124 wagon as everyday car?

lanciaman

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Have had enough of our rubbish 2003 Fiat Ulysse. Heater blower failed today. Thinking of a 124 wagon to replace it. Have my eye on a 1990 3.0 24v, 110k miles, 1 owner. No apparent rust in usual places.

Now I am fully aware it is ancient,but I really don't want anything modern with electronic rubbish that is going to fail and cost £100s. And I know the 24v has some ancient electric in it, but they are built so well. But it is 22 years old - am I fooling myself it could be a decent daily car? Around 7k miles a year.

What is the general consensus?
 

television

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They are a very good car all round as can be sen by the amount of them on the road.

It used to be said that the 123 was the last DIY Benz, but the 124 has proved this to be very wrong, parts are every where and not in short supply and many owners tackle quite large jobs, like with all car rust is the biggest killer, as you may have seen from some of the restoration threads, if you are going to keep it, then remove the plastic panels below the waste on post 1990 cars and treat it with wax oil and weld up if need be and you will have a super car.

There are still thousands of them in the Canaries as taxis with 750,000 mile on them and still going strong
 

Ricardo_e220

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7k isn't that much but depends if you have any big journeys in there.

Depends on the car etc, but you are as likely to have issues with an old merc as a 10year old fiat tbh. Just depends if you can spanner yourself or otherwise budget on a pot of cash for repairs
 

paul hayward

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it wouldnt stop me!..i drove a 1964 vw for 3 years..a 124 will be lovely compared to that:lol:
 
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lanciaman

lanciaman

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Trouble with the Fiat is it is really a Peugeot. I have run many Fiats. Alfas and Lancias in the past with no real issues, but this thing is just rubbish.

I am really impressed by the recent 300 24v coupe, and I know a 22 year old car is going to have issues, but there are so many spares around and knowledge, just about everything will be doable, so it does make sense on many levels.
 

teabag

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Trouble with the Fiat is it is really a Peugeot. I have run many Fiats. Alfas and Lancias in the past with no real issues, but this thing is just rubbish.

I am really impressed by the recent 300 24v coupe, and I know a 22 year old car is going to have issues, but there are so many spares around and knowledge, just about everything will be doable, so it does make sense on many levels.
I think you've just answered your own question and talked yourself into buying it
 

hotrodder

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The only thing against these as daily drivers is fuel economy IMO which isn't really a big deal at the annual mileage you're talking about. My 320 is my daily (~ 20k in the 4 years i've owned it*), i would've preferred a 300-24 but all the ones i looked at were dogs waiting to bite... already been run on a 'bangernomics' basis etc

There's plenty of stuff that can still cost £££s though. All age/mileage related maintainence stuff really though... these things did like a head gasket and there's an outside chance this one could still maybe on the origional? The nitrogen filled sphere's for the SLS don't last forever, again could still be on the origionals given the mileage which (if that's the case) would likely be nearing the end of their useful life. Electrically i think the only potentially headache on these is the EZL (ignition) which is nothing compared to the comedy engine looms on the later 280/320. IIRC failure of the EZLs tends to be caused by the heat sink compound drying out i.e. simple preventitive maintainence. They can be quite fussy regarding their dizzy cap- no cheap pattern parts!

Rust wise they tend to hide the important (non cosmetic) stuff... rear jacking points which are hidden by the lower cladding mentioned, rear subframe mounts and the estates are prone to leaks around the boot side windows- looked at lots of 'rust free' cars that were far from rust free if you looked inside the side compartments in the boot.

* So far the list is an alternator (was wearing a recent recon when i bought it which went bang pretty much immediately), rear sphere's and brake/suspension/fuel hard lines (dropped the rear subframe and 'did' everything in the area) and a waterpump. I've not got around to doing it yet but it needs a rad now- the seal between the tank and the core is on it's way out. Aside from normal servicing the other bits are dirt cheap and simple things like new anti roll bar bushes, a track end or two, rebuilding the daft (worlds most complicated solution to a problem that didn't exist) wiper etc. That's on a 200k + (now) car that cost ~ £1k in 2008
 
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brianbrian

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We have had our 1990/124 22yrs as our daily car. No rust, sits in the drive, serviced once a year. Biggest expense new drivers seat cover every 100,000 as they wear on the corner. Hope this helps
 

d215yq

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These make a great daily driver and practical car. My previous W124 was used everyday for work (60 miles roundtrip) and never failed to get me there. My current wagon doesn't get daily use but as my only car is relied on every 2-3 weeks for anythign from a 200 -1000 mile drive into the country/round europe, which it excels at, one MAF sensor being the only non consumable/breakdown so far.

Even fuel economy is reasonable for what they are, only drawbacks are they aren't that powerful but enough power and more than made up for by comfort/ride quality which trounces almost anything modern/old.
 

television

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Even fuel economy is reasonable for what they are, only drawbacks are they aren't that powerful but enough power and more than made up for by comfort/ride quality which trounces almost anything modern/old.

I would agree with you on these points and I can say that about my 140 CL420

The 124 is a wonderful car to run and drive :D
 

teddycatkin

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Youtube W124te test.

Have had enough of our rubbish 2003 Fiat Ulysse. Heater blower failed today. Thinking of a 124 wagon to replace it. Have my eye on a 1990 3.0 24v, 110k miles, 1 owner. No apparent rust in usual places.

Now I am fully aware it is ancient,but I really don't want anything modern with electronic rubbish that is going to fail and cost £100s. And I know the 24v has some ancient electric in it, but they are built so well. But it is 22 years old - am I fooling myself it could be a decent daily car? Around 7k miles a year.

What is the general consensus?

Search on Youtube for the "W124te -: test to destruction" in will give you an idea of just how strong they are ?:lol:
 

trapperjohn

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S124 300D 24v,
I know a guy in Cheshire who is selling his 230 TE. He keeps it in good nick. He just has one car too many.
 

trapperjohn

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Nope. He is a member on here though. I was just having a natter with him the other day about "stuff" and it came up in conversation. Paul "Ringway" is the seller.

Edit.

Have sent him an email with a link to this thread.
 
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television

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Nope. He is a member on here though. I was just having a natter with him the other day about "stuff" and it came up in conversation. Paul "Ringway" is the seller.

Edit.

Have sent him an email with a link to this thread.

That should be a nice car if Ringway has owned it :D:D
 
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lanciaman

lanciaman

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I know a guy in Cheshire who is selling his 230 TE. He keeps it in good nick. He just has one car too many.

A 230 would make more sense than the 300 24v really. This is more about sense than "desire" if that doesn't sound daft. The big engine not needed for the everyday car , it's just this 300 24v came up and being 1 owner has an appeal.
 

television

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I ran a 300TE for 3 years, yes a wonderful car and it did shift particularly if you used kick down from the start, not sure though what the savings would be by going down. I only had the Swedish km fuel figures and that was 1.1 liter per 100km as against a ford 1.4 using 06.0 per 100km so about 20mpg as near as I can work out.
 

mej

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My first diesel car and 2nd Benz was an early W124 250TD manual. One of the first in UK in 1986. Doing large mileages then. It certainly taught me a lot about making progress. Whilst it was very slow (I now have 5cyl 20valve and a 6 cyl 24 valve W124s which are perfectly quick enough) the journey times were hardly different from my previous 230CE. It's the traffic and the driver's anticipation that make the difference. For example, truckers' average times are remarkably quick compared to boy racers. Terrific cars the 124s. Don't hesitate to dive in.
 

television

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My first diesel car and 2nd Benz was an early W124 250TD manual. One of the first in UK in 1986. Doing large mileages then. It certainly taught me a lot about making progress. Whilst it was very slow (I now have 5cyl 20valve and a 6 cyl 24 valve W124s which are perfectly quick enough) the journey times were hardly different from my previous 230CE. It's the traffic and the driver's anticipation that make the difference. For example, truckers' average times are remarkably quick compared to boy racers. Terrific cars the 124s. Don't hesitate to dive in.

I think that you are spot on there, and proved so many times :D:D
 

ShivaYash

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I'd second what everyone else has said in their replies. I purchased my first 124 earlier this year as the 123 wasn't big enough. Have not looked back. The 124 estate is perfect for my new needs as a father. Luxury and economy - two things not often said together. I live in London and the traffic is bad, so I opted for the E200 variant. Lots of rubbish about how the four cylinder cars are underpowered. Well, I really find it hard to believe that Mercedes engineers would have allowed this to happen! This Christmas I've had the car fully loaded with 5 suitcases in the boot, and four adults in the front, plus baby and associated bits. The car is perfect on town and on the motorways. Sure it's not going to win any races but I've never felt it to be dangerously slow or weak; I put my foot down and it shifts. Since owning I've done the front ball joints and wishbones. I also replaced the thermostat just last month. My car needs a few more things more nothing urgent. It's a lovely drive and after the 123 feels very modern. Try and go for leather and aircon. I did and the whole journey feel special. Don't worry about mpg, esp if you do low miles. I get 25-33mpg and do 3500 miles per year. Good luck in your search.
 

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