Daleaholic
Member
Good Evening!
I'm new to the forums and here's my story... (It's long but I hope you'll enjoy it). I've posted this on another MB forum but thought I'd share it with you too.
In 2000 (I was 10), my late father communicated directly with a Mercedes dealer in Germany to purchase his E220 CDI. He was a German teacher and so this was an easy task for him. The car was manufactured at the factory in Stuttgart, Germany, where we went to collect it. We flew Manchester-Amsterdam-Stuttgart and spent a night there before going to the factory the next day. We went on a tour of the factory before we picked the car up in the delivery area.
The car was driven back to the UK and registered in August 2000. It was my father's pride and joy until his untimely death in October 2004. A few days after his death, we were subject to an attempted break in, which the police put down to somebody wanting the keys for the car. It had to be sold. We called Mercedes and they collected the car within a couple of days. (They paid us a pittance but it had to go for our own safety).
So 11 years on and it's the 7th November 2015. I'd just had some work done on my Volkswagen Passat and was driving past the Mercedes dealership where the car was sold to. I popped in and asked if they could help me with any details on the current owner/location... I was expecting nothing but the used car salesman ran a HPI check for me on the private number plate which was on the car. This brought up more information than I could've imagined.
This was it. I HAD TO FIND THAT CAR!!!
From the HPI check, I could see that the car was declared off the road. After a bit of investigating, I found that it was also uninsured. I feared the worst. I did more digging and used the online MOT history service which brought me some hope... The car had an MOT valid until March 2016...
A friend of mine then gave me the brilliant (possibly a bit naughty) idea of getting a copy of the MOT certificate from an MOT garage. I found one open on the Sunday, got a copy of the certificate and that had the garage details on of the last test. The car was in Aldershot! I called them and they took my details to pass on to the owner. My nerves were all over the place.
The following day (Monday), I received a call from the MOT garage in Aldershot, we discussed my reasons further and I left it with them. Around an hour later my phone rang. The lady at the garage was actually a neighbour to the current owner of the car I was trying to locate. She gave me the owners mobile number... I was a nervous wreck.
I called, no answer. Left a message.
I missed their call.
I rang back... The car was still with them and they were open to discussing a sale. I arranged to go to Aldershot on the Saturday (14th) to meet the current owner and view the car.
I got to Aldershot from Rochdale about 7pm. When I first saw the car, I was overwhelmed with a sense of emotion and also comfort. The car meant so much to our family and left in unfortunate and difficult circumstances but here it was, still going strong and still in great condition. I was more in love with it than I was when I was a child. Even in the dark, I could see and remember every detail. I spoke with the owner who explained it had been off the road as he'd been away for a few months. I went round to his house the next day to take some photos and see the car in daylight. It looked even better!
2 days later, Tuesday 18th November, I contacted the owner and agreed a price. Explained that I would pick it up on Saturday and it was all in place...
Saturday 21st November 2015: I got the 03:15 Megabus from Manchester to London and then train from London to Aldershot. I was tired but the car was waiting for me, I almost had it. I grabbed some lunch then headed to the owners house. The car still looked incredible. We sorted the money and paperwork. He and his family said their goodbyes to the car and I was set...
I was now the owner... The car was back in our family... I was bringing it home...
The car drove smoothly, faultlessly and effortlessly for all 238 miles back home. It was perfect. Definitely didn't feel like it had done 207,000 miles!!!
The car will stay with us until it dies.
The plans now are to restore it to showroom condition. Paintwork, rust, dents and other items will be sorted. The AMG wheels will come off eventually but they've got brand new tyres on so I'll use them for now. I'll probably be posting on here for help at various points along the way so I thank you all in advance.
The car recently failed its MOT and is in a garage having new brake discs and pads all round and two new coil springs on the front along with getting the bottom of the car undersealed.
Here she is...
I'm new to the forums and here's my story... (It's long but I hope you'll enjoy it). I've posted this on another MB forum but thought I'd share it with you too.
In 2000 (I was 10), my late father communicated directly with a Mercedes dealer in Germany to purchase his E220 CDI. He was a German teacher and so this was an easy task for him. The car was manufactured at the factory in Stuttgart, Germany, where we went to collect it. We flew Manchester-Amsterdam-Stuttgart and spent a night there before going to the factory the next day. We went on a tour of the factory before we picked the car up in the delivery area.
The car was driven back to the UK and registered in August 2000. It was my father's pride and joy until his untimely death in October 2004. A few days after his death, we were subject to an attempted break in, which the police put down to somebody wanting the keys for the car. It had to be sold. We called Mercedes and they collected the car within a couple of days. (They paid us a pittance but it had to go for our own safety).
So 11 years on and it's the 7th November 2015. I'd just had some work done on my Volkswagen Passat and was driving past the Mercedes dealership where the car was sold to. I popped in and asked if they could help me with any details on the current owner/location... I was expecting nothing but the used car salesman ran a HPI check for me on the private number plate which was on the car. This brought up more information than I could've imagined.
This was it. I HAD TO FIND THAT CAR!!!
From the HPI check, I could see that the car was declared off the road. After a bit of investigating, I found that it was also uninsured. I feared the worst. I did more digging and used the online MOT history service which brought me some hope... The car had an MOT valid until March 2016...
A friend of mine then gave me the brilliant (possibly a bit naughty) idea of getting a copy of the MOT certificate from an MOT garage. I found one open on the Sunday, got a copy of the certificate and that had the garage details on of the last test. The car was in Aldershot! I called them and they took my details to pass on to the owner. My nerves were all over the place.
The following day (Monday), I received a call from the MOT garage in Aldershot, we discussed my reasons further and I left it with them. Around an hour later my phone rang. The lady at the garage was actually a neighbour to the current owner of the car I was trying to locate. She gave me the owners mobile number... I was a nervous wreck.
I called, no answer. Left a message.
I missed their call.
I rang back... The car was still with them and they were open to discussing a sale. I arranged to go to Aldershot on the Saturday (14th) to meet the current owner and view the car.
I got to Aldershot from Rochdale about 7pm. When I first saw the car, I was overwhelmed with a sense of emotion and also comfort. The car meant so much to our family and left in unfortunate and difficult circumstances but here it was, still going strong and still in great condition. I was more in love with it than I was when I was a child. Even in the dark, I could see and remember every detail. I spoke with the owner who explained it had been off the road as he'd been away for a few months. I went round to his house the next day to take some photos and see the car in daylight. It looked even better!
2 days later, Tuesday 18th November, I contacted the owner and agreed a price. Explained that I would pick it up on Saturday and it was all in place...
Saturday 21st November 2015: I got the 03:15 Megabus from Manchester to London and then train from London to Aldershot. I was tired but the car was waiting for me, I almost had it. I grabbed some lunch then headed to the owners house. The car still looked incredible. We sorted the money and paperwork. He and his family said their goodbyes to the car and I was set...
I was now the owner... The car was back in our family... I was bringing it home...
The car drove smoothly, faultlessly and effortlessly for all 238 miles back home. It was perfect. Definitely didn't feel like it had done 207,000 miles!!!
The car will stay with us until it dies.
The plans now are to restore it to showroom condition. Paintwork, rust, dents and other items will be sorted. The AMG wheels will come off eventually but they've got brand new tyres on so I'll use them for now. I'll probably be posting on here for help at various points along the way so I thank you all in advance.
The car recently failed its MOT and is in a garage having new brake discs and pads all round and two new coil springs on the front along with getting the bottom of the car undersealed.
Here she is...
)
