Advice Needed

[chunky]

Hi to all.... I have been offered a Merc 190E 2.0 1988 with 122,000 mls on the clock with service history upto 100,000mls, with cosworth leather interior 17"alloys,lowered & full AGM body kit with 12months MOT for £800 from somebody from work. Iam new to Mercs so here we go.... what sort ov milage can the engine run to, are spare expensive to get & are they ok to DIY service. is ther anything i should look out for on it. any suggestions & replys would be helpful

Cheers
daz

 

[flagstaff]

spares *can* be expensive, depending on which part it is. generally, consumables such as brake pads, filters etc are not too bad, even from the merc dealership - and it is always wise to get genuine parts. on the other hand a fuel pump relay (which has a tendency to expire on these models at rather inconvenient moments) will set you back about eighty quid from the dealer. they're good cars, though, and as long as the oil has been changed regularly should go on for ever (just about). there should be no rust *at all*, so have a good look. 800 bucks could be a fair price, expecially if the car has been looked after properly. head gaskets do go, and although the parts are cheap, the job can be a tricky one. DIY in general on these cars is straightforward ... but suspension components can be a bitch, and if the balljoints at the front haven't been done in the car's lifetime, i'd get em checked out first to make sure that isn't the first thing you'll be doing with the car. the springs and dampers will also probably need replacing soon, if they haven't been already. and the water pump is porbably looking to retire sometime soon. i don't mean to put you off, as i said these cars are over engineered and more than outclass cars half the age in many departments. but as they say - there's nothing so expensive as a cheap merc.