Commute with my w124 or get another car?

[bigyin1]

Afternoon

I'm interested to see everyones opinions on this topic:

My w124 has just clicked over 153k miles and when I bought her I knew she would be able to handle my 50-60mile daily commute but didn't buy her intending to do that.

I planned to get another little car for circa £500 to put the miles on and service/fix that myself and then look after the w124 for years to come.

I must admit to enjoying every second of driving the w124 its a wonderful experience so relaxing and comfortable and i'm loathed to replace that with some crappy little box of a car but if it saves me money and keeps the MB looking great then???

However would I be better off to keep using the MB rather than leave it standing for a week at a time?

I'm all confused as to what to do now so all thoughts very much appreciated.

 

[stella1]

stay with the merc

 

[Dave Lewis]

My advice is to use the w124. They thrive on being driven all the time, especially the diesels, and you can use the money you would have spent on buying, taxing, and insuring a little banger for servicing and maintaining the proper car. 153k is not a lot of miles - it will take the same again easily with regular maintenance.

 

[duncanh]

Use the Mercedes

Use the Merc!

I was in the same position, I got a new job a few years ago with 120 mile daily round trip. Not a problem I thought, I will use my wife's old Peugeot 306 and keep the Mercedes for the weekend. This lasted a couple of weeks, I gave up the Pug and started to use the Mercedes. It is now at 165,000 miles, runs like new, and appears to suffer no ill-effects from its daily compute.

I feel a lot happier with the Mercedes, better NCAP rating, BAS, ESP etc. It is so much safer and more comfortable. It goes about 18K miles between services, gets 50mpg, costs next to nothing to run. It will not depreciate much further.

If you are spending a large part of you day in a car, make it an enjoyable experience.

 

[gbjeppm]

Yep, drive the Merc, and join the intergalactic mileage club.

 

[SilverSaloon]

i agree, use the merc and enjoy it! i do.

i, like yourself chose to spend ££££s and buy one from a specialist rather than the £££ we could of spent. Some say we shoulnt use it much and keep it for the weekends.

others say drive it and enjoy it. Its 100% better than any newer car that price could provide and if you maintain it well it will still command a good price if you do sell it. I say this too

I've put 20k on my Charles Ironside special in the last year but dont care - they are for driving and using!

alternatively, buy my 124 E300D saloon (i'll do a good price ) and use that and keep your 124 estate's mileage down

 

[trapperjohn]

All green for the Merc.
W124 220TE 270,000+ on mine used daily and hits all the right buttons. Back into a wee box - no chance.

 

[Pringles]

I would use the Merc. The diesel was designed for this sought of work and by running one car you can channel the additional money into it and enjoy driving to work.

The only car I own is my W124 and although I could afford another vehicle I have access to a pool car at work everyday so I prefer to use that. By having owning one car it does mean the Merc is maintained in the condition it has grown accustomed to!

 

[Shaun's C280]

I bought my C280 for commuting purposes, has 110K on the clock and is still tight and a joy to drive.
I sometimes think about keeping it to one side because it is such a nice car, but at the end of the day nothing will compare to it as a commuter for the money. Love driving it and always feel fresh when I get to my destination, not bad for a car built in 1996!
My advice, stick with the merc.

 

[230K]

Hi

I have a 291k mile E300Turbodiesel and was turning over 30k per year over the last 5 years, i have changed my work pattern and as such i now struggle to do 300 miles a month, the car defo misses the work.

Drive her thats what she was meant for. Do what i do and pride yourself in how good she looks with nearly 300k.

You can still be good to her and pile the miles on. Drive her pamper her drive pamper her and drive drive drive:bannana:

 

[Ade B]

I find myself constantly on the look out for a 'cheap runabout' to stop me wearing my CE out / boosting Shell shares.

But when I think of the agro and costs of running 2 old cars over just one, it pays for a fair bit of petrol and maintenance. And I already have a nice bike which hasn't moved for a month, mainly because I'd be mad to sit outside when I can waft around in orion grey leather cossetted comfort.

Provided you are able to maintain the car, like the others here, I can see no reason why your 124 will not continue to be the great car it is. These things are not precious classics (yet ) and I think that once a car gets through the 100k mile threshold, its resale value is a bonus rather than something to be protected.

Ade

 

[bigyin1]

Cheers for the replies - everyones saying the same thing, not one person saying to go for the two car option. The MB it is then

Silversaloon - I did think about getting another w124 300d and have looked at yours but for what i can afford to pay etc it wouldn't be worth it but thanks anyway.

Next question is then - pay to have it serviced by a specialist or do it myself (with help). I'd rather pay to have it looked at by a local specialist indie but could do oil/brakes/filter myself.....

 

[NicDale]

You've pretty much answered your own question there, do what you can yourself and give the more complex jobs too the specialist It's how i used to run our cars when i had the time, now it's cheaper for me too pay the garage to do the work than take time off myself to do it, which is a shame as i enjoy it.

 

[Peterdon]

I drive my 300TE-24 (290K miles) virtually everyday for what is now a relatively short commute. The car definitely misses the miles it used to do.

I do the basic mechanicals myself when necessary but have it looked at properly by the garage at MOT time to ensure all is well.

Conclusion - use the Merc and enjoy a bit of tinkering as well.

 

[bolide]

Annual servicing will cost about £200 at a decent indie so you won't save a huge amount by doing it yourself

I think there's lots of value in having an expert look over a car on a ramp. He'll spot things you or I might miss and he can top up the diff, check the gearbox oil, run an experienced eye over the subframe & ARB bushes and check the brakes all at the same time

BTW I bought a car the other day that had just been serviced. Alan Robertson put it on his ramp and discovered that a rear caliper had seized. He found it because he looks for things rather than taking them at face value. The servicing garage didn't find it 1000 miles ago

That's worth £200 to me

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[scooter]

i would use the merc i know a taxi driver that has been using his w124 from knew in 1991 and he still has it today using it as a taxi shows the reliability of a w124 but he is a berk for letting drunken sods in his merc

 

[A210AMG]

Use the Merc,

You buy a cheap shed for £500 you will not enjoy driving it, will it be safe?, comfortable. Insurance, mot, servicing, Tax and maintenance. Will it run? you know your car.

Use the Merc and put the extra money aside for servicing and reapir bits,

Some of these W124's that are still taxis in parts of the world must be on galaxy miles.

 

[219]

I agree with the others who say keep using the Merc - it will be up to the task no problem .

However , if you do want to keep the miles down on your 124 , the answer is ....... buy another Merc !

You can get a decent W201 190E for buttons , they are every bit as nice to drive as the 124 , just as durable and even more frugal on fuel - especially if you get a Diesel one which needs even less maintenance .

 

[bigyin1]

I agree with the others who say keep using the Merc - it will be up to the task no problem .

However , if you do want to keep the miles down on your 124 , the answer is ....... buy another Merc !

You can get a decent W201 190E for buttons , they are every bit as nice to drive as the 124 , just as durable and even more frugal on fuel - especially if you get a Diesel one which needs even less maintenance .

I'd happily get another one to do the bulk of the mileage in but i don't think the Mrs would be very enthused to that idea

 

[Smiley]

Another vote to use the Merc. 150k on a e300d is nothing; it will eat the miles; just change the oil and filter every 6 or so k miles and it could last longer than you