What Have You Done To Your Merc Today?

[Craiglxviii]

Why go through all that then to sell..? Are you likely to pick up a more trustworthy one?

 

[John Laidlaw]

Why go through all that then to sell..? Are you likely to pick up a more trustworthy one?

I've agonised on that Craig, and understand what you mean, really. But I'm just a bit sickened at the moment and thinking of something with no ABC nor SBC, neither of which frankly Ive felt have been beneficial...

 

[Craiglxviii]

I've agonised on that Craig, and understand what you mean, really. But I'm just a bit sickened at the moment and thinking of something with no ABC nor SBC, neither of which frankly Ive felt have been beneficial...

I've gone through the same thought process. The issue for me really boils down to, "what do I want this car for and does it do it?" vs "is it reliable enough to keep viable?" vs "will it continue to cost me a fortune?"

The answer to the first is, weekends holidays and trips out, and yes but awkward with 2 doors. To the second, no not yet and the third, unsure.

But...

Given how nice it is and what else has been fixed, am I likely to find anything else as nice? I'd end up with a CLS500 if I did sell... but if everything working stays that way, what else is there to go wrong?

Needs careful, objective thought. Chucking good money after bad is one thing but chucking money away after it's been spent is another.

 

[LostKiwi]

For me the equation is:
1. Do I like the car enough to persevere with it?
2. If I sell what will I get to replace it and will it be a bigger can of worms (devil you know and all that).
3. What is the cost to change and am I prepared to spend that on the change as opposed to spending it on the current vehicle and what will be the benefits of each option?

On a different note picked up my new (Craig's old leaky) alloys. All sorted and all rebalanced. Bolts due Tuesday then I can play with them

 

[John Laidlaw]

For me the equation is:
1. Do I like the car enough to persevere with it?
2. If I sell what will I get to replace it and will it be a bigger can of worms (devil you know and all that).
3. What is the cost to change and am I prepared to spend that on the change as opposed to spending it on the current vehicle and what will be the benefits of each option?

On a different note picked up my new (Craig's old leaky) alloys. All sorted and all rebalanced. Bolts due Tuesday then I can play with them

It's a good way of looking at it I guess
1. Until this week, maybe
2. Looking to mitigate with less complicated car and newer...still MB warranty age hopefully, still can't rule out getting a rotter
3. Change will be only slightly more than the combined repair costs and residual value drop on my SL over the past nearly 12 months. Would I spend that again on the SL- erm nope just more money lost. Which I suppose puts me full circle back to 1.....in hindsight was this the car I'd keep into old age? Not sure

 

[AMGeed]

It's a good way of looking at it I guess
1. Until this week, maybe
2. Looking to mitigate with less complicated car and newer...still MB warranty age hopefully, still can't rule out getting a rotter
3. Change will be only slightly more than the combined repair costs and residual value drop on my SL over the past nearly 12 months. Would I spend that again on the SL- erm nope just more money lost. Which I suppose puts me full circle back to 1.....in hindsight was this the car I'd keep into old age? Not sure

I see your next car already John
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/clas...0-no-offers-recent-oil-atf-plugs-service.html

 

[John Laidlaw]

I see your next car already John
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/clas...0-no-offers-recent-oil-atf-plugs-service.html

You know me too well Roger, pretty much exactly what I'm now trying to hunt down, albeit I'd like maybe a few less miles and I was also looking for the 'comfort' of some MB warranty. That's a particularly nice colour ! I think also with his comments he may not welcome an SL as a px!

 

[television]

OK I see, I got the MBII as it can reset service stuff and can turn off Adaptive Brakes to change the pads ( no Idea what they do but I have them!)

Honestly I think it should improve resale value, lets face we all know this crap is going to fail, just a matter of time. So having had anything major done a smart buyer could figure in something.

E.g. 2 identical cars, same price at £16,000 market price.
One has had nothing changed, the other has recently had 4 struts, an ABC pump and both control vales done. Circa £6,000 worth of parts and work.
You might try and knock the first by £500, but if pushed wouldnt you pay up to £18,000 (if you had to) for the one with all the work done.

Apparrently the consensus is, that folks wont pay over the odds. I think its about sales education. Say you got the first one, for £15,500 a bargin?? Then £6Ks worth of repairs in the first 4 months ... gulp you ended up paying £21,500

And you know how it goes... a couple of things fail .. you fix them .. you have had enough .. but then something else fails ... course you have to fix it, even if it cost £900 ... er because you cant even sell it if you don't.

Personally I think ABC stuff is so fragile it undermines the Value Proposition of Mercedes .. built for life concept. I think they should sell, struts, pumps, controll valves and accumulators and hoses at cost ... as a mitigation gesture , cos its flakey!

All very odd, here is mine at 70k miles and all very good and a dream car in the 4 years that I have had it.

 

[television]

I hear you Craig..
I will give Grangemouth a try for sure, they've helped me with various parts so far. The going rate seems to be about 550 now for the recon pump, then filter and Pentosin again (no point in recycling the old stuff which although changed 8 months ago is already probably contaminated!), labour etc we'll be over 1k at a guess. Anyway get this done then I think I'm done too - much sorted SL500 for sale I think

Is this the 230 John with all the troubles with the suspension troubles John

 

[John Laidlaw]

Is this the 230 John with all the troubles with the suspension troubles John

It is indeed Malcolm, how you doing tonight old friend?

 

[television]

It is indeed Malcolm, how you doing tonight old friend?

So sad to hear this, how odd, I had to replace the alternator pack, the only thing that I did plus the passenger door wire to the motor, you just never know.

I am just getting through right now thank you.

 

[John Laidlaw]

So sad to hear this, how odd, I had to replace the alternator pack, the only thing that I did plus the passenger door wire to the motor, you just never know.

I am just getting through right now thank you.

These things happen Malcolm - there are more important things in life!Glad you're bearing up to some extent, you take care
And anyway on the SL it just gives me an excuse to get a nice E63 AMG for a change!

 

[John Laidlaw]

I hear you Craig..
I will give Grangemouth a try for sure, they've helped me with various parts so far. The going rate seems to be about 550 now for the recon pump, then filter and Pentosin again (no point in recycling the old stuff which although changed 8 months ago is already probably contaminated!), labour etc we'll be over 1k at a guess. Anyway get this done then I think I'm done too - much sorted SL500 for sale I think

Just FYI, the reman pump is now 754 (plus 110 which you'll get back when you send the old pump....). That's from Grangemouth > My guy had already gone ahead and got one elsewhere though at a similar cost. Some ABC components are going down in price (like the struts) and some not it seems....
I could trawl around endlessly on flea bay and maybe get a bit cheaper but ...

 

[Craiglxviii]

Just FYI, the reman pump is now 754 (plus 110 which you'll get back when you send the old pump....). That's from Grangemouth > My guy had already gone ahead and got one elsewhere though at a similar cost. Some ABC components are going down in price (like the struts) and some not it seems....
I could trawl around endlessly on flea bay and maybe get a bit cheaper but ...

John,

I just checked my price from Welwyn Merx dated August, and the remanufactured pump was charged at £478. It seems odd that it's gone up £280 in the space of 6mth!!!

 

[s5tuart]

Sad to hear your dilemma John. I hope you can get it clear in your mind what's best to do.
I face a similar dilemma with my SL. I really need an estate car and am lucky enough to be able to borrow one at the moment for my needs but my poor SL just sits there regularly for more than a week at a time. I only visit the Shell station once a month or less in it!
I have to make a "sensible"decision on it soon, and it will be a very very sad day when I do! It's been the best car I ever had.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Sad to hear your dilemma John. I hope you can get it clear in your mind what's best to do.
I face a similar dilemma with my SL. I really need an estate car and am lucky enough to be able to borrow one at the moment for my needs but my poor SL just sits there regularly for more than a week at a time. I only visit the Shell station once a month or less in it!
I have to make a "sensible"decision on it soon, and it will be a very very sad day when I do! It's been the best car I ever had.

An estate car gives you longitudinal volume.

Just put the top down and stack things vertically. Hey presto! Instant estate car-like haulage ability!

 

[LostKiwi]

Sad to hear your dilemma John. I hope you can get it clear in your mind what's best to do.
I face a similar dilemma with my SL. I really need an estate car and am lucky enough to be able to borrow one at the moment for my needs but my poor SL just sits there regularly for more than a week at a time. I only visit the Shell station once a month or less in it!
I have to make a "sensible"decision on it soon, and it will be a very very sad day when I do! It's been the best car I ever had.

No reason you can't have both.

We had a similar dilemna last year. We were buying a house in France and realised we would need an estate car as a runabout over there and also to lug things around to furnish it and potentially do building work on the barns to convert to gites.

I found an S210 E240 facelift on gumtree for just £600.
It needed a CPS which was £50, a pair of tailgate struts which was £25 and a £20 ribbon cable kit to repair the in dash temperature readout because it offended my OCD . I also bought a £5 SRS emulator to turn off the sensor pad in the passenger seat. So far thats all it cost me in the past 10k miles. Its not even requested a service yet!

The SL sits on the drive most weeks and gets used on weekends.
The Smart is cossetted round Malcolms in its shelter till the weather improves and the 210 is used as the daily. Once we have things better organised the Smart will be used in the summer as the daily, the 210 will live in a barn in France during summer as a vehicle to use over there if we fly in and the SL will continue as it is. In winter the Smart and 210 will swap places as the Smart is a chore to drive in winter due to its low position making you the target for lighting glare from every other car on the road.

Annual cost of having the 210 are insignificant really - under £1000 per year all in. Thats less than the depreciation on a newer car.

 

[Pullman]

car Phone

Fitted a Tesco pay-as-you-go SIM card into the phone on my W215. works a treat.. although I will hardly use it but it's nice to have it as it was originally.
Cheers, Dave

 

[s5tuart]

No reason you can't have both.

I love those 210's My last one was a beauty!

There are a couple of reasons not to have both though, unfortunately.
First off I only have one allocated parking space for my apartment and the roadway is being yellow lined in April. The nearest garage for rent that I can find is a couple of miles away and £70 pcm!
Secondly and the most disturbing for me is that I hate to think of my lovely car just sitting there not moving and I'm of the opinion that it does the car no good at all.
At the moment it is pristine, apart from a tiny rust bubble appearing on the front wing arch, (due to be cut out and replaced this year) and I don't want things to get worse. It will be booked in to Alex Crow at the end of March for it's MOT and service and then I will make a final decision, probably to sell it. I'm really sad and I know what John is going through!

 

[Pullman]

tell me more

I also bought a £5 SRS emulator to turn off the sensor pad in the passenger seat.

I presume this gadget will turn off the SRS light if the seat has a fault? where does this emulator fit? where did you purchase yours?

many thanks