Hello and hopefully not goodbye

[williamstephen]

Hi,

I have been eavesdropping on this site for a little over 12 years and always found it to be an invaluable source of information and advice. So hello current car is a F reg W124 230 Te that is sadly on its last legs, hence the hello and hopefully not goodbye! The hi pressure hose for the hydraulic rear suspension sprung a leak and the mechanic thinks that a repair is not a viable economic decision. Can anyone advise?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Hello and welcome to the forum William.

 

[carat 3.6]

Welcome to the forum, is the rest of the car in good condition?

 

[williamstephen]

It has sailed through the last 4 MOT's. with a couple of advisory notices and there is some rusting on the wheel arch but nothing alarming-so yes I would say it was in pretty darn good condition.

 

[williamstephen]

Hello and thanks

 

[developer]

Hi,

I have been eavesdropping on this site for a little over 12 years

Wow, if you'd joined as a newborn you'd almost be a teenager now

That's some watching from the wings.

Welcome to you.

 

[williamstephen]

My wife might be inclined to agree with you in that I behave like a teenager.

 

[s500colin]

Hello
Welcome to the Forum

 

[williamstephen]

Cheers colin

 

[steve333]

Hi,welcome to the forum

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

Hello and a warm welcome to you. Sorry I can't help with your problem, surely a leaky hose, high pressure or not should be a relatively quick fix. No doubt someone 'in the know' will be along to help you.

 

[williamstephen]

Cheers Steve

 

[williamstephen]

Hi woody, I would have thought so however it seems not the mechanic, who over the last five years has been most reliable and honest, thought that there was a considerable amount of work involved and on the premise of age and stuff not going back in place he felt it was a pandora's box and wasn't worth it. Sadly there has been a lot going on in my real life so I have not pursued.

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

Thats a shame, bettered by a bloody hose. However, if the man who knows says no, I suppose its the end.

 

[williamstephen]

Well put, the car has been an absolute gem compared to previous MB's we have had and I am scunnered by the whole thing had we but the money and the time!!

 

[trapperjohn]

Its a warm welcome from me too.

Iv'e had issues with the pipes going rusty on my hydraulics in my 124 Estate. Nothing terminal just surface rust. I had the bad bits cut out and new pipe sleeved-in, no worries. If say the whole system is perhaps on its last legs and the control valve for the rear suspenders is on the way out too, then it could be expensive. Perhaps your mechanic is thinking - replace it all including the spheres in a one shot go. Which is a drop the rear subframe job. Labour costs alone would be quite high plus given the age of the car once that subframe is off you may well find rust on the base of the subframe mounting points. More weld more cost. Plus whilst its off you may aswell replace the bushing on the subframe.

Sorry to be a bringer of doom. But that is the worst case put. One the plus side it could just be a pipe sleeving job.

Good Luck which ever way it goes.

 

[williamstephen]

John,

Thanks for taking the time to reply in such depth and basically our mechanic outlined the 'Bringer of Doom' scenario outlined in your post.-so I guess we are gubbed. But thanks for the good wishes.

Stephen

 

[Buster'stheboy]

Hello Williamstephen, welcome.

I hope either your car can be fixed, or you can get a decent replacement. I had the same thing with my old 230e this year and was heartbroken to have to take it off the road. I've got another one now. Still prefer the old one though, which is currently sitting in the yard donating it's good bits to the new one.

Will be interested to hear how you get on. Best of luck.

 

[williamstephen]

Hey Buster,

John may have just made the case for the prosecution to be honest heart broken is not too strong it has been a great car and compared with the previous cars, which were all bought in Germany, this has been a star-but it looking increasingly likely that she is going to become bits and to be honest I am not sure if we could replace her just now.

But thanks for your wishes from sunny argyll
Stephen