Newbie advice

[David2]

Hi all.
I will have between £8 and £9k to spend on a Merc saloon. I love the W124, and fancy a petrol 6. To complicate things, I also quite like the previous model C class. Have driven neither models, although have travelled as passenger in W124 (diesel - yep, it was a taxi). Difficult questions, but - any advice on how to narow down the choice? With C I guess diesel is more expensive to buy, but is it a lot cheaper to run when servicing etc is taken into account? If petrol 240 or 280 is only slightly more overall in running costs, then I may as well go for the faster car! Any ideas how running costs of W124 and C would compare? Will my budget even get me a worthwhile C, or should I stick to a decent W124. By the way, my annual mileae is quite high, approx 15-18000 miles p/a, at least half of that on the motorway. My heart says a W124 - I just love them - but maybe its getting a bit old as an everyday motor, or are they as unbreakable as legend has it? Any advice gratefully received.

Cheers,
David.

 

[mjtray]

David,

I traded down from a 2001 E220 cdi in April and purchased a 10 year old 1993 E280 (W124) and have been happy ever since.

I bought it with 75,000 miles on the clock and a full MB history. Car was in a very clean condition and came with air-con.

Since then she has worked hard for her living, doing upto 3000 miles a month and its the most comfortable Merc I have had. I've had a couple of the old shape C's, a 180, 200 and 230K and the W124 is in my opinion more comfortable and a better drive.

The straight 6 in the w124's is very smooth and is said to be more refined than the V6's in the C's and is certainly a lot more refined than the 230K and the smaller 4's

The W124 is also built like a tank. I've just come back from a trip to the alps.....2000 miles in a week and the W124 took it all in its stride.

Fuel consumption works out at 26-28 mpg....I've never got higher and that's all mainly on motorways at @ 90mph.

I can really recommend the W124's, and if its the one that you fancy take your time and find a good one and if you find a good independent to service it, they are not expensive to run.

 

[April Fool]

David

My 1993 E320 is still proving unbreakable after 271,000 miles.

If the straight six cylinder W124's are all like mine then I cannot recommend them highly enough.

I still get enormous pleasure driving mine after 7 years of ownership (prior to that it belonged to the company I worked for).

She gets regular oil and filter changes and other routine maintenance by me and anything else is seen to by my local Bosch agent. I went off the main dealer at 198K when on my first time of changing the oil discovered a rounded off sump plug. That's £70+VAT an hour to not even bother to use the correct spanner on the sump plug!

The rear section of the original exhaust was replaced at 220K miles. Head gasket went at 180K, water pump got noisy at 210K, wiper motor at 230K. The climate control has been the biggest problem. the evaporator is a well known achilles heel and means a dashboard out job to replace it. Big bucks.

Other running costs are low with inexpensive tyres on the standard 15" alloys, average of 26-27mpg and negligible oil consumption. Drives like new, just a shame the bodywork hasn't matched the mechanicals longevity. 10 years on and she's started to to look a bit sad and rusty.

Good luck.

 

[David2]

Thanks both. April Fool - 271k miles? ****** hell, that is impressive! Kind of makes me worry less about forking out for a car which will have getting on for 100k on it. Since my last post, I've narrowed it down to a W124 3.2 litre, decided gainst the C, I just far prefer the look of the w124. I'll go for the newest and best I can afford, which seems to be a good motto. But...can't decide whether to go for a saloon or coupe! The coupe is dearer to buy, but presumably costs the same to run (apart from insurance, which seems to be one group higher), but I prefer the look and it seems as if 3.2 litre versions have a higher level spec than the saloons - is this true? Anyway, now I've narrowed things down, can any of you good people regale me with tales of 3.2 litre saloons and coupes, and pass some advice along on the way. One question that springs to mind is the gearbox - 4 or 5 speed? I guess the five is quieter and better on fuel when cruising, but are they both as reliable as each other.
Thanks again,
David.

 

[kensalriser]

I would caution to look for condition first and age second. A ten year old that's been garaged, serviced and looked after is going to be a lot better than a 6 year old that's been abused and kept on the street.
I've also got my eye on a 124 at the moment. I've noticed that the cloth seats show a lot of dirt at anything over 80k, has anyone had their upholstery successfully cleaned? Also, any tips on where the known rust danger areas are?
I must say I'm amazed at some of the fuel consumption figures - my 380SLC gives an absolute best of just under 20 when driven carefully (not easy to do all the time with a V8!) and a worst of 12 around London. Fair enough, but my little Rover 214 runabout only manages 25 around town!

 

[mjtray]

David 2

The five speed auto is claimed to be weaker than the 4 speed.....by how much I'm not sure.

Coupe or Saloon......not much in it other than the Coupe does look great and has a higher spec.

Kensalriser.

I have cloth check seats in my W124 which responded really well to household carpet cleaner.....came up like new.

In terms of rust, I can't really comment....I've looked around my car over the year and the only rust I found was by the front indicator, which had slight rust due to a stone chip. Other than that they don't seem to have much in the way of rust problems....for sure the paint is much tougher than the 2001 E220 CDi i had previously which was peppered with stone chips on the bonnet and wings.

In terms of fuel, I must admit I was expecting worse when I first got the car as they are pretty heavy, not very aerodynamic, and driving through an auto + air con, but the reallity is 26-28 mpg, which is not too bad for a car putting out @ 200bhp.

Great cars!..............a million taxi drivers can't be wrong!

 

[April Fool]

Autobox
I'm not sure how weak the 5 speeds are supposed to be but my 5 speed auto has been totally trouble free, so far.

Rust
Sadly, I haven't seen another W124 as rusty as mine. I don't know why mine is so bad. Both front wings need replacing, the panel below the headlights is holed by rust, all around the windscreen is now bubbling up and a leak has developed, also a bad area above the chrome strip on the boot has been showing for a couple of years. The paint is the two tone metallic blue. The car has spent its entire life outside and for the first 3 years of its life was put through a car wash on a daily basis by the company chauffeur! Perhaps that's why the bodywork is in such poor shape.

Upholstery
Go for leather if possible. Wipes clean and doesn't create any dust.

 

[Spike]

>April Fool

Christ that rust sounds bad.... do you/previous owner live near the coast or something? I cant imagine 3 years of car washing would have madi it quite so bad unless the brushes resembled sandpaper....

 

[April Fool]

Spike

The car has never lived near the coast.

Have I been unlucky ?

Or negligent ?

 

[kensalriser]

MJ, good to hear about the cloth, it's very off putting seeing a grubby interior even if the rest of the car is good, though I suspect it's a great bargaining point for the buyer! I would prefer leather, but I'm not really prepared to pay much of a premium for it.
BTW I think all those taxi drivers have diesels.

April Fool, sounds like the car was washed in brine every day! Seriously, it does sound bad, but I don't think washing a car every day is good for it - unless the weather's quite warm it means the vehicle will almost always be wet. I would guess with the mileage you've done there's little point in replacing panels etc, better to start again with another one!

 

[April Fool]

Kensalriser

I know it doesn't make financial sense, but she is part of the family now. I have thought about selling her (but who wants a rusty mega mileage E320) and buying another one (or even upgrading to a later E430).
But she still runs perfectly, I have known her since she was new AND she has almost every conceivable option extra. The Board of Directors wouldn't let the original owner have an S class so instead spent 47K on an E320 (basic price was 34K back then).

So, the options appear to be:

1) Sell for peanuts;
2) Spend some serious money bringing the bodywork back to a reasonable leakproof standard;
3) Run her into the ground ignoring the cosmetics (and leak).

A tough choice. Option 1 would be like giving her away. Option 3 could take some time, judging by the longevity of the mechanicals so far.

I guess I've never sold a car. I just keep them. And then one day I drive them to the scrapyard.

Anyway, failed her MOT today on corroded brake pipes. At least the emissions were OK (she is still on the original CAT).

 

[Spike]

>April Fool

You could alway do what I did...

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4189&highlight=slovenia

 

[mjtray]

April Fool

Go for option 3...........run her into the ground and enjoy the looks on peoples faces as they get overtaken by a rusty heap.

I have to say that there is something perversly enjoyable about running a car that looks like a shed.

Let her live her final years in glory rather than pensioning her off to the scrap heap early, especially if mechanically she's still up for it.