I may be getting a new car allowance, significantly more than I currently receive.
This gets me thinking. I could be tight, run a car like I currently do and pocket the wonga. Alternatively...
I'm thinking about buying a three/four year old diesel S-Class for about £18-£20K. My reasoning runs that in another three years I'll get about £10K for it, so depreciation will have been about £10K over three years, roughly double my Omega's depreciation (£8K over 5 years), but a price I'm willing to pay for a bit of luxury.
Will I rue the day I ever bought one if I do? Will running costs be astronomical? Will the Mercedes build quality issues make me go bald?
In your answers, please assume that I am basically sane, but that I like the idea of a big car for its comfort and presence.
Also assume that under no circumstances will I ever buy a new car, so please don't suggest it.
V
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Do it! They are absolutely fabulous cars!
Get it serviced by an independent to avoid Merc labour rates and bad customer service.
Choose carefully and enjoy the experience! As mentioned in a previous thread, cars are about emotions not whether it will lose 49% or 50% of its value in 3 years.
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I like mega luxurious big cars, and am saving up for one. Get one without a moment's hesitation. They are rated as the world's best car (in a day to day sense). We are lucky luxury cars depreciate so much in the UK..
FInd yourself a Merc specialist (George Fraser in NWLondon is top!), and you will be laughing.
On balance, it's a lot to pay for a used car, BUT..compared to spending 20k on a new but smaller car, you get:
1. a car that can shrink continents
2. amazing safety features
3. effortless driving (research shows drivers of luxury cars have lower heart rates whilst driving than those drivers of ordinary cars)
4. Not forgetting, that big fat smile on your face as you waft around feeling like a king
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Oh, I forgot to say..you will find yourself making excuses to drive long distances and visit long lost rellies, simply because it's such a pleasure to do a high speed cruise in a S class.
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Vin
I intend to do the same as you. When early retirement beckons I shall blow 20k on an S class and do corporate/collar and tie private hire work in it.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Vin I intend to do the same as you. When early retirement beckons I shall blow 20k on an S class and do corporate/collar and tie private hire work in it. ------------------------------ TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Let me know when you do, I can give you some work.
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TVM, is it my imagination, or do you work for HAL (if you know what I mean)?
V
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Indeed Vin
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I intend to do the same as you. When early retirement beckons I shall blow 20k on an S class and do corporate/collar and tie private hire work in it. ------------------------------
How carefully have you looked at costs.v.return? Self employed or for a firm as sub contractor? if self employed, who will clients be? insurance and license costs? Do you drink coffee by the bucket load, smoke like a trooper? If not, you may not get on with all the other drivers who congregate on Gt Winchester Street, City of London,waiting for the German vorstand to come out of DB HQ for their lift to the airport.
£20k sounds a lot of money to pay for a chauffeur workhorse, especially when you consider all the others costs. How long would it take to recoup costs and then be in profit? Speak to a good accountant....if he turns his nose up, should you?
It interested me when I retired, but I now work in an office with better pay AND I can have a nice drink with my workmates on way home from work.
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Several clients of mine do this collar and tie taxi work for a 'living'. None of them - NOT ONE - makes enough to live on. You just have to look at it as a way of driving a nice car and getting tax relief for it.
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Several clients of mine do this collar and tie taxi work for a 'living'. None of them - NOT ONE - makes enough to live on. You just have to look at it as a way of driving a nice car and getting tax relief for it.
Ahem; I don't quite know how to put this, but, isn't there just an outside chance that some of the jobs are cash jobs?
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Several clients of mine do this collar and tie taxi work for a 'living'. None of them - NOT ONE - makes enough to live on. You just have to look at it as a way of driving a nice car and getting tax relief for it.
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Another thought, if they aren't making enough to live on, why are you doing their accounts?
Or is it that they aren't DECLARING enough to live on after you have done their books?
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Wives/Savings/second jobs?
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Wives/Savings/second jobs?
Thats what they tell me - I'm a trusting soul. What I meant was this collar and tie lark isn't enough to live on on its own, at least for my clients. TBH, as long as our fees get paid somehow, its not really my problem!
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Go for it.
This stuff about Merc build quality going down the Swanee is greatly exagerated. Try to avoid the main dealers and you will save a lot of cash, my local garage has invested in the technolgy to keep Mercs happy and they do a good job for reasonable prices.
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Go for it. This stuff about Merc build quality going down the Swanee is greatly exagerated. Try to avoid the main dealers and you will save a lot of cash, my local garage has invested in the technolgy to keep Mercs happy and they do a good job for reasonable prices.
Really? They must be expecting to do a lot of work on modern Mercs then to make that kind of investment. Spend £20k on kit and then do the maths to figure out how many jobs you'd need to do at 'reasonable prices' to get your money back and make some kind of a profit...... Even the dealers are struggling on these. You also need to be aware that DC (UK) do not offer product training to 'third parties' - so acquiring the expertise to effect a repair can be a problem, even if you can diagnose it.
No offence to the OP, but according to his profile he lives in a semi and sounds like a family man. Does he really want a car whereby repairing a failed air-con controller will cost the same as a family holiday with the wife and kids?
To give you an idea of the complexity of these cars here are just some of the systems installed....
ALL BRAKE SYSTEMS (ABS/ASR/ETS/ESP) : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ESP LIVE DATA
ABS ACTIVATION
ESP ACTIVATION
Steering Angle Calibration (ESP)
ALL SENSITIVE BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS (SBC) : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
LIVE DATA
DE-ACTIVATION & ACTIVATION OF THE BRAKES
ALL BRAKE ASSISTANCE (BAS) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL INSTRUMENT CLUSTERS (KI) : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL AIRBAG SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ECU CODING
PARAMETER SETTING
ALL GEARBOX (EGS) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ECU CODING
LIVE DATA
ADAPTATION
ACTIVATION
ALL KEYLESS GO SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL SERVICE INTERVAL SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
SERVICE RESET
SERVICE PROGRAMMING
ALL AIRCONDITIONING (AIRCO) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
LIVE DATA
ALL AIR SUSPENSION (AIRMATIC) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
LIVE DATA
ACTIVATION
ALL ACTIVE BODYCONTROL (ABC) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL PNEUMATIC (PSE) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL PARKTRONIC (PTS) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
LIVE DATA
ALL ACTIVITY (AAM) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ECU CODING
ALL EXTENDED ACTIVITY (EAM) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ECU CODING
ALL COMMAND (D2B) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ECU CODING
ALL ANTI THEFT ALARM (ATA / DAS) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL ELECTRONIC IGNITION (EIS) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL UPPER CONTROL PANEL (UCP) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL LOWER CONTROL PANEL (LCP) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL OVERHEAD CONTROL PANEL (OCP) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL XENON LIGHT (HRA) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
LIVE DATA
ACTIVATION
ALL CONVERTIBLE TOP (RVS/VD) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL SIGNAL ACQUISITION (SAM) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ECU CODING (Rear SAM)
ALL DOOR CONTROL (DCM) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL ELECTRICAL SEAT (ESA) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL CENTRAL GATEWAY (CGW) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL AUTOMATIC CLUTCH (ACS) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ADAPTATION: Bleeding of the CLUTCH
ALL ELECTRONIC SELECTOR (ESM) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL SPRINTSCHIFT (SSGM) SYSTEMS : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL DIAGNOSTIC (DM) MODULES (USA) : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL IMMOBILIZE / ALARM SYSTEMS (WSP ? FBS/DAS ? EDW) : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL AUXILIARY HEATER (ZHE ? ZUH) : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL CRUISE CONTROL MODULE : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
ALL ELECTRONIC SELECTOR MODULE (ESM) : - till 2005
Read & Erase all Faults Codes
CIS Detailed Repair Information
ECU Information
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Looks very similar to the current VW systems (new golf/touran/passat)
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Looks very similar to the current VW systems (new golf/touran/passat) ------------------------------ TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Yes, the same suppliers will be involved(Bosch, VD-Siemens et al). The parts and diagnostics are not compatible though, although the design principles will be the same.
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Sorry, should read "VDO-Siemens"
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"No offence to the OP, but according to his profile he lives in a semi and sounds like a family man. Does he really want a car whereby repairing a failed air-con controller will cost the same as a family holiday with the wife and kids?"
No offence taken at all. I AM Mr typical middle-class in a semi with a mass-market car. Would I like the excuse not to go on holiday with the family, though...??? Hmmmm.
This is exactly the kind of information I'm after. I think what I'm veering towards is to run an Omega for another few years and stuff the extra car cash into the bank in its own account. Then in a few years I'll be able to buy a top car for £18K and use the yearly allowance to pay for repairs and pay for depreciation.
At the moment, I'd be using much of the allowance just to buy the car, so it'd be a bit risky given the potential enormity of the bills.
Thanks for the advice, guys.
V
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And, of course, by then I'll ba able to get a 300C for about 25p!
V
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As another Omega driving family man casting glances at S class Mercs.; are the previous generation W140 cars any less scary? A bloke at work was selling his P plate one the other week for 5K, seemed a very nice motor, makes the Omega look compact:-/
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