Excuse me does any one know anything about ! MB estates ?

[Mike TV]

I'm Thinking of buying an auto estate large Merc. I was tempted by a 300TE . Can any past owners tell me what to watch for and what they recommend ? Or any advice from any Merc estate owners thanks. M

 

[paulcallender]

Take a look at www.w124.co.uk it contains a lot of useful information on these wonderful cars. How much money were you looking to spend? £1000? £5000?? £20000???

 

[Mike TV]

Thank you. I was gonna spend between £1000 - £2000 but could go up to 3 at a push. Mike

 

[paulcallender]

Okay, for that price, you will be looking for a decent W123 or a W124 which would probably have a few 'issues' which would need sorting out. If your heart is set on a 3 litre, then you're cutting down your chances of finding a nice car; although I don't think the 300s tend to be more expensive than any of the others.

Don't worry too much about the mileage - these cars, as well evidenced elsewhere, can take 300,000 or more miles. In fact its probably better to avoid a low mileage car, because it will probably have been left unused for an extended period of time, and this can cause problems in itself.

For £1000-2000, you will have to deal with some faults or consumable items (eg tyres, exhaust, battery, etc) and so it might be worth saving up £3000.

 

[Mike TV]

thanks thats really helpfull. It doesn't have to be a 300 but I thought That was best what other MBenz Auto estates would you advise for around 2K - 3K

 

[william silver]

W124 Estate

I bought a E320 Estate last November with a recorded 82,000 miles on it from a trader in Caterham. I paid £2500 for it but it showed signs of having had a hard life!
I have had the gearbox stripped and overhauled (George Fraser at Alperton - FANTASTIC!) new n/s wishbone, new anti-roll bar and bushes, some rear end body sprayed at the same time as minor panel spray at the front after a miniscule prang (Mercedes 4 - Datsun 0), new tyres and a full service and tune. Full Clifford alarm and Alpine stereo and cd multi-changer too.
Altogether the car has probably cost approaching £4000 in total - but it's a damn sight more enjoyable than my former Audi 100 estate.
Fuel economy in town is around 22. and around 28 on a run depending on how smoothly/fast you drive.
But I have experienced two cases of threatened assault in road rage type incidents that I never had in all my previous driving years (you don't want to know how many) so is there a jealousy thing around?
Great cars. I imagine that after a certain age of manufacture the best thing to go on is the real condition of the car.

 

[paulcallender]

If you can cope with the slightly higher fuel consumption and insurance, then the 300 is the best one to get. Otherwise, the 230TE is perfectly adequate and its a bit cheaper to run. There are many 200TEs around, but some people say they are slightly underpowered. I've only driven a 230TE, though.

I get around 26mpg from my 230TE. I tend to use most of the performance available, though.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

Some good advice there, go for condition more than mileage or even year. Well maintained high mileage can be fine, I know a lot of people with W123 and W124 estates, none of them are unhappy with their cars and most seem reliable. Best bet is find a good specialist and it should be fine. If its any consolation the W123 and W124 are much better and much more reliable than the more recent models.

 

[Mike TV]

Thanks, and excuse my ignorance but I need to learn fast as i have to buy a car by next week, is a W124 another name for a MB 230 and 124 for a MB 250 ? This is probably perfect engine size for me. (insurance/fuel)
And (as far as i can work out) are these cars are early 90's and late 80's period ? I'm going to be using a large roof rack sometimes (practical reasons I'm afarid) any one doing this currently ? what price/brand do they recomend for the rack ?

 

[Ade]

Mike

123/124 relates to the chassis type/body style. These are the 'E Class' Mercedes. Like Paul I also have a 1991 230TE (124) and unless you're a real petrol head, as Paul says, you should find a 2.3 more than adequate.

The 124 Estates come with longitudinal roof bars as standard and if not sold with the car you can get replacement cross roof bars from somewhere like Halfords for about £85.

The beauty with the 124's is that you can put a load of up to 95Kg DIRECTLY onto the roof without the need for the cross bars (rubber strips fixed directly to the roof prevent scratching).

Believe me these cars are built to last.

The website Paul recommends is perfect to assess what you can get for the money (which is a lot compared to other makes that for sure!). Volvo's are probably the nearest equivalent and I'm sure Volvo fans will disagree but they can't hold a candle to the 123/124's on sheer quality and looks.

Ade