Am tempted by a 1984 Merc 280TE which has full MBSH up to 70000km and has been maintained by an enthusiast for the next 50000km with mot records. I have not seen the car but the owner seems to be frank and honest about his descriotion, i.e. some paint touch up below par at but mechanically the car is perfect with blue leather. Asking around 3500 pounds.
1: Other than what is in the car by car breakdown, is there anything else to look out for ?
2: Will this car head for classic status in the long term ?
3: I am looking at using this car for long trips only and use my Honda for the urban trudge.
Require a sanity check as the power + practicality proposition is tempting!
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A very classy car.
Here's some websites about the model and the enthusiasts who own one of the cars:
mercedes-w123.net/w123.htm
www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/6633/w123.ht...l
Discussion forum:
tech.bentleypublishers.com/category.jspa?categoryI...4
Owners' reviews:
www.carsurvey.org/model_Mercedes-Benz_W123.html
Workshop manuals:
shop.mercedesclub.org.uk/acatalog/MBOA_Club_Store_...l
books.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/cpc_5101_ps_5704749_gs_1627...l
Spare parts:
www.dcp-shop.co.uk/catalog/default.php?manufacture...1
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I have done jobs on these for a couple of local owners and know the cars quite well. A guy near me has one that he brought over from South Africa a couple of years back - its very nice.
The price you quote sounds rather expensive though - and check it carefully for rust, they can rust quite badly in the UK climate. The engine is not one of MB's best and in addition to not particlulary smooth it also tends to be a bit heavy on fuel.
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It will perhaps become a classic, but perhaps moreso the CE coupe. I've been after one of those for some time. Lovely cars. Not sure how "classic" yours will remain if you do a lot of miles in it though.
Rust is something to watch out for.
Also, why not ask Mapmaker to tell you about all the W123s he's had stolen? Apparently they're pretty stealable as they form the base of the taxi-fleets in a lot of 3rd world countries where parts are hard to come by. Stripped and exported before you've even noticed it's been stolen.
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Maybe the rust is an issue, but weren't these the best built Mercedes ever?
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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That's open to debate. They were certainly good cars. My personal favourites are the W201 and W124 built in the late 1980's and early 1990's.
They had KE-Jetronic injection (economical and just about bulletproof), multilink suspension (so ride and handling much better than W123), Bosch ABS (which seems very reliable) and a stronger bodyshell than the W123. Importantly, they had much better rustproofing, which is only just now starting to fail on UK cars. The W124 300E is a seriously good car - I would snap up a 1-owner FSH car if I saw one.
Doubtless W123 owners will disagree......!
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And from a quick visit to the MB Club forum I find reports of many thefts of W123s (in west London in particular):
tinyurl.com/4h9g6
That's an external link; you'll have to join the MB club to get into the forums. It costs £30 a year, plus £5.00 one-off joining fee; the magazine is good and the website and its forums too.
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Also, why not ask Mapmaker to tell you about all the W123s he's had stolen?
Where is mapmaker when we need him? Haven't seen him for ages!
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Away & then on holiday... My sixpen'orth for what it's worth
If you're in London, don't buy it. Somebody else will have it - and they won't ask you to borrow it. They'll put the panels on the scrap heap & take out the engine & ship it to Africa. A shame when second hand engines can be picked up for £30 very easily on eBay.
£3,500 is *rather* a lot to spend for one of these. You can get one with 12 months MOT for about £500 on ebay (but it will probably fail the next MOT with serious structural rust). You'd have to be getting a seriously good one for that sort of money (and I mean NO rust, perfect leather interior, working aircon, 7 seats etc. etc.). If you can get one imported from South Africa then it should be rust free - ideal.
We tried to get ND to buy this BTW (not a W123): tinyurl.com/4scuz
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Thanks for your replies. The car is in Bombay and I am 800 miles away in Bangalore. From the photo's the car is immaculate and has complete history. The owner loves it but dones not get to use it much so it has to go. I was going to get afriend to check it up before travelling but then I decided against it as :
1: SWMBO - stated, we have no room for three cars and it will consume money best spet on my little girls education
2: Bottom line was that you can get good w124's forjust a little more.
3: It is a gas guzzler and an estate (these do not sell well in India).
Bottom line is Aprilia'a advice that the W124 is a much better car.
Thanks all for your advice
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Ah well, you probably don't use much salt on the roads in your winters, so rust is much less of an issue!
Aprilia has no soul. ;) The 123 estate is the most handsome cheap car on the roads at the moment, whereas the 124 is just another German box. Sit behind the wheel, look over the handsome, generous bonnet of the 123, and could you imagine driving anything else again?
Aprilia is of course right that the 1970s suspension of the 123 leaves a little to be desired, but only a little! Provided that the rear of the 123 estate doesn't sag, that is - for the self levelling suspension is very expensive to fix.
The 123 is popularly described as the last over-engineered Mercedes - from the days when cars were cars. By the 124 the accountants had a look in, so it just isn't such a solid machine.
Following my brief 123 ownership, all other cars are just tin boxes.
To add to Roger's list, there's an excellent discussion group at groups.msn.com/W123Club/rants.msnw?all_topics=1 and there is a good buyers guide for a 123 at www.w123.net/ and one due to be published at bangernomics.tripod.com/
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Ah well, you probably don't use much salt on the roads in your winters, so rust is much less of an issue! Aprilia has no soul. ;) The 123 estate is the most handsome cheap car on the roads at the moment, whereas the 124 is just another German box. Sit behind the wheel, look over the handsome, generous bonnet of the 123, and could you imagine driving anything else again? Aprilia is of course right that the 1970s suspension of the 123 leaves a little to be desired, but only a little! Provided that the rear of the 123 estate doesn't sag, that is - for the self levelling suspension is very expensive to fix. The 123 is popularly described as the last over-engineered Mercedes - from the days when cars were cars. By the 124 the accountants had a look in, so it just isn't such a solid machine.
Nah,
The W124 is a 'pre-accountant' car (it was designed well before 1993, when the MB accountants took over).
The W124 is a more solid car than the W123 - much safer in a crash.
Funnily enough I have a W123 in my workshop at the moment - an ex-South African car which belongs to the local postmaster (well, the guy who runs the local post office - if that's what a postmaster is these days). Its a very nice car, rust free of course. Needs to springs and dampers and I'm taking the front seats out to be re-sprung by local car trimmer (feels like you're sitting on the floor at the moment). The autobox is very lazy too - but I'm not touching that!
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The usual solution for the front seats is to pinch the springs from a 124 in a breakers. Fairly simple job, I believe. (A set of new springs from MB will cost an arm and a leg.)
I presume that the autobox is suffering from worn bands - and that they are virtually unfixable.
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Yes, I think the autobox is suffering with worn bands - I don't really want to get into that, so I've pointed the owner at a local guy I know who tackles these.
The local car trimmer has done a few W123 seats and seems to be able to source springs at a low price (not the dealer, I assume!).
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