W123 - 280e 1983

[kwakdonut]

W123 - 280e 1983 - Advice please!!!

By absolute chance, came across one of these this morning sitting outside a local garage to me.

Of course, I had to go for a look just to be nosey and the guy who owns it wandered out and offered to sell it to me!
Now, have done a little homework on these so I know they suffer from tin worm, the 2.8 engine is a little thirsty but not bad.
The RH rear arch has been patched and underneath, there are some 'crunchy' bits on either side of the boot.

He started the engine, which fired first time and sounded great with no smokeor rattles.
Apart from that didn't really get a chance to look it over as I had to get back to work.

How much? He said roughly '£400'.

History? Loads. Originally a South African car then exported to Spain and finally to the UK,
in 1992/93 as far as I could tell from the paperwork.

Speedo has been changed but the car had done about 250,000kms
No real idea what the true mileage is - probably around the 150-200k miles.

The bodywork is fairly good and only things I could pick up straight away
were a chipped headlight lens (repaired) and rear valence was dented.

How good a car would this be if it had a years MOT on it as a runaround?

Honest opinions please!

 

[bpsorrel]

£400!!! You should export it to Russia!! Saw a few in the summer, prices ranging from £2000 up!! And, not looking as good as this one! I was going to buy one until I found out how expensive they are there!

 

[d w124]

£400!!! You should export it to Russia!! Saw a few in the summer, prices ranging from £2000 up!! And, not looking as good as this one! I was going to buy one until I found out how expensive they are there!

Is pelrol cheap in Russia?Back where i`m from there is many of these but they prefer diesel.

 

[bpsorrel]

Petrol is the equivalent of 50p a litre. Sounds cheap, but compared to average wage, works out about as expensive as ours.

 

[kwakdonut]

....

 

[d w124]

Petrol is the equivalent of 50p a litre. Sounds cheap, but compared to average wage, works out about as expensive as ours.

That`s what i mean.My father has a 190d and i was gona send him my car,even though is 2l petrol there is no way he`ll have it.

 

[kwakdonut]

Bit more info - car not used for last year - tax ran out Aug 08. No MOT although the owner reckons 'it would probably go through one'. Well, I might be tempted at £400 if it had a years ticket on it thats for sure. Obviously, I am aware of the rust issues but since this one has lived a chunk of life in sunnier climes, thought it may well be less likely to have anything terminal.

Any help would be appreciated as am a little tempted by this.

 

[mattc]

why not ring Jay via the number on his mercland website...given his current 123 restoration thread I suspect he has some real pointers for you

 

[kwakdonut]

why not ring Jay via the number on his mercland website...given his current 123 restoration thread I suspect he has some real pointers for you

Had thought about that but didn't want to bug him as he is a busy guy! Have read a fair few of his replies etc to various W123 threads and he does appear very knowledgable. Maybe I will PM him later. Thanks for that

 

[kwakdonut]

More details courtesy of the DVLA -

The enquiry is complete
The vehicle details for A993 VYE are:
Date of Liability 01 02 2010
Date of First Registration 02 03 1995
Year of Manufacture 1984
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 2800CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status SORN Not Due
Vehicle Colour GREY
Vehicle Type Approval
Vehicle Excise Duty Rate for vehicle
6 Months Rate £104.50
12 Months Rate £190.00

 

[kwakdonut]

Interior is pretty damn tidy, seats are black, possibly vinyl but not 100% sure as leather was an option. Kmh speedo but no A/C as far as I could see although I couldnt imagine it would be working anyway.

Anyone else have any comments to make??

 

[jaymanek]

They do rust but at £400 its a cheap car!

 

[kwakdonut]

So if it came with 12 months MOT - it would be worth it?

 

[Arthur Daley]

An Mot gives a bit of (but not total) comfort. Just seen a W123 at the NEC for £9k!!! Although it did look very good and was with a dealer.....but so it should be at that price. W123's do seem to command very good prices these days.

I would say it would be worth a punt........make him an offer of say £250 to £300 and see if you get lucky. At this kind of price lets face it you can't get much cheaper....but having the Mot is the most important thing otherwise I personally would stay clear of it.
Cheers
Sean

 

[kwakdonut]

Without the MOT I personally wouldn't go for it but a years ticket = a years motoring in a somewhat 'classic' MB!!

 

[jaymanek]

An Mot gives a bit of (but not total) comfort. Just seen a W123 at the NEC for £9k!!!

That will be one of Mark Cosovich's then...

The scary thing is that good W123's do fetch silly money. I have seen concours cars change hands for over 20K.

As to the car at hand, id insist on a 12 Month MOT. Then once you have the car get it re MOT'd to ensure its been checked properly...

 

[bpsorrel]

So £2K in Russia wasn't THAT crazy then....

 

[vibesg]

I've noticed quite a bit of interest in W123s lately. If the car came with 12 months MOT you'd be laughing even at £500. So £400/500 with an MOT and you sort out any worrying bits at your leisure whilst using it as a pleasurable run around. When you're tired of it in say 18-24 months you can reasonably get your money back as long as you don't go mad on the expenditure.

This is the way to deal with this potential purchase.... What do you want the car for and how long do you want to keep it for? Is it a long term prospect or is it a run around for a year or so?
If its a long term prospect then buy it for sensible money £400/ £450 with an MOT, £200/250 without one. Crawl underneath in any event before exchanging any cash so you know what you're getting. Then sit back and enjoy whilst you do it up gradually.

If its a run around you want insist on an MOT before you buy. With this option the risk you run is you'll fall in love with it and want to keep it for much longer..which is probably a good idea.

 

[kingkong]

I bought a 1983 "A" reg 280E for £650 back in 2002 and ran it for 8 years as daily driver in London, adding 35,000 miles in that time. Regular annual servicing aside, the only work that needed doing was to have the rear wings replaced and sprayed (£450), a new, full exhaust system (£500), an ignition amplifier (£50 secondhand) and one set of plugs & HT leads. It was very reliable, altough a little thirsty for town driving (around 18mpg), but this was offset by the fact that it only cost me £100 per year with classic car insurance. On trips outside London it would comfortably sit on the motorway at 85mph for hours at a time with plenty left over for overtaking. My wife loved it (she started sitting in the back!!) and does not like the W124 that I "upgraded" to last year.

You can run these quite cheaply using pattern or used parts from ECP, Mercland and the like, and it helps if you know a trustworthy Indie or a good local honest garage. Annual servicing & MOT for me was usually around £300.

I sold mine to a mate for £300 last year because it needed four new tyres and I couldn't be bothered with dealing with random buyers. He still drives her most days and has gone past the 150,000 mark.

£350/£400 sounds like a good deal to me if she starts and runs properly.

KK

 

[kwakdonut]

Thanks for all the help guys - I will go see the owner next week and see what I can get!