Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol8]

[derin100]

JF87 said:

My £2.8k 840 is better than it has any right to be. Nosecone badly needs repainting & the a/c is tepid - quite hopeful it may genuinely just need the proverbial regas. Brakes a little spongey. But the panel gaps are a LOT better than the photos implied, body is very clean & it ran straight (& fast) back to London from Bridgwater. Interior is smart & original, and everything electric works perfectly - even the (drum roll) REAR SUN BLIND!

Congratulations!

The brakes feeling like that could just be the normal way 8-Series brakes feel. Don't go wasting money beyond a normal check-over and renewing the brake fluid if it's due.

[jas xjr]

PowerslideSWE said:

wack said:

PowerslideSWE said:

That's insanely good value for money, I'm comparing this to the cheapest equivalent XJ-R in Sweden, which in todays exchange rate is, brace for it...£17.390. I could live with the steering wheel on the wrong side tbh. The Jag is priced very closely to what I paid for my comparatively ancient e38 750.

I see why that guy is always buying up classics to export to Sweden on fast n loud now

Haha, yeah, the guy with the atrocious southern swedish accent nailed to his quite bad english, but his business is booming, old Caddys are expensive here.

What would the import costs be on something like that? Or other obstacles

[CharlesdeGaulle]

JF87 said:

Congratulations, that looks great. I've always liked these.

[Lagerlout]

W00DY said:

Stereo looks decent nice and restrained if not as stylish and integrated as mine





BM looks nice and understated on good wheels. And yet the whole world seems to want M-sport.

! Snap, same head unit in my Evo 2... Aftermarket or dealer fit?

[0a]

There are quite a few mercs I like on car and classic tonight

http://www.mtsv.co.uk/info/300ESLNB.htm

This is back at MSTV - I think I enquired about it and Mark said it wasn't ready for sale when I talked to him?



Stunning http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C634909





38k miles, and it looks so good! http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C596712# I think we might have had it here before from the pictures (though the 38k miles should ring a bell?)

[Mike22233]

leglessAlex said:

As said by someone earlier, it's been relisted with a £4,500 buy it now price. Surely that's a staggering amount of car for the money?! Providing it's halfways kosher of course.

Oh god, I need it in my life. If only I had the required £6,500/£7,000 to buy it, tax it and insure it for the year

Really fancy a change from my 540. Are these Jags quite reliable?

[QuantumTokoloshi]

0a said:

There are quite a few mercs I like on car and classic tonight

Stunning http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C634909

That looks very promising for the price.

[anonymous-user]

Mike22233 said:

leglessAlex said:

As said by someone earlier, it's been relisted with a £4,500 buy it now price. Surely that's a staggering amount of car for the money?! Providing it's halfways kosher of course.

Oh god, I need it in my life. If only I had the required £6,500/£7,000 to buy it, tax it and insure it for the year

Really fancy a change from my 540. Are these Jags quite reliable?

My experience of modern Jaguars is that at 150K they are pretty much done in. They can throw up all sorts of weird wiring/electrical faults and these have issues with the earthing connectors corroding right off.

[PowerslideSWE]

jas xjr said:

What would the import costs be on something like that? Or other obstacles

Got an estimate a few years ago of around £650 for the import itself, shipping I imagine and the paperwork on the UK side, then there is the car specific issues that the lights will have to be sorted for driving on the right, but that seems to be an easy fix with modern cars, it needs the equivalent MOT here, and the paperwork and such. Of course a RHD car here is worth less than an equal LHD car, and might be harder to sell, but I would make money on it anyway concidering it's a quarter of the price compared to the cheapest available XJR here.

[JF87]

0a said:

Give us interior pictures and driving impressions please. It's a lovely looking thing.

Been busy getting the Rover 75 Tourer eBay-ready (I'd better not post the link!). Interior pics in due course - it's on the dour side of restrained, even by E31 standards. My last one (also Orient Blue) was parchment/beige inside, whereas this is a symphony in grey (46 shades short). Would rather it wasn't, but I'm trying to tell myself that the downbeat sobriety neatly counterbalances the E31's in-your-face exterior. Other than some scuffing on the driver's side the sports seat are great, and unlike those in my last one both function correctly in all their many directions.

The head unit is the Rover version of the CD43, identical to the BMW "Business" original but with a tiny (though still rather tacky) "M" sticker over the Rover logo. The Business CD43s are very hard to get hold of, but it's quite reassuring to see that a previous owner had made an effort to maintain originality, and not gone down the disco-lights route (cf the previous owner of my last E31). The only other after-market presence is a Parrot kit, which seems to work but the listing didn't even mention (in fact the vendor rather undersold the car generally). Biggest downer is the inexplicable lack of cruise - what sort of pervert would order one of these definitive autobahn stormers with a sun blind and a motorised steering column, but not cruise control? I've had a quick look at retrofitting, but it seems a bit of a ball-ache.

Driving impressions... I'm not very good at these, have a feeling I haven't driven a sufficient range of decent cars over the years. I have at least driven another 4.4 E31 though - this one feels a little more sluggish, and emits a wheezier roar when you knock on the Sportronic and floor it. I'll stick in my OBD2 reader and see what Torque reveals (assuming the resultant data means anything to me). Feels taut enough round the corners and drives straight and true, which allayed my fears about the (15-year-old) Cat C repairs.

You do get some attention driving an E31, in a good way. They're old and cheap enough now not to incite jealous loathing, but still cut a supercar dash that earns respect - outside-lane hoggers graciously pull over when they spot that nosecone in the mirror (even with the pop-ups down!). The appeal is however extremely bloke-centric. As with my last E31 I'm getting a lot of thumbs up from white-van men and male neighbours, but my wife and daughters simply don't see what the fuss is about. They're all disappointed I didn't get a 500 SL (that one posted by 0a above looks terrific). But this car is just much more up my street. On reflection I'd have felt a bit daft driving a convertible about in the West London rush hour at my age (whatever my username implies, I wasn't born in 1987).

derin100 said:

Congratulations! The brakes feeling like that could just be the normal way 8-Series brakes feel. Don't go wasting money beyond a normal check-over and renewing the brake fluid if it's due.

Will do! Have to say though that the sponginess and pedal-travel are way more extravagant than they were in my last one.

Does anyone know of a good (old model) BMW independent in West London/Surrey/Berks? I took my last one to an E31 specialist near Dorking, who knew his stuff but took ages to get work done - most of his clients had great fleets of classics, and didn't miss not having one for a few months.

[r129sl]

Another "royal" S-class. Somebody ought to point out that foreign royalty doesn't count and middle eastern royalty is decidedly negative. Still, looks nice; but what is going on along the passenger-side front door?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Benz-500-se-W12...

[BGarside]

0a said:

There are quite a few mercs I like on car and classic tonight

http://www.mtsv.co.uk/info/300ESLNB.htm

This is back at MSTV - I think I enquired about it and Mark said it wasn't ready for sale when I talked to him?



Stunning http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C634909





38k miles, and it looks so good! http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C596712# I think we might have had it here before from the pictures (though the 38k miles should ring a bell?)

Nice saloons. The 300E was listed as sold until a couple of days ago so I guess the buyer didn't complete the transaction. Looks nice though.

Lovely 300SE - must be good as new after just 38k miles and a good spec for a 300 too - climate control and electric seats, optional (and lush) ribbed velour upholstery.

The W126 looks better than ever these days and is just dripping with Merc DNA in a way that I find the current cars lack - they are starting to look almost far eastern in design...

[0a]

Another rather nice W126 - where did they all suddenly come from? "Very Good condition. MOT'd TILL APRIL 2016 300SE Auto Petrol, 71,100K
Cream Leather interior, Sun Roof, Sony multi CD, Original 1st Aid Kit, This car has been in our family for 26 years from new since Nov 1989"





http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C599332

[Caruso]

Did everyone catch the VED changes today in the Budget?


In simple language on cars registered from 2017 onwards, based on the list price you will pay
< £40k = £140 a year
> £40k = £450 a year for the first 5 years, then £140 a year thereafter.

For me this looks like good news. High VED rates put me off many newer barges, but it looks like a new era of bargain barges will start hitting the 2ndhand market in 5 years time.

[lostkiwi]

Not so sure they'll be bargains without the VED monster to scare people off like we have now...

[Adrian E]

Caruso said:

Did everyone catch the VED changes today in the Budget?


In simple language on cars registered from 2017 onwards, based on the list price you will pay
< £40k = £140 a year
> £40k = £450 a year for the first 5 years, then £140 a year thereafter.

For me this looks like good news. High VED rates put me off many newer barges, but it looks like a new era of bargain barges will start hitting the 2ndhand market in 5 years time.

That's almost right - for ultra low emission vehicles VED will still be free, if under £40k. First year rate for over 255g/km CO2 rises to £2k from (IIRC) £1100 or so (sliding scale below 255g/km), with a £310 surcharge in years 2-5 on top of the £140 flat rate (so £450 as above) for anything with the over £40k list price.

Will have an interesting effect on car choices I suspect, both in the run up to the change in 2017 and for a number of years after.

[derin100]

Adrian E said:

Caruso said:

Did everyone catch the VED changes today in the Budget?


In simple language on cars registered from 2017 onwards, based on the list price you will pay
< £40k = £140 a year
> £40k = £450 a year for the first 5 years, then £140 a year thereafter.

For me this looks like good news. High VED rates put me off many newer barges, but it looks like a new era of bargain barges will start hitting the 2ndhand market in 5 years time.

That's almost right - for ultra low emission vehicles VED will still be free, if under £40k. First year rate for over 255g/km CO2 rises to £2k from (IIRC) £1100 or so (sliding scale below 255g/km), with a £310 surcharge in years 2-5 on top of the £140 flat rate (so £450 as above) for anything with the over £40k list price.

Will have an interesting effect on car choices I suspect, both in the run up to the change in 2017 and for a number of years after.

Any changes in the rates for old cars, already semi-submerged in the sedimentary slush that bottom-feeding flat fish like me have to buy (i.e. current Smoker Barges 1-5 large)?

[0a]

derin100 said:

Adrian E said:

Caruso said:

Did everyone catch the VED changes today in the Budget?


In simple language on cars registered from 2017 onwards, based on the list price you will pay
< £40k = £140 a year
> £40k = £450 a year for the first 5 years, then £140 a year thereafter.

For me this looks like good news. High VED rates put me off many newer barges, but it looks like a new era of bargain barges will start hitting the 2ndhand market in 5 years time.

That's almost right - for ultra low emission vehicles VED will still be free, if under £40k. First year rate for over 255g/km CO2 rises to £2k from (IIRC) £1100 or so (sliding scale below 255g/km), with a £310 surcharge in years 2-5 on top of the £140 flat rate (so £450 as above) for anything with the over £40k list price.

Will have an interesting effect on car choices I suspect, both in the run up to the change in 2017 and for a number of years after.

Any changes in the rates for old cars, already semi-submerged in the sedimentary slush that bottom-feeding flat fish like me have to buy (i.e. current Smoker Barges 1-5 large)?

These rates only apply to cars purchased from 2017 on

[Adrian E]

0a said:

These rates only apply to cars purchased from 2017 on

Correct - most likely no more than RPI increases going forward for the existing fleet. Will probably hit values of the top band cars longer term, under the current system

[Strawman]

Good they've ring fenced the money raised for road repairs/building though, the first time that has happened since the 1930's.