Buying Estate Advice Required

[saz]

Hi Folks -
New the board - but been browsing the threads. Good to see a board as enthusiastic as the MX5 one.
With the family growing, I need to finally put my beloved MX5 into the garage for the sunny days only and get a bigger wagon as the workhorse.
I'm looking for advice on estates, preferably diesel but economic petrol ok.
Since this will be the second car, I'm budgetting @ £3k for late 80's or better, early 90's.
All advice, recommendations or referrals will be much appreciated.

I just to run a 1991 BMW 520 so the running costs, servicing, insurance is ok. However my mileage is all personal payment this days - so best mpg is the key as I do @ 2k miles per month.
Many thanks.
SAZ

 

[Bolide]

Buying Advice

Saz


For that budget I'd be looking for an E220 (1992 onward). The engine's more up-to-date than the older 230TE and should be more economical

I don't think a diesel's within your budget unless you get a much older (1986-1991) 250 or 300TD. These old diesels are great but hilariously slow. After an MX5 they will be very relaxing but maybe a tad trying

Condition is everything: be fussy, learn the options, be wary of clocked cars and drive lots of examples before making a decision. If it feels wrong, don't buy it. Watch for clonky auto boxes, bouncy rear suspension, rusty wings, worn tyres, shabby interiors, broken sunroofs and tarted-up dogs

Older 300TEs are very tempting, particularly fully loaded cars with leather & aircon. Don't do it unless you like collecting petrol receipts!


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[andy_k]

you should do quite nicely on that price bracket - I picked up a fully loaded 96 W124 E320 estate up for £1700 last week and I've seen plenty of 94/95 E220s around sub 2k. Prices are low at the moment so it's a good time to be buying. The 220/ 230 petrol engines give more than adequate performance (unless you are planning on towing a large caravan) with good economy (our old 230TE used to average 30+mpg even around town). the 300s, apart from the 24 valve version seem underpowered for what they are but the 24 valve is lively as is the 320

Make sure it's been looked after (a full service history is a bonus but not an essential) and check the self levelling suspension out - if it needs work ie the rear suspension is harsh or it's leaking then things can get expensive.

Bodywork is harder and more expensive to fix than the mechanical, these cars are well built and parts are reasonably priced from Mercedes themselves.

Great cars and possibly the best estate ever built

Andy

 

[Ramius]

I have a 300te24 1991. Yes it is a little more heavy on juice than the others being a big engine but it wears well taking very little effort to both accelerate and sustain speed. Mines a 7 seater and has a loaded spec. Aircon, cruise, leather the lot!

Rattles, clanks and knocks are not a good sign. Watch for the oil pressure of the engine being no less than 1.5 when hot and on idle. No hunting of the engine either. If it is it may be just a little muck but it could also be the sign of a more costly repair. Check the ATF fluid is a nice red colour too.

Mines at 143k all orgional and no issues (touch wood) to date.

Oh one last thing. W124 front and rear wings have a lip on them that collects grim and road mess. It retains moisture and causes rust on those panels. Mines due two front wings (£25.5 each plus paint) but rear wings are a little more money.

Good luck and let us know what you end up with wont you.

 

[Pontoneer]

Excuse me for just copying & pasting my reply to a similar enquiry over on the M-B Club forum - it would have been a lot to re-type.

Although I currently run a 300TE24 , I have also had the 12V version and I cannot agree with the earlier statement that it is underpowered , surely 185 bhp is more than ample for everyday driving ?

Here's what I wrote over on the other forum :-

On 124 estates generally , check the bottom edge of the tailgate for rust , water seems to ingress around the window seal - this can cause problems for the rear wiper causing it to seize up ( I have seen this numerous times ) and the electric closure mechanism for the tailgate can also suffer ( I have replaced this twice on my last estate car and have just replaced the unit on my newly acquired car - fortunately they tend to be around £25 from a breaker so not too bad but a bit of a fiddly job to do & remember to swap your own lock barrel into the new mech so your key still fits ) .

In the boot open the two side flaps where the spare wheel and first aid kit etc live and look at the joint between the wheelarches and the wing - water can get in from the bottom edge of the side windows causing rust in these areas - wet carpets in the boot are also a bad sign . While the flaps are open stick your fingers up the gap below the windows and feel for rust .

The only other place to check which is not immediately obvious is the inner wings behind the headlamps and under the washer bottle - I have seen some 124s rust here .

Rusty wheelarches etc will be obvious - front wings are easily replaced but the back ones are going to involve welding .

The BIG thing to check on all Merc estates is the condition of the hydraulic pipes for the self levelling - they are very prone to rotting away at the back where all the road salts gather - these pipes are a major pain to replace as they were fitted to the underbody before the suspension and run above it ; the pipes themselves don't cost much but there is a lot of labour involved in replacing them . If your pipes are good , get under the car and paint them with Hammerite or similar before they rust - I learned the hard way having replaced them on a 123 estate as well as my last 124 . If you do lose your hydraulic fluid the pump will run dry - the rear end may stay up but it could collapse - and on 6 cylinder engines this is a tandem pump which also serves the power steering - very expensive ( £450 ish + vat ) . On cars with an ASD diff the hydraulic fluid for the levelling system also supplies the diff - I think this may have had something to do with the diff failure on my 300 TE .

Don't be put off - these are things to check for - they are GREAT cars !

Derek.