W123 280TE, help me decide to buy or not...

[RGubbioli]

I have been offered a 1985 280TE for £600. The car has had 2 owners, 126k miles, loads of older service history (current owner does work himself), and is in ok condition generally. It has a bit of rust on the arches and lower front valance, the interior is dirty but mostly in good condition and the engine/gearbox seem just fine. It easily does 90mph+ and feels smooth. If anyone has seen the last Mercedes Enthusiast its the same colour combination as the 280TE on the front cover (light green metallic with the plush beige interior - quite stained!).

Issues with the car are:
- tickover at 1000rpm when warm
- missing part of rear 6th 7th seat
- damp in boot (where missing seat should be)
- cracked windscreen
- no radio
- central locking only works a bit (usual vacuum leak)
- crack on windscreen
- rust on wheelarches (minor for a 123)
- the ride is a little bit on the stiff side (minor)
- pulls to the right (steering wheel needs to be turned to go staight ahead)

I don't know... on one side I am tempted, on the other I am afraid it could be a money pit. I'd love a nice 123 estate, but they are rare to come by, and good ones are usually £3000...

What should I do? Thanks for any feedback!

 

[slk280rc]

- Tickover might be adjustable, which would cost £0, but it could also be vacuum leaks, which would cost in terms of replacing pipes and seals.
- You should be able to pick up a missing cushion for the 6/7th seat, from a specialist breaker, or eBay. You might have to keep trying for a couple of months, though.
- Damp in boot - could be as simple as one seal, eg lamp cluster seal, needs replacing. But it would be a bit of time, etc to find and fix.
- Cracked windscreen - scrappys
- No radio - scrappys or eBay for a £30 CD player
- Central locking - could be something simple, could be a component which ends up costing you £200!
- Rust - are you sure its just the wheelarches? What if its underneath, too, or on the bulkhead, and it fails the MoT on it?
- Stiff ride - ???
- Pulls to the right - 4 wheel alignment

If you haven't bought it yet, there will probably be plenty of other faults which crop up too! If you want the car, I'd offer him £300 and go from there.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

If you have doughts don't do it. I think you answered the question yourself when you said "good ones are £3000".

It sounds like you will be letting yourself in for a lot of work (if you have the skills and the time) and it may be better to bide your time and find a cherished example, I'm sure there are still some out there. The MB owners club or classic car mags should help in your quest.

Hope this helps!

 

[stever]

I think the faults are fairly minor considering the asking price. Do check thoroughly for rust - this will be the most expensive area to fix.

 

[Impaler]

That motor is very heavy on fuel (around 15 mpg). I recommend you buy a W124 instead which will be notably more economical and less troublesome.

 

[andy_k]

123 estates aren't that rare and aren't that good when compared to the W124.

- tickover at 1000rpm when warm - idle control valve. coked up throttle body or any one of a hundred things. Play Chase the fault and potentially throw a lot of money at it

- missing part of rear 6th 7th seat - hard/expensive to find to match what you have as people want to sell the entire interior not just a part

- damp in boot (where missing seat should be) - reseal the windows and back door - rear door seal costs about £80

- cracked windscreen - the illegal but very common (and obviously illegal/fraudulent) way to get it fixed is once the car is running get it replaced on your fully comp insurance - cost £60, getting the job done privately will cost you about £250

- no radio - at least £50 for something half decent even from a scrappy or eBay


- central locking only works a bit (usual vacuum leak) - cheap fix once you work out where the leak is - allow about £10 per door for the seals

- rust on wheelarches (minor for a 123) - shouldn't be any real rust but check the rear wells, sills and door bottoms

- the ride is a little bit on the stiff side (minor) - if the rear is stiff the hydraulic spheres will need replacing - cost about £130 and a relatively easy job on the W123. The ride should feel smooth


- pulls to the right (steering wheel needs to be turned to go staight ahead), ball joints, track rod ends, tracking, idler arms - again, it's going to cost money. 4 wheel alignment can cost up to £100 before they find any faults


That one sounds overpriced to me, for £600 you are in the early W124 price range, add on your potential costs and you could be driving a late 124 estate in tip top condition with full service history - I know how I'd be spending my money

HTH

Andy

 

[television]

Andy K has summed it up, you cant compare the ride of a 123 280TE to a 124 300TE .the day I did the change and the drive home will stay with me for ever, I think I played with it all night.Flooring it from start was like a bat out of hell

Malcolm

 

[turnipsock]

how many windscreens does this car have?

you could actually eleminate a lot of those faults for nothings and resell

 

[RGubbioli]

Thanks for the feedback so far!

I already have a w124, great car but not as well built as the w123 (though still superb quality and possibly one of the best cars made so far!) so the reason I am looking at the 123 is because I like it, not because I really need an estate My experience so far is that the 123 has a softer ride than the 124, a bit more relaxed. I also prefer the classic chrome looks.

I have thought it over but think I will pass in the end. I am sure once I have bought it I won't have the time to fix it, and will be reluctant to pour money into an average car. That and the fact I ultimately don't trust the seller as he didn't seem very forthright about the car as he has avoided many of my questions.

By the way, the car has only 1 windscreen!

Thanks again, I really appreciate the diverse range of views from this great group of enthusiasts!