Thinkin of buying my first Merc, please help!

[Will_Ward]

Hey,

I am thinkin of buying my first merc, it won't be a daily drive and i don't mind doing some work on it as long as i can get the car pretty cheap.

Its main purpose is for a long drive around europe that my friend and i are goin on soonish!! then it will be kept and made into a track/weekend car or sold on depending on the money situation!

The car i have been lookin at is a Mercedes Benz 190 Cosworth. I have kinda already fallen in love with the car but need to know some more stuff about it before i make the purchase, or if there is a better alternative? Any suggestions would be great!

Which engine would be best the 2.3 or 2.5? Also what should i look out for when buy, ie comman faults or hard things to repair that i can look out for?

Any help at all would be great!(please remeber i am pretty new with these cars)

cheers

 

[hawk20]

Can anyone advise?

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Hey,

I am thinkin of buying my first merc, it won't be a daily drive and i don't mind doing some work on it as long as i can get the car pretty cheap.

Its main purpose is for a long drive around europe that my friend and i are goin on soonish!! then it will be kept and made into a track/weekend car or sold on depending on the money situation!

The car i have been lookin at is a Mercedes Benz 190 Cosworth. I have kinda already fallen in love with the car but need to know some more stuff about it before i make the purchase, or if there is a better alternative? Any suggestions would be great!

Which engine would be best the 2.3 or 2.5? Also what should i look out for when buy, ie comman faults or hard things to repair that i can look out for?

Any help at all would be great!(please remeber i am pretty new with these cars)

cheers

Hi Will. Welcome to the Forum.

Sorry no-one has got back to you before.

Regarding your trip around Europe. A couple of observations I have, is that a 'specialist' version of a MB may be difficult to mend, should anything go wrong. Not only may there be langauge problems, but access to technical information may be a bit difficult. Best to keep the MB as near basic, as possible. Secondly, take out European breakdown cover (you can Google this) with a specialist Insurance company. As most only cover cars upto 10years old, it may be difficult to find one - but they are out there.

Good luck with your venture.

 

[simon_wall69]

Hi Will. Welcome to the Forum.

Sorry no-one has got back to you before.

Regarding your trip around Europe. A couple of observations I have, is that a 'specialist' version of a MB may be difficult to mend, should anything go wrong. Not only may there be langauge problems, but access to technical information may be a bit difficult. Best to keep the MB as near basic, as possible. Secondly, take out European breakdown cover (you can Google this) with a specialist Insurance company. As most only cover cars upto 10years old, it may be difficult to find one - but they are out there.

Good luck with your venture.

Agree.

I have had breakdown insurance through the aa for my w124, which is over 10 years old. £30 for a fortnight. Other companies, even the RAC with whom I have home breakdown would not give me a price. Some also had conditions on the insurance e.g. would need fsh, etc,.

Bear in mind fuel prices abroad. In Holland, for example, LPG was 35c a litre, diesel 85c a litre and petrol 125c a litre.

The current devaluation of the pound could make a petrol car rather expensive. You might be better off doing the trip in one car, replacing it when you get home with whatever you want.

 

[Will_Ward]

Hey guys

thanks for the feed back, i had no idea about the problems that could have occured because of the age of the car, regarding breakdown cover and insurance.

With regards to the car, i can appreciate that the cosworth is a more specialised vehicle and could be more problematic if repairs were needed. The reason for choosing the car in the first place was the idea of having the quality car with what sounds like a great engine and chassis. (basically a car that could get us to all the places we want easily and then would still be fun to drive when we got there!) Could anyone recommend a good alternative to the cosworth?

thank you

 

[shayes]

My 23 years old 500SEL came with automatic European cover as well as a very reasonable insurance price. Extent of cover may have excluded certain European countries I can't remember as I only wanted to drive to France in it. Think it covered me to have car brought home in event of failure.
I was insured with Heritage Classic via the brokers Chris Knott Insurance. I have always been pleased with their quotes. Think fully comp cost me £140. Shocking!!

Bit more expensive with my new toy. Reliability? well the old girl took five plus adults, Christmas luggage, a porta potty for a Caravan and other junk, 1200 miles without any problem. When I have had a problem it has usually been electrical rather than mechnanical.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I have had breakdown insurance through the aa for my w124, which is over 10 years old. £30 for a fortnight.

I agree with jez and Simon. Insurance by AA is standard price plus a supplement if the car is 10 years old or more. They ask for the servicing to be up to date and suggest that would be checked in the event of a claim. I have never claimed on this, but get the impression that it is a well oiled process.

I used to have classic insurance via Lancaster (comprehensive insurance for an older car, requires photos and declaration at the outset and gives an agreed value in the event of write off). Their scheme included breakdown and accident insurance and arrangements anywhere in Europe as part of the cover, so no extras for travel. Worth noting the maximum duration of foreign travel these policies will accept - especially if you are overseas for a longer period.

 

[JEZ.S320L]

I have been quoted £83 from the AA for renewal of the ANNUAL insurance, which covers the whole of Europe and unlimited trips. Admittedly this is for the ML which, as it is now Spanish registered, will not be renewed.

I will renew it for the S-Class (1998) in readiness for my trip down here in March.

 

[Bolide]

There are plenty of doggy Cosworths around at the moment. The difference in price (and quality) between a good one and a dog is enormous

I'd always recommend buying the best car you can - it'll cost you less in the long run - but that might not fit in with your requirements

Best thing to do would be to see as many cars as you can, learn what makes them valuable (history, condition & originality), learn what the common faults are (search this forum) and then decide based on this

I wouldn't buy the first car you see

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[d215yq]

Regarding European breakdown cover, insureandgo.com cover cars up to 15 years old. In summer was £23 for a week, or you could get cover for both Europe AND the UK for the whole year for £74. Not bad as the AA charge more than that for just UK breakdown cover.

 

[Will_Ward]

Thanks for all the help with the insurance and breakdown cover, I hadn't realised that it could have caused such problems with the car being over a certain age.

Also thanks Nick for the advice about the cosworths, I have a enough time to have a good look around before the purchase and will make sure i am very thorough. However is there any other models you think i should be considering, bearing in mind that driving fun is really high on my agenda, even if this sacrifics comfort, and that i don't have a big budget.

thanks Will