"Brian, The Life of" (familycar)
07/19/2014 at 11:00 • Filed to: daughters first hooptie
1
11|
"Brian, The Life of" (familycar)
07/19/2014 at 11:00 • Filed to: daughters first hooptie | 1
| 11 |
So I went to look at some cars with Daughter 1 of 3 yesterday. We have this "thing" in our family that our kids need to buy and take care of their own cars, as we did at their stage. She has about $2500 to spend in theory but is being realistic about insurance and having some money set aside for maintenance.
We're still haven't heard from the guy with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (my first choice)
but, considering this Reagan-era German sled on it's own, what do you think of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ? Since I checked it out, I can append the Hemingway-esque prose of the ad with these additional insights:
Pros:
The car has been obviously well cared for. I'd say garaged all its life based on the very nice paint, zero surface rust and very well-preserved interior. The chrome is all bright and the window seals are not cracked and still pliable. The tires are all 8/10 and I saw minimal evidence of oil leaking on the driveway but nothing noticeable on the the car itself; the engine bay was very, very clean.
The car drove razor straight down the road and the brakes brought the beast to an acceptably quick stop without any drama or noise. It is not fast but neither is it terribly slow. The car's M110 straight-6 put out 143HP new (fucking US-spec) and still feels really good 34 years hence. The slushie shifts butter-smooth and, coupled with the modest HP, the driving experience can best be described as "Stately." All the gizmos inside still work (windows, stereo, door locks and other vacuum-related things that used to drive me nucking futs when I owned my W123).
Cons:
Of course we can't presume a 34 year-old German luxury car selling for less than 2 G's could be perfect. Probably most troubling is the fact that the odometer ist kaput. While the car does not look/feel like a high-miler, the clock checked out at nearly 90K miles. If I had to guess, I'd say it has rolled ~120K miles. Maybe less but I doubt much more. The water temp gage doesn't work but chances are it just needs a new sending unit/sensor. I don't think that's a big deal to fix. The car idles a bit fast, too. That could be a tune up or a vacuum issue or something MAF-related. I guess. The climate control half-works. The AC does not blow cold but she's a teenager, she can live with that. We live in freaking San Diego not Phoenix.
That's really it, AFAIK. Thoughts?
Chris Clarke
> Brian, The Life of
07/19/2014 at 11:11 |
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M110 is a rock solid motor, but a w116 300sd would be my choice. Any w116 would be a great first car. A little big and harder to park though.
TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut
> Brian, The Life of
07/19/2014 at 11:14 |
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That's a proper Mercedes that is!
However, I would wait a little for the Galaxie, it's just plainly more awesome...
AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> Brian, The Life of
07/19/2014 at 11:15 |
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Do it.
sm70- why not Duesenberg?
> Brian, The Life of
07/19/2014 at 11:28 |
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You already know my opinion. DO IT!
Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken
> Brian, The Life of
07/19/2014 at 11:30 |
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Well you had a W123 so you know what can pop up. Its safe, its the full on panzer model. Shifts is right about a teen parking it, but it has the massive USA bumpers, find some euros after she practices! Hard to beat the feeling of cruising in a Merc from that era, still classic feel with a little modern convenience added.
Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
> Brian, The Life of
07/19/2014 at 11:33 |
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Awesome car :)
Pros: Every jalop/oppo would love her.
Cons: Every jalop/oppo would love her.
;)
unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)
> Brian, The Life of
07/19/2014 at 11:45 |
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Since you have experience with the w123, maintenance with the w116 isn't bad. For the ac you can retrofit a electronic climate control which is better than that vacuum monstrosity unit. Since that car is rust free, I would definitely go for it.
Crest
> Brian, The Life of
07/19/2014 at 11:53 |
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Dont do this to the poor girl, for that amour, you can buy her a decent camry, accord, stratus, hhr, or even an 01 3 series and have peace of mind. If she's like most girls once the fascination with tinkering is over and the car starts showing its very unreliable side, you're gonna have a mercedes lawn furniture. Good car but i'll recommend something else….maybe NA miata. But oh well it's your choice
Leadbull
> Brian, The Life of
07/19/2014 at 12:14 |
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Dude. That Galaxie.
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Brian, The Life of
> Leadbull
07/19/2014 at 12:23 |
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INORITE?!
TheReno
> Brian, The Life of
07/19/2014 at 14:42 |
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That's nice, but take into account repair costs. I don't know how easy those are to maintain, or how much parts are. Good way to find out is check Auto Zone (or any other parts store) for the price of things like an alternator, fuel pump, and blower motor since these are things that tend to fail most on older vehicles.
I will always stand by my theory that the best car in the world for a teen is a 1985-1990 GM C-body (Olds 98, Buick Electra Park Ave, Cadillac Fleetwood), or the H-body (Buick LeSabre, Olds 88, Pontiac Bonneville). Both of those have interchangeable internals, hundreds of thousands were made, and a lot of them are still on the road today. They are cheap to buy, cheap to maintain, pretty safe (they were pretty top of the line in safety of their day), and easy to work on. They are the same way as far as speed, pretty good get-up-and-go, but not a racer.
When my sister turned 16, my Dad got her a 1986 Olds 98 as a first car. A year later I turned 16 and I got a 1993 Cavalier (which was a pretty new car at the time). I hated the Cav. I traded cars with my sister and got the Olds. 5 years later, my younger sister got that same Olds when she got her license. My Dad originally paid $2300 for the car. Sister 1 got hit when someone ran a stop sign and caved in the front fender. I jumped the car on a hill and landed on ice, spun a full 360, then put it in a ditch. Sister 2 ran it out of gas multiple times, drove it 17,000 miles between oil changes, hit 3 cars in parking lots, and got hit when she turned left in front of an oncoming Blazer. Through all of that, a $30 alternator, a $45 fuel pump, and an $8 rubber mallet was all it took to keep that car looking niceish and running smooth. After my little sister was done abusing it, my Dad sold the car for $2000
And I'm nice, so here's one on CL near you that sounds good http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/cto/457673…