Hello all
I hope this question is not old hat but I have looked on the site and not found an answer.
I have been running some miserable old cars since getting made redundant but now my half-brother has offered to buy and share a £1200 car with me - he only needs a car once a month or so.
The best cars I have owned (before expensive kids came along) were Lancias, Maseratis and Mercedes. I had a lovely 1982 230E saloon with every option (a/c, ABS, headlamp wipers etc) that I restored only to have it stolen the day after I carefully placed an original toolkit in the glovebox to keep it clean!
This was during the famous 'pre-97 Merc theft outbreak' in London in 2005.
A gang was stealing 17-20 cars a week and breaking them up or shipping them whole to Africa. The police caught the thieves with their yard in East London but all that was left of my car was the fuel filler flap...
So, I need to decide whether a 124 estate (preferably diesel but good small petrol would be good too) is a better built car with less rust issues than the later 210.
My only requisites are auto and preferably air con and a towbar (of course I can fit a towbar anytime). Oh, and probably not white in colour please!
And does anyone have one for sale in London/South East/Essex/Suffolk please?! The budget might stretch to £1300 but not much more...
Oh, and is this forum a good place to search for a decent car? Or can anyone recommend others? I am looking at ebay and my local Gumtree etc.
Thank you for your indulgence!
I hope this question is not old hat but I have looked on the site and not found an answer.
I have been running some miserable old cars since getting made redundant but now my half-brother has offered to buy and share a £1200 car with me - he only needs a car once a month or so.
The best cars I have owned (before expensive kids came along) were Lancias, Maseratis and Mercedes. I had a lovely 1982 230E saloon with every option (a/c, ABS, headlamp wipers etc) that I restored only to have it stolen the day after I carefully placed an original toolkit in the glovebox to keep it clean!
This was during the famous 'pre-97 Merc theft outbreak' in London in 2005.
A gang was stealing 17-20 cars a week and breaking them up or shipping them whole to Africa. The police caught the thieves with their yard in East London but all that was left of my car was the fuel filler flap...
So, I need to decide whether a 124 estate (preferably diesel but good small petrol would be good too) is a better built car with less rust issues than the later 210.
My only requisites are auto and preferably air con and a towbar (of course I can fit a towbar anytime). Oh, and probably not white in colour please!
And does anyone have one for sale in London/South East/Essex/Suffolk please?! The budget might stretch to £1300 but not much more...
Oh, and is this forum a good place to search for a decent car? Or can anyone recommend others? I am looking at ebay and my local Gumtree etc.
Thank you for your indulgence!
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