Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol8]

[Parisien]

lostkiwi said:

Going to look at this tomorrow...
Any thoughts?http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1993-MERCEDES-SL500-AUTO-SILVER-CONVERTIBLE-/131583671075?hash=item1ea2ff7b23



Any thoughts other than the dodgy wheels, missing distributor covers and aftermarket stereo?

All you need to know here....

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...


P

[BlueMR2]

0a said:

600 SEC up for auction with 78k miles on it (according to the pictures). http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C651702

Estimate £2.5-2.8k if this means anything. Why do so many of these seem to end up going through auction?

Would you want to sell one for a £500 "profit" then have someone pop back 2 days later needing a dash out job to fix the heater?

Neither does anyone else, so auction it is.

[lostkiwi]

0a said:

I would want to have sounded out the seller on the phone as the pictures are not exactly great - they must have some with the roof off (demonstrating that it works at least!). Personally for me I am not a big fan of silver on the SL for some reason, I think darker or more interesting colours work best, but that's personal preference. I can't really judge the bodywork on this screen, but having seen a car that looked fine in pictures which turned out to be rusty as anything in the metal, that doesn't mean anything.

The usual advice to look for work done on suspension applies. Check the air con and exhaust - ensure these work or build this into the price you pay, and the hood. Mine needs an A/C compressor and an exhaust - the exhaust is going to come out at about £700/800 and it has proved more of a pain to source than I thought, so I am having one fabricated (still, I rang the guys today and they hadn't started after weeks after needing a specific bit!!!!). This was fine as I was aware of both before the purchase.

Good luck, they are great cars and I love mine.

Cheers for that. I'd prefer an Azurite Blue one with cream leather but nothing even close is available at the moment.
Had a good chat with the owner and he's said the wind deflector is missing along with the other stuff already noted. The hood is apparently in really good condition but needs a lit rear window sorting. I'll be wanting to see that tomorrow for sure. Good call on the aircon too. Will check that out.
Its had some work on the wiring loom for the engine but he cant tell me if it has had the loom replaced.
Plenty there to bargain with between the wheels, hood, deflector, wiring loom and missing plastic engine covers. I think its slightly over priced anyway.
Missed a really lovely 320SL with only 72k on it for £4250 - someone got a real bargain there.

[0a]

lostkiwi said:

Cheers for that. I'd prefer an Azurite Blue one with cream leather but nothing even close is available at the moment.
Had a good chat with the owner and he's said the wind deflector is missing along with the other stuff already noted. The hood is apparently in really good condition but needs a lit rear window sorting. I'll be wanting to see that tomorrow for sure. Good call on the aircon too. Will check that out.
Its had some work on the wiring loom for the engine but he cant tell me if it has had the loom replaced.
Plenty there to bargain with between the wheels, hood, deflector, wiring loom and missing plastic engine covers. I think its slightly over priced anyway.
Missed a really lovely 320SL with only 72k on it for £4250 - someone got a real bargain there.

It is worth reading the post by r129 here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=101...

Mine was a sub £5k car, and it is not perfect. However it looks great, has no rust, and the list of jobs to be done is now known and not too long.

I would imagine that buying the wrong car (such as the one I saw) could be very costly.

Personally I would want the V8 and not the 6 cylinder. These are not light cars (they are very well built indeed) and the V8 sounds the part. I imagine the six makes a very pleasant cruiser, but for me the V8 makes it a bit of a hotrod and more special.

EDIT: that 320 sounds like it was a bargain.

The wind deflector does make a real difference. I am a convertible novice and it took me a while to try it, but it is invaluable for longer journeys as it means you can do them without the roof.

I did see one a few weeks ago on ebay for not very much (under £100?) but I am not sure if this is a normal price.

Edited by 0a on Monday 24th August 21:19

[BlueMR2]

lostkiwi said:

Going to look at this tomorrow...
Any thoughts?http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1993-MERCEDES-SL500-AUTO-SILVER-CONVERTIBLE-/131583671075?hash=item1ea2ff7b23



Any thoughts other than the dodgy wheels, missing distributor covers and aftermarket stereo?

It just looks wrong somehow, i think its the wheels together with the lack of amber up front and the pretty terrible quality photo.

Is there a strip accross the boot? Looks a bit odd.

Should the badge not be 500SL, looks wrong.

I don't know why, but i don't really like it.

[lostkiwi]

BlueMR2 said:

t just looks wrong somehow, i think its the wheels together with the lack of amber up front and the pretty terrible quality photo.

Is there a strip accross the boot? Looks a bit odd.

Should the badge not be 500SL, looks wrong.

I don't know why, but i don't really like it.

Good call on the badge and 'spoiler'.
Both are wrong. I've heard of folk changing the badge to make them appear younger. Same with the front lights.

[W00DY]

BlueMR2 said:

lostkiwi said:

Going to look at this tomorrow...
Any thoughts?http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1993-MERCEDES-SL500-AUTO-SILVER-CONVERTIBLE-/131583671075?hash=item1ea2ff7b23



Any thoughts other than the dodgy wheels, missing distributor covers and aftermarket stereo?

It just looks wrong somehow, i think its the wheels together with the lack of amber up front and the pretty terrible quality photo.

Is there a strip accross the boot? Looks a bit odd.

Should the badge not be 500SL, looks wrong.

I don't know why, but i don't really like it.

Looks to be a generic spoiler, probably only taped on and the badge even looks a touch wonky. The wheels are grim

The duct tape on the intake is pretty shonky.

I suspect the car was originally two-tone since most of the early ones were, but given it's been updated it's not an uncommon mod.

[0a]

lostkiwi said:

BlueMR2 said:

t just looks wrong somehow, i think its the wheels together with the lack of amber up front and the pretty terrible quality photo.

Is there a strip accross the boot? Looks a bit odd.

Should the badge not be 500SL, looks wrong.

I don't know why, but i don't really like it.

Good call on the badge and 'spoiler'.
Both are wrong. I've heard of folk changing the badge to make them appear younger. Same with the front lights.

Someone has clearly had a go at making it younger at some point. This wouldn't absolutely put me off but I would factor the cost of making it original again, obviously.

[ShockDiamonds]

BlueMR2 said:

Would you want to sell one for a £500 "profit" then have someone pop back 2 days later needing a dash out job to fix the heater?

Neither does anyone else, so auction it is.

I ran a C140 600 for two years and 10k miles (a 96 reg). Only issues which I can recall were an oil leak from what we think was the oil pressure sensor, but it was very slight and not easy to diagnose given the sardine-tight packaging and a knackered passenger seat sensor which shot the belt arm out at irregular intervals. Latter was easily fixed. And they all do it. There wasn't much else that I can think of. And the M120 is an awesome engine.

The biggest issue, which you may already be aware of, is the biodegrable wiring loom as these things get older. I sold mine before it became a problem, and perhaps there is a way around it these days.

[W00DY]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-MERCEDES-300-E-3-0-...

Very pricey and a spoiler is always disappointing , but otherwise I very much like it.

[No Bend]

W00DY said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-MERCEDES-300-E-3-0-...

It does look nice, but as you say expensive. And it has the word means says to me 'avoid', the word? 'Rare' but this one is 'Extremely Rare'. I guess at least it doesn't feature the obnoxious 'L@@K'

Does have a long waffling history…

"The Mercedes was registered new in Jersey to a Titled owner in February 1992. The car was chauffeur driven for the titled owner from then until 2004. The car was then bought by the grounds keepers father and brought to Scotland where he kept the car garaged and only used the car at the weekend in good weather. I then bought the car in 2011 and sold to my fathers neighbour who kept the car garaged and used the car in his free time. I then bought the car back in September 2014 and have used the car for pleasure"

[JZZ30]

village idiot said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

it's preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty!

Arguably the best looking mass produced car of the last 10 years.

I love the leather seats in these, but the silver plastics are a bit low rent.

[gareth_r]

Coker said:

gareth_r said:

BlueMR2 said:

I've fancied a Toyota Century for a while, not seen a V12 over here though. Not sure how easy it would be to import over here, is it just an MOT if it's over 10yrs old?

Rear fog, speedo conversion, MOT.

Speedo conversion isn't actually a legal requirement, I've owned a couple of non-converted JDM imports.

Strictly speaking, it's a legal requirement, but not part of the MOT.

[JZZ30]

W00DY said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-MERCEDES-300-E-3-0-...

Very pricey and a spoiler is always disappointing , but otherwise I very much like it.

Very nice, not really a fan of ultra low miles, but that is tempting. Only slightly though at 6k!

[0a]

W00DY said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-MERCEDES-300-E-3-0-...

Very pricey and a spoiler is always disappointing , but otherwise I very much like it.

WOW. Low miles, the right era, a nice colour, and the 24v engine.

I am in an absolute minority in liking the 4 door W124 more than the estate and coupe (it's lighter and stiffer, and the 4 door is the 'original' shape to me), so even I can see it's expensive as those models command far more money. But I bet it sells quickly if it's at all genuine.

It doesn't have leather, so i'm out

£2k comes off for the spoiler as well. Just no.

[V12 AMG]

tog said:

BlueMR2 said:

Very nice, an estate car of that (abit cheaper please) will quite possibly be what i go for.

Do the seats fold in the saloon? Was it an option?

Yes, it's an option.

[phil_cardiff]

JZZ30 said:

village idiot said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

it's preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty!

Arguably the best looking mass produced car of the last 10 years.

I love the leather seats in these, but the silver plastics are a bit low rent.

Makes my E91 look like a complete swamp donkey. But I'd still rather own the BMW.

[BlueMR2]

phil_cardiff said:

JZZ30 said:

village idiot said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

it's preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty!

Arguably the best looking mass produced car of the last 10 years.

I love the leather seats in these, but the silver plastics are a bit low rent.

Makes my E91 look like a complete swamp donkey. But I'd still rather own the BMW.

Alfa know how to make great leather front seats...

[Jobbo]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

Another fast Volvo; I rather like the look of it. Anything to be aware of? (Aside from the fact that it's not a 124, obvs.)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-V70-2-5-Turbo-200-...

That's rather interesting - if you wanted a thread estate but wanted something a bit more modern than a W124, that's about as old money as you'll get these days. I hadn't realised they'd got so cheap. Is the tax £500?

[derin100]

BlueMR2 said:

phil_cardiff said:

JZZ30 said:

village idiot said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

it's preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty!

Arguably the best looking mass produced car of the last 10 years.

I love the leather seats in these, but the silver plastics are a bit low rent.

Makes my E91 look like a complete swamp donkey. But I'd still rather own the BMW.

Alfa know how to make great leather front seats...

We had exactly one of those as a hire in Italy once. It looked very pretty on the outside but those silver plastics in the interior were horrid. The car was relatively new and those bits looked like they were going to break or look shabby very quickly.

The drive was 'ok' but not particularly inspiring either.