Vintage diesel Auto MB

[Mark-E]

New to the forum, so please excuse my ignorance.

Contemplating buying a pre '71 MB as my next vehicle. I feel like I'm a bit caught up in a must have / need latest model cycle, having switched my cars 9 times in the last 5 yrs. Ive had Bose sound systems added and then hardly listened to them, cruise control probably seized due to inactivity..

I would really appreciate any comments, for/against, from anybody else who has made the switch.

I drive about 10k miles a year, mostly local around town. I've also had diesel auto's for last 10yrs, suits my driving style (lazy and plodding).

So, I'm thinking if I bought a vintage MB I might enjoy the car (I do like keeping cars gleaming) and keep it as an appreciating asset, feeling smug about the road tax.

For around £25k, what would fit the bill ?

 

[JohnDeere8530]

I agree, yep for £25k you can get a real classic that will appreciate in value.

However that said for it to appreciate it will need cossetting, ie not used everyday. If you were to spend say £20k on a decent classic (most prices are low at mo, so a good time to buy) then by a daily diesel hack, such as a mondeo diesel.

I know you will have an addnl tax disc, insurance etc etc, but believe me in the long term it will pay dividends as your classic will not be rusting away/ wearing etc

 

[Dieselman]

A pre-'71 diesel Mercedes is going to take some finding and you won't like it compared to what you have now.

 

[gaz_l]

A pre-'71 diesel Mercedes is going to take some finding and you won't like it compared to what you have now.

Just what I was thinking. A diesel of that vintage will not be anything like a modern car to drive. It will be noisy and desperately slow in comparison. On the plus side, with your kind of budget you should be able to find a nice pre '71 petrol auto - as an example, our finance director has a W111 280SE-3.5 coupe which would probably be within your price range.

It's a wafty old thing, not a sports car, so would probably suit your driving style. The fuel economy won't be great if you're doing most of your miles in town though. But on the plus side, if you buy a good one and look after it, you'll never lose a penny in depreciation..

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Just what I was thinking. A diesel of that vintage will not be anything like a modern car to drive. It will be noisy and desperately slow in comparison. On the plus side, with your kind of budget you should be able to find a nice pre '71 petrol auto - as an example, our finance director has a W111 280SE-3.5 coupe which would probably be within your price range.

It's a wafty old thing, not a sports car, so would probably suit your driving style. The fuel economy won't be great if you're doing most of your miles in town though. But on the plus side, if you buy a good one and look after it, you'll never lose a penny in depreciation..

Cheers,

Gaz

That is one very beautiful Mercedes.

 

[312 Sprinter]

A pre '71 240D is going to be pretty glacial in its performance, as is a 190D fintail.

Why does it have to be pre '71? Tax free is pre '73.

If you go a bit later, and can live with LHD an Amerrican spec 300SD may be an acceptable compromise. If the diesel is about saving fuel another option is to go for an LPG converted car.

 

[Mark-E]

Really appreciate your comments.
Didn't realise that the zero tax started in 73 - learned something new.
What a cracking looking vintage MB!
Wife has a new MB for longer journeys etc.

I was just thinking that rather than chase the latest/best, perhaps I should look retro.

I gave up driving fast a few years back. I also gave up on petrol cars a bit further back, all those points, plugs, distributors to go wrong. Diesels appeared to be so much more reliable. Until common rail / injectors appeared that is.

Good point that I ought to have a daily runaround as well as a vintage. But in my mind that defeats the object a bit. I REALLY wouldn't fancy driving around in a manky old fiesta to save a bit of wear on a nice car.

Need to have a drive of an old motor and see whether I can forgive the ride etc.

 

[190E 2.6]

What a cracker ..fantastic

 

[NIPhil]

That w111 is a beautiful vehicle

 

[219]

If you want a pre '73 diesel , a W114 300D would be the only one even remotely approaching reasonable performance ; the 200D and 240D will be painfully slow and quite clattery . A petrol 280E from the same era , on the other hand will easily keep up with modern traffic , although fuel costs will be higher .

Most of the Diesel cars will be manual ; you will be very hard pushed to find an automatic . Apart from the 300 , all the Diesels tend to have very basic spec - wind up windows etc , even the majority of 300's were pretty basic spec too - they tended to be bought by people who didn't like spending money .

On the other hand , your £25K would buy a very tidy R107 SL ( only a handful of the very earliest ones were tax exempt ) , or , with luck , a Pagoda SL - but at £25K you are just scraping into the bottom end of what you would pay for a decent one - expect still to have a bit of work to do .

You would get a nice saloon of any range from the 1950's to the 1970's : Pontons ( W120,W121,W105,W180 ) , Fintails ( W110,W111,W112 ) , S-Class predecessor W108,W109 , New Generation / Stroke 8 ( W114 , W115 ) or a very early S Class (W116) . Most models in these ranges will be petrol as not so many Diesels were sold back then - other than for use as taxis , or by people like hauliers and farmers who tended to use them as hacks which could be fuelled from the same source as other machinery ( comes back to what I said about not liking to spend money ) , I know about this as my dad was a haulage contractor .

A properly maintained Mercedes of that era will be as reliable as anything else on the road .

( BTW , 'Vintage' cars are pre-WWII )