a sad - sad - miserable day in the south for Syfa.... :(

[syfaphonetic]

Hi Guys,

I have been offline for a while - enjoying trouble free driving experiences in my pride and joy sl500..... for those of you in the know..... 500sl

But....

I can't afford to run it anymore - specifically the petrol, everything else is acceptable but the petrol is killing me. So that I do not compare my car to a new purchase - I am going different for a yr or so... as i said a sad sad day.

I am looking for a top spec 98(?) 300TD estate.... I am hoping for change to settle a couple of debts and a tidy 6k - 7k example of Mercs Estate E class.

Couple of questions - where best to sell my car? and am I picking a good model of Merc?

Please - your advice has always been great.

Best wishes

Steve

 

[pammy]

Truly sorry to hear this Steve. You must feel gutted.

Good luck in finding your alternative

 

[sym]

I'm sure Dieselman will be along with some advice shortly on a 300TD !

Shame about the SL ... you can't wait until after the summer ??

 

[Tan]

Hi

I feel your pain as I sold my SL earlier this year, this is the best time of year to sell it... though the probably the most emotionally painful.

 

[andy_k]

sad day indeed but if I were you I'd hang on to it for a while or selling it will break your heart even more.

With petrol prices at their highest ever and still rising nobody wants a car with a 5 litre engine or more precisely nobody wants to be footing the fuel bill. I was looking on a garage forecourt yesterday and there were two 500SLs on there and the guy tried to get me to swap my estate for one of them - tempting as it was (hard and soft top, aircon, sat nav, full leather etc etc) I declined . He reckoned that plenty of people look at them but as soon as they see the 5 litre bit all interest evaporates.

Obviously it's up to you but if it were mine I'd be keeping it a bit longer and/or buying a cheap diesel runabout - just think what you save on fuel could pay to have the car stored.

Andy

 

[Benzowner]

Sorry to hear of your plight Steve, as Andy has said 5.ol engines.......almost takes you back to the 70's very very similar times with fuel costs. As regards the 300TD estate, thats what I am driving, I think it is a wonderful machine, shame about the rust, not too bad in mine. Look at the bodywork section of this wonderful forum and type rust ion the search. W210's and W211's are known for their rust, some much more than others though. So when looking, make sure you have a good look under the rubbers on the door tops, tailgate and wings are the usuall places. Best of luck with your search.

 

[230K]

Hi

I like the E300 Turbodiesel Estate, but as regards economy dont expect too much or you will be disapointed, they can be hard on fuel especially in winter.

230K

 

[W210 Fan]

I have the same problem with the E55 but whilst on the loo earlier I had an epiphany (have most of mine in there), I am planning to get an after market ECU (engine brain) that race car types use, I think it will be in the region of £700 for a decent one and plumb it into my car and then have different maps (settings,) 1 that runs as lean as possible thus using less fuel, the original settings and then a mental map, at the flick of a switch I can adjust the engine characteristics and the fuel useage because who needs 400BHP at 70MPH on cruise? Thats my idea, if I dont get banned on wed I shall investigate, I think I am looking at the region of 1K including custom maps and fitting which I can then save in no time with reduced fuel use, advantage is if I go ahead and find out that I can reduce the horse power by pumping less fuel in without running the engine too hot and pre-igniting then any maps and expertise I have made can go into another 5.5 AMG and wont be too different for all you other large engined Merc fans out there, you just need to get another ECU, I may find out that mine is not locked like most dull cars and I can just do it anyway, I shall come back to you all.........

 

[syfaphonetic]

Thanks for your sympathy guys - I would love to keep her - but regardless of fUel - I was trying to keep some pride by not saying the finance runs til November and due to changes in situation - I can't keep it up .... My only choice is a cheaper car..... boy is it difficult to find specs etc on that eclass - ..