-tech features in a very safe and powerful package. Imagine century sprint of 9.1sec, assist parking, integrated TPMS, latest safety features, etc ,etc.. And best of all, it is still the latest facelifted model.

 

And I also did abit of research on ownership cost. I used to think servicing and parts for Mercedes is going to cost much more, but reality is not really that bad. For servicing, C&C offers servicing packages of 3 and 5 servicing. For B-class, it cost about $810 for 3 servicing, and $1400 for 5 servicing. If you factor in servicing interval of 15,000km for Mercedes, 3 servicing would be more than enough to cover 2 years of servicing. This means before any replacement parts, servicing cost for my case would come to $810, which is actually lower than what I was charged for my previous jap rides over the 2 year period with 4 servicing. No doubt I have to cater more for replacement parts which is going to cost more now.

 

And the road tax I have to pay for my B180s also cost lesser than the Vellfire, $740 + $740 vs $1800. But I have to pay more for insurance. Even for petrol also I have to pay more but not much more as the FC for Vellfire is about 7.5km/L whereas B-class should get about 12km/L sasily, so not much difference.

 

And then I have to navigate the used car dealers to get the used B180. This part is the most tricky and dreaded as have read many horror stories. Eventually I would say I am just lucky as both cars were transferred within a week of taking over the rides after finalizing the finance part. I know I should have done more by checking service records at C&C before confirming the deal but I chose to belief the STA reports and test drives and everything look and feel normal.

 

And after owning both rides for a week and 3 weeks respectively, I have been happy with them so far. I would not be willing to shell out the money for them brand new, but pleased tat able to get them now at about 50% off their past purchase prices. I would think they are good deals for 3 year old cars.

 

The motivation has been to try something new as not getting young anymore. And if it does not pan out well, can just sell them away and get something else that is safer. Whichever way I see there is no harm in beating this path. And right now both my wife and myself are enjoying the rides very much as it really offer much more than the typical jap/Korean fares. And if both rides are still in good shapes 7 years from now, just need to renew the COE for another 5 years. Hope this will inspire more to do the same. 

 

My apologies for the long story, as impossible to do it in 1 or 2 paragraphs. Hope you enjoy this sharing. Cheers.

 

[Heartlander]

Now that you have driven your COEd B class x2 for some months, what are your reviews ? I'm asking be is I'm considering a COEd B class too

The 2 cars serfe the extenbed family very wel, as i live with my parents-in-laws. I could drive to work on week days while my wife csn use the other one to run errands.

 

In tetms of reliability, the one i using hax got a coolant tank crack as well as coolant solenoid assembly issue, thus having $800 spent to replace them. Will be sending same car to replace a sdnsor wire in engine block on tomorrow. So far these ard the major ones that happened i hope they will not happen again soon.

 

I would think this is acceptable. In return, the rides are very easy to drive and powerful enough, so no complain lah.

 

If you intend to buy a old B-class, remember to send it to C&C workshop which actually provide tbis kind of service. Another avenue is to engage mechanic fr trusted wworkshops such as Chip Soon to do checking.

[Alligator]

The 2 cars serfe the extenbed family very wel, as i live with my parents-in-laws. I could drive to work on week days while my wife csn use the other one to run errands.

 

In tetms of reliability, the one i using hax got a coolant tank crack as well as coolant solenoid assembly issue, thus having $800 spent to replace them. Will be sending same car to replace a sdnsor wire in engine block on tomorrow. So far these ard the major ones that happened i hope they will not happen again soon.

 

I would think this is acceptable. In return, the rides are very easy to drive and powerful enough, so no complain lah.

 

If you intend to buy a old B-class, remember to send it to C&C workshop which actually provide tbis kind of service. Another avenue is to engage mechanic fr trusted wworkshops such as Chip Soon to do checking.

Wow thank you for the review. I'm still searching for a suitable COEd B class ... Hope I find one soon j