tracing history

[chris-edinburgh]

Hi all,

ive recently bought a 190 2.3-16 as a restoration project, unfortunatly, the previous owner is not willing to pass over the service history and documentation to the garage i purchased it from or myself.

My question is as follows, awhich routes can i take to try and trace its history,
for example its supplying dealer, etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

 

[mjtray]

Previous owners being a bit tight ......would he consider photocopying it for you?

If not, ask him who did the servicing and then contact them and ask them to print out the service history for you.

I did this on a previous W124 and Woking Motors printed out 16 pages of computer print out for me.....going into the garage did make a big difference, I doubt they would have done it if I had just asked over the phone.

Are you also aware that for a £5 fee the DVLA will also provide you with all of the names and addresses of any other previous owners....I have found this very useful when tracing the history on my current restoration project. Most ex owners are happy to part with information as they are normally interested to see whats happend to their old car.

 

[squealinneil]

It sounds like the last owner has a dispute with the selling garage, which usually involves money & someone getting screwed. Have you tried making an appeal directly to him, telling him you're the innocent party in the middle, just want to preserve the car etc etc?
A direct face to face appeal to his better nature & maybe 50 quid for his trouble might do the trick. 50 quid for a service history is a real bargain.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

If the car was owned/maintained by a company or self employed person they are legally obliged to retain invoices and receipts for revenue audit purposes for I believe six years. I have to keep mine and so would be unable to part with them to a subsequent owner. Your best bet as suggested is to try and get a photocopy of them.

 

[chris-edinburgh]

Hi guys thanks for the replies,

**mjtray
Ive contacted the previos owner, he wont consider helping me out, as they are his receipts, and in his view, me requesting them is viewed as calling him a lier because he has verbally told me of a few repairs,
The last garage that done 1 service fax'd me 3 invoices for a few months before i got the car at 166000 miles, they done nothing previous to this...
I didnt know that they could actually provide you with the naes and adresses, i thought this to be confidential? That would be great if they can do that!!!

**squealinneil
I tried discussing this over the phone, and i do think you are probably right. I wrote to him also with a cheque, saying i would pay for the history, but the cheque was never cashed.

**OlafMaxwell
I believe he was self employed and a tradesman, the car apparently done some 100000 miles in his care, it was howver registered to his name and no a company name?

 

[landover]

Why do you want all this on an old 190.The guy probably did the repairs himself.How bad is the car when you say a restoration project...Did you buy it from an MB dealer or a car sales.

 

[bazza]

Chris, why not go to a dealer? I presume they can tell you something of its history. Problem will be trying to find someone willing to do some work without getting a sale. Perhaps the parts dept?
Can't do any harm if you turn up when they aren't busy


Bazza

 

[chris-edinburgh]

Hi Bazza,
how u doing, not spoke to you in a while,
ive tried main dealers up my way but they cant help as all the records are dealer specific, tried MB headquarters, but also no luck.
So im in process of trying to get the names and adresses of previous keepers, so i can try and find out which dealers were in that area.

Landover. Hmmm, interesting reply. What do you drive at present?

 

[landover]

Hi Bazza,
how u doing, not spoke to you in a while,
ive tried main dealers up my way but they cant help as all the records are dealer specific, tried MB headquarters, but also no luck.
So im in process of trying to get the names and adresses of previous keepers, so i can try and find out which dealers were in that area.

Landover. Hmmm, interesting reply. What do you drive at present?

I drive A Class diesel And an Sclass V12 Also Three landrovers.All i was saying is do you think it being so old it will have full history.Is it very important the history ...How bad is the car???????

 

[chris-edinburgh]

The history isnt very important, i am just very curious as ive spent a ot of money on it and even more time. I just thot it would be interesting to know, plus with it also being a rarer model. When i first bought, it looked ok, and in need of just a slight tidying, but the closer i dug, the more things needed doing. For example, underside appeared sound, after bodykit removed, revealed lots of welding work etc, same with self leveling suspension, full injection system strip down, the owner before the last #3 told me that the car had full history, however had been in a rear end shunt before he had it, he subsequently had it repaired on a jig, and verbally, the previous owner #4 said that he had the oil done every 6000 buy a local garage.
I just think it would have been nice to get all the history which would complement the restoration that im doing.

 

[landover]

The history isnt very important, i am just very curious as ive spent a ot of money on it and even more time. I just thot it would be interesting to know, plus with it also being a rarer model. When i first bought, it looked ok, and in need of just a slight tidying, but the closer i dug, the more things needed doing. For example, underside appeared sound, after bodykit removed, revealed lots of welding work etc, same with self leveling suspension, full injection system strip down, the owner before the last #3 told me that the car had full history, however had been in a rear end shunt before he had it, he subsequently had it repaired on a jig, and verbally, the previous owner #4 said that he had the oil done every 6000 buy a local garage.
I just think it would have been nice to get all the history which would complement the restoration that im doing.

I can't see the interest in this car with all the welding and repairs you are doing.You can pick up a decent 190 for £500 with history mot x tax.I have seen older 190's and they don't need welding.If it needed jiged it must have been a heavy rear end smash.No wonder they are hiding the history.

 

[squealinneil]

landover - it's a Cosworth, not an ordinary 190. Have to question the welding though. I've had two 190E 2.5-16s & they had zero rust let alone welding - perhaps badly repaired bash caused it.

chris-edinburgh,
how much did the car cost you & how much extra have you put in it? What's the year & mileage?

 

[chris-edinburgh]

squealinneil,
at last some-one who knows their mercs!!!!
Ok, ill explain the welding, we have boot floor behind the n/s bumper, the drain hole had obviously been blocked up and the hole opened up, next one was the jacking point, at the rear, where the hole that the plug goes opened up, next was under the rear wheelarch bodykit, where the holes are that hold it on, they opened up, floor pan and structure are basically solid,
as for the accident damage, i dont think it was too bad from what i can see, have stripped back all the sealand and undercoat etc, no signs of anything anywhere on the car, so whoever did the final repair done it very well indeed.
The car cost under 2k with MOT, have put in bout 3k in parts, but again, it is a project car, not a car to buy with the view to make money on, insurance valuation are happy with 5k value. the year is jan 88, the milage was 166 when i bought it,

Landover... again, if you have to ask what the interest in this car is, you dont know your mercs at all really, i bought a rough example as i enjoy car repairs, didnt want to buy a mint one as that takes all the fun out of getting the end product,
You could post us all some links where you are finding decent 190 2.3-16, with full history etc for £500. Take a look on autotrader.
Its all down to personal taste, i cant see the interest in driving a slow V8 S-class, but each to thier own

 

[landover]

Take it you don't know your merc's either .My S 600 is not a V8 it is a V12 5.5ltr 0=60 4.5secs 160mph I would rather sit in this than an old welded up 190.With the amount of welding you would be better off with my engine to pull the extra weight.

 

[bazza]

Landrover, do you know that when you edit a post,we can see the time it was done? :wink:


What is it anyway, W140,W126 or W220?(V8 or V12)

Bazza

 

[chris-edinburgh]

cheers bazza,
i recall it was a v8 also, dont think Ladaover know what kinda car he has himself, but im pretty confident my welding is better than his driving.
but seeing as the merc is my "B" car, would be happy to take on any V8 S,class in my aero. 8)

 

[chris-edinburgh]

ow, also, are all mercs not limited to 155mph?
are S600 also not 4.8 secs to 62.5?

Maybe MB got it all wrong on their web page.

maybe landrover made a version which would be a little cheaper than £93,090.
:lol:

 

[landover]

Landrover, do you know that when you edit a post,we can see the time it was done? :wink:


What is it anyway, W140,W126 or W220?(V8 or V12)

Bazza

Which one I have access to three?????

 

[landover]

ow, also, are all mercs not limited to 155mph?
are S600 also not 4.8 secs to 62.5?

Maybe MB got it all wrong on their web page.

maybe landrover made a version which would be a little cheaper than £93,090.
:lol:

Is this you quoting official figures .I was telling you what mine is capable of 60 in4secs I think the only aero you have is the chocolate one.

 

[190]

We seem to be going of the subject here and as regards to chrises 190 I would have past on this one you probably would have got a better one that didn?t need welding.
Also if your cossie is a 1988 why does it have body mouldings on it they never came with them until late 1989 or are these body panels after market ones or has someone botched the car up. Could you not post a picture of the car in it?s currant state so as we can see the condition its in from reading what you are saying the car has seen better days the 190 does not rust that bad my brother had a 1984 190 still with all the original panels and it had never been re-sprayed. Sounds like your project has had a hard life and the previous owner cut his losses before it gave him a hard life hope you live long enough to enjoy running your project after it?s finished