Our cars - All Comments

re: Our Merc bounces back – and gets a new friend

bangkok eaters — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:59:25 GMT

Keep the reports coming,my ebay e280 (£1000) is going strong,think it might need a new abs sensor but it sailed its MOT today with no advice.I've had it 6 months now and it's cost me 2 part worns (£25), new front discs and pads(£50 delivered from germany!) and todays MOT(£40),THAT'S £115, MY CLIO 172 WOULD HAVE RACKED THAT FIGURE UP IN A WEEK!

re: My 500 finally arrives

sicknote2k — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:17:12 GMT

Got one for my wife back in May for her 30th in Cha Cha Blue. Only had one glitch and that is a flashing mileage counter. Flashes sometimes and others not. Not an issue though and the car is just fantastic. You had any issues?

re: Our Merc bounces back – and gets a new friend

ColinS — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:47:31 GMT

A comparison to an old BMW is an excellent idea. An E34 would be ideal and you still see a lot about. I was after one but ended up with a 10yr old E36 instead, which is doing sterling service on my 360 miles per week commute.

I'm being sceptical and guessing your Merc's may not be doing too much mileage. Great cars though and at these prices they are disposable motoring if big problems occur.

re: Our Merc bounces back – and gets a new friend

ESP deactivated — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:35:28 GMT

The 190E has been pretty much depreciation-proof for the last five years - you could pick up decent examples for under a grand even then. You've definitely picked the best one to go for - I used to know a bloke with a diesel auto version in base Stuttgart taxi spec, and he had difficulty out-dragging milkfloats...

re: Our Merc bounces back – and gets a new friend

W124 — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:46:31 GMT

Quality.

The 190 is a bit of trade secret - A mate had a white one that hit 270000 miles... They now look pretty cool as well.

I woner how many of the problems you encounter might be directly related to the Valet the 280 got - I had real problems the one time I made that mistake

Someone in the team ought to be an old BMW, strictly for comparison of course.

re: Our Merc bounces back – and gets a new friend

TegTypeR — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:39:47 GMT

I know everyone says you should look at service history etc etc etc, but on a car that age you get more information by doing a proper check over yourself. As you have seen with the W124, things like heater fans can cost an arm and a leg, and in reality this isn't something you look for when checking the paperwork.

Good on Vicky (non leather would be my preference too), hope she gets many miles of happy motoring. Looking forward to seeing reports on both cars.

re: Our Merc has issues

vidfletch — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:07:27 GMT

Told you so! LOL!!! Expect more problems! Flog it and buy a B3 Passat.

re: Mondy fills me with the joy of specs

Stotty — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:59:20 GMT

I got a 2.2tdci Titanium X as a company car 6 weeks ago. It has the Sports pack (sports suspension, privacy glass) and the technology pack (keyless entry, electric drivers seat) and Xenons.

From my point of view, the ride on 18's and sports suspension is absolutely fine.. nothing like as hard as the sports supension on BMW/Audi/Mercedes for example.

I can't notice any difference in seat comfort between the non-electric passenger and the electric drivers seat, though the drivers seat could do with going lower (and having a longer seat squab - why can't other manufactuers use extendable squabs like BMW put on their sports seats?).

I'm a big fan of the keyless entry. My wife and I each have a fob and we have the drivers seat memory set to our respective 'keys'. It's brilliant... no more jumping in to the car after my wifes driven it and having to squeeze myself behind the wheel - then never being able to find the exact same driving position again! And so far, ours has been completely fautless.

Really impressed with the car overall... it's an unbelievably good long distance car... over 7,000 miles in 6 weeks at about 39 mpg. The 2.2 diesel is quiet, smooth and pokey and it feels really well screwed together.

re: Our Merc has issues

289 — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:21:08 GMT

never, ever, ever steam clean the engine Mike.

Really bad news. Quick but dirty way of tidying her up.

Clean manualy if you really must using engine degreasing spray and copious amounts of rags, or leave well alone.

Sorry, sort of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, but for the future.....

It still amazes me how many valet companies still do this when the trade has known for the last 20 years that modern cars do not like being treated like this.

Regards

Gordon

re: Land Rover Defender - the defence rests

RobotBoogie — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:31:10 GMT

I can never understand the concept of a go-anywhere vehicle that has a reliability record which means you'd be lucky to get to Tesco and back without breaking down.

re: Our Merc has issues

RobotBoogie — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:28:25 GMT

This was pretty much the story with my W124 ownership. I loved it when it worked but the niggling faults ground me down...

re: Land Rover Defender - the defence rests

theonlydt — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:04:24 GMT

You did also have the posh "XS" version - but I totally agree. If only Landrover could make the thing a little more rust proof (galvanise chassis and bulkhead as standard) and there have been some worrying reports of poor reliability from the new engine and gearbox.

Older ones still aren't fully reliable - a defender without leaks is one that has no oil left :)

re: Our Merc has issues

ESP deactivated — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:16:35 GMT

It's the risk of old cars. The question is which of the problems you can live with and which need to be fixed, and then how much this is going to cost. If it's more than the value of the car then walk away... That said, I've spent over £1000 fettling a £250 205 GTI that still can't pass an MOT, so emotion can get in the way...

re: Our Merc has issues

corsavan — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:47:32 GMT

These are all similar to problems I had with my 1990 190 diesel. Ebay sellers supplying the wrong parts led to much frustration!

After the autobox started getting jammed in 2nd on a cold start, I spent the £1000 to repair it on a corsa diesel and flogged the merc on ebay.

I did about 45K in that old merc so hopefully you should be alright once the niggly problems are sorted.

re: Our Merc has issues

Rory101 — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:33:46 GMT

A *new* fan. Did you establish what was wrong with the old one - often it's just the brushes that need replacing?