what to buy?

[jonnyboy]

Picture the scene:-
You own a Navara on finance. It's served its dual purpose and has a great spec - bluetooth, nav, leather etc.
You love Mercs, thats a given.
You are negotiating on premises (self employed) and have a spare company truck for through the day so the pickup aspect of the Nav is minimised.
You already run a family s430 lwb with a massive spec.
You love your cars, especially performance.
You are rapidly approaching 40 lol.
You intend to ditch the Navara but need something to commute around 10 miles e/way, preferably with satnav and bluetooth, oh, and did I mention decent performance,
You have a budget of £2k to about £12 financed if needed.
The car MUST be an automatic.
In an ideal world you can px deal the Navara (if possible)

You have a wish list which may include the following items, none of which are deal breakers and they don't all need to be present:-

load carrying
7 seats
performance
convertible


What the hell do i do now (it doesn't have to be an MB but obviously would prefer). ?

 

[moonloops]

I'll give you a pound if you can find a 7 seat convertible despite

they don't all need to be present

http://i43.tinypic.com/2iibmvd.jpg

 

[HowardD]

JB - the answer begins with a G....

 

[jonnyboy]

they are all possible wish list items but i could just as easily end up with an e320cdi estate lol
Have my eyes on a 2.6 audi cabrio at £3.5k right now, along with that carat blue (5 seat belt!!!!) e320 w124 cab, and some clk's, also a couple of porsche 928's and an early quattroporte
Howard - no chance at £12k !

 

[nick mercedes]

You have a wish list which may include the following items, none of which are deal breakers and they don't all need to be present:-

load carrying
7 seats
performance

ford transit tourneo 9 seater minibus 2.5d 1998 on eBay (end time 28-Jun-10 17:02:54 BST)

And blow the rest of the £12k on a big opening party at your new yard for all your MBclub friends.

 

[Sonny Burnett]

ML320 7 seater?? there's a nice ML270 high spec 2003 for £12K in Mercedes enthusiast right now.

 

[jonnyboy]

Had an ML500 back end of last year.

Nick, good idea, but no cigar lol

 

[219]

My 300TE-24 ticked most of these boxes and someone like Bolide , JayManek or any of the other specialists should have a decent one kicking around for reasonable money .

Any six cylinder 124 estate really ; get a good one and it should still be worth the same if you decide to change later . Later models just have more complex electronic bits to go wrong and are harder to look after yourself . Besides , you probably don't want something 'too flash' for business use or your customers will think you're doing too well and try to cut you down on prices ! Drive an older Merc and you come across as someone sensible but frugal .

Oh , and TE's make great towcars with their standard SLS , if you occasionally need to pull a trailer with it .

A TomTom with bluetooth built in or a bluetooth car stereo will address these requirements .

 

[BlackC55]

A G Wagon.

 

[219]

A G Wagon.

G Wagen , even

 

[NormanC]

Have Top Gear actually sold their Espace convertible??

 

[jonnyboy]

Does anyone know if its possible to retro-fit the boot seats in an E55AMG estate? I know it can be done in the ML if it hasnt got the bootmounted spare wheel.
Estate prob the sensible choice and get on with the 129 to bloody finish it lol.

 

[jonnyboy]

Viano's anyone?
Thinking being that if I do need to price a job up after work they are superficcially a van. Performance is a no no but we do have the s430 and at some point i'll have the 129ready. The 7 seats and automatic are covered, as is the "luxury" angle (i know they're a converted van but i drive vans for a living!). The huge bnus would be when we go to Italy, at least once a year plus the times we go up north. All that space .....

 

[BlackC55]

The Viano is ok but the interior is a little bit plasticy. Not the best Vehicle MB have ever made. Saying that we look after 3 Viano taxis and all have 250,000+.

We have just fitted some new CATs to one £1300....

 

[219]

Viano's anyone?
Thinking being that if I do need to price a job up after work they are superficcially a van. Performance is a no no but we do have the s430 and at some point i'll have the 129ready. The 7 seats and automatic are covered, as is the "luxury" angle (i know they're a converted van but i drive vans for a living!). The huge bnus would be when we go to Italy, at least once a year plus the times we go up north. All that space .....

Do you prefer to drive around in a car or a van ? I know which I prefer .

At least the estate car is just like a normal saloon to drive . For the couple of times a year you go away , roof boxes and/or a trailer will give you the extra space for luggage etc .

 

[renault12ts]

Does anyone know if its possible to retro-fit the boot seats in an E55AMG estate? I know it can be done in the ML if it hasnt got the bootmounted spare wheel.
Estate prob the sensible choice and get on with the 129 to bloody finish it lol.

Easy to retro fit, yes.

 

[SL300-24]

E320 CDI W211 sport or avantgarde estate with high spec.....

 

[jonnyboy]

OK so we are on a bit further. Seemingly on our last visit to Brooklands, while I was whizzing around the track in a c63 ( ) Mrs JB and the kids were clambering around. My 12year old son is pushing it now size-wise for the back of an "E" estate.

Hmm.....

Saw about 20 Audi cabrio's on the way to and from Southampton today. They are drop-dead gorgeous. 4 seats though

 

[jonnyboy]

didn't think it was possible to be worse than the original video advert, but:-

Mercedes S600l bi-turbo AMG 20" rims stunning For Sale (2004) on Car And Classic UK

those alloys, rear screen spoiler, YAK. How to spoil a proper proper car.

Wonder what its really worth?

 

[trapperjohn]

In that condition - unsellable. Oh no - footballer may like it.