Oppo, I may do something stupid

"Tekamul" (tekamulburner) 11/20/2015 at 10:33 • Filed to: A FOOL AND HIS MONEY, CRAIGSLIST

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!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is probably a grenade in sheep’s clothing, right?

It looks like a lovely winter vehicle for so very little cash. But it’s a 90’s Merc with 169k on the clock and ‘vibrating brakes’. Please tell me all the ways it’s going to blow up into a $4000 repair bill.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:38

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I have compiled a list of all the ways it WON’T blow up:

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Tekamul > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 11/20/2015 at 10:39

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That’s very thorough.

duurtlang > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:39

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$4000 for brakes? Anyway, I still see these used as taxis. Not 4-matic ones nor gasoline ones obviously, but they can’t be that bad. Can they?

Ash78, voting early and often > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:41

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I would consider it if the seller paid me $2k - $4k to take it, but not a dime less.

Imagine everything that could go wrong with a German car, all in one car. That’s my opinion of the W210. It may not be completely informed, but when my in-laws had one, I got calls from them almost weekly, even when the car was less than 10 years old. Both of our 1990s/2000s VWs were like Camrys in comparison.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:41

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C4, TNT, Dynamite, Tannerite, Ammonal... Oh. Figuratively. Right.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:43

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It will blow up, but not for the reason you think...

I would be very wary of any W210 from the rust belt. The front suspension mastic (waterproofing) was, on some cars, found to be insufficient, and the spot welded upper spring perches can collapse, due to rust. The fix was to remove the mastic, remove the spot welded perches and then rivet new perches in place, and reapply new mastic.

The brakes are simple. That shouldn’t be more than a few hundred dollars even if you need rebuilt calipers.

But the rust issue with the front suspension? Yeah, I would only buy a W210 from SoCal/Arizona/somewhere else that doesn’t have rust.

EDIT: I had a W210 E300. I had to check those spot welds. Fortunately, my car didn’t have rust around the perches.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:43

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The engine is based on one that is pretty okay and can run to >300k mostly trouble-free. I don’t know about this exact configuration. “Vibrating brakes” - I have no idea, but then, my own very similar brakes have a *GGHHGGHGHG* grinding-like sound when slowing down from a hot spot in the left front rotor. Brake parts on these aren’t generally expensive - rotors and the like are quite affordable.

In general, there are a lot of little things that could eat you to death, but other than maybe the trans blowing up, I don’t know of any single big ticket catastrophes waiting in the wings for sure.

The only thing that worries me is that W210s are known to have rust issues at the front spring perches. If this one has rust elsewhere, it may be planning to drop the front suspension at speed.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:43

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I made sure to look at it from every angle. My conclusion is that this is the sort of car that will find new and interesting ways to blow up. Ways you never dreamed possible for an automobile made in the past two decades.

Brian, The Life of > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:44

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These cars can be riddled with electric gremlins or they can be fairly bulletproof, ymmv. At that price though ... obamanotbad.jpg

Tekamul > duurtlang 11/20/2015 at 10:44

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No. It’s the window regulator, wire harness, differential, random German quirky vacuum hose failures that will magically appear a month later that worry me.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 11/20/2015 at 10:48

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I say the way to go here is to initiate the action. Take the bull by the horns. In other words, surprise the car by blowing it up first.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:48

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I’ve seen this car around on the road, it looks fine when it’s moving...

I don’t know, $1600 for a mid-size AWD wagon is pretty cheap, even if it is a ‘90s Mercedes with 169K miles... I think the real question is: how many miles would you consider a reasonable expectation to receive from your $1600? if the answer is “until spring” you’re probably OK, if it’s “the next few winters” then you should probably just turn around and walk away.

then again, last winter my buddy bought a 2003 BMW 325IX touring with 160K miles and a manual transmission that needed wheel bearings and a right front axle for $1500 and considered it a fair deal after spending $2000 to fix it. That car is still going strong one year later.

new pads and rotors, flush an bleed the fluid (NEVER EVER LET THE ABS PUMP RUN DRY WHILE DOING IT. ask me how I know.) and you could be good to go...

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 11/20/2015 at 10:48

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This list may be a bit lenient.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 11/20/2015 at 10:51

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did not know about the rust issue on these... good to know

dogisbadob > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 11/20/2015 at 10:51

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You have an E300? The diesel? That’s awesome!

dogisbadob > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:51

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best part

dogisbadob > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:52

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oooo a wagon with a third seat and a hood ornament? Not bad!

CKeffer > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 10:53

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Well, you’re looking at ~$340 to redo the brakes on all 4 corners including fluid....provided you do it yourself. Then it’ll be ~$500 for a set of good snow tires, which gets you to $840 before they get mounted up. Outside of that though, it looks like the most common issues are failing instrument clusters, failing camshaft position sensors, and the fact that it’s 17 years old, and has almost 170k on the clock so stuff is going to wear out. *shrug* As a winter beater it could be a good one.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 11/20/2015 at 10:55

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That’s a bold strategy cotton, let’s see how it works out for him.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > dogisbadob 11/20/2015 at 11:00

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He *had* one. It met a guard rail in the opposite lane going backwards. Sadly, the engine was not bought back from the insurance company for shenanigans.

Tekamul > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 11/20/2015 at 11:00

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My thought was, $1400 now (it’s CL, nobody’s firm) plus $500 in tires, $400 in brakes, and a little clean up over the winter while DDing. Then getting 2 winters out of it, and pass it on to the next guy for $1400.

I’ll probably only add another 7k on the odo in that time.

dogisbadob > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 11/20/2015 at 11:04

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oops sorry :(

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 11:07

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If the rust issue as noted by RamblingRover and KusabiSensei checks out, that seems plausible.

RallyWrench > Tekamul 11/20/2015 at 12:38

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That’s one of the best engines Mercedes-Benz has ever made. The transmissions are usually good for 150-200k if they’re serviced. I’ve never seen one rust, but I’m CA. They’re really good cars.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 11/20/2015 at 13:32

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It made an excellent down payment for Mini-ing to have sold it with the engine.

So I guess it wasn’t all that bad.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > dogisbadob 11/20/2015 at 13:34

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It was a 99 E300 Turbodiesel, too. All 177hp of it...

dogisbadob > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 11/20/2015 at 13:51

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cool! 177 hp is plenty, and the 240 tq down low is quite a lot!

Even the non-turbo’s 134 hp is enough.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > dogisbadob 11/20/2015 at 14:11

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RamblinRover’s 300D is supposed to be a turbo, but I think the ALDA and some of the vacuum lines need replacement, so his 300D Turbo drives more like a 240D.

Chasaboo > Tekamul 11/21/2015 at 12:58

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Awesome grenade line. Well played sir.