Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol8]

[V12 AMG]

Richie C said:

To be honest I thought it looked familiar!

Ok, how about a Friday afternoon bargista "what car" instead? I've recently taken on a 180 mile round trip daily commute, which strikes me as the natural habitat of a barge. I need comfort, a good stereo and economy that starts with at least a 3 on a semi-legal motorway cruise. In thread budget would be good.

Suggestions?

Drove out to west wales to visit family for the bank holiday weekend. Usual Bank holiday traffic so it was a 5 hour non stop trip each way. The W220 S320cdi is the ideal car to load up with luggage and the family and set the cruise control to 75mph. A fair amount of stationary traffic made a dent to the impressive MPG figures as well as the average speed and the time taken. I have previously done the same trip in under 4 hours and achieved 56mpg just with the cruise control on.



Super comfy, ventilated seats and I didn't experience any fatigue after a 5 hour non stop drive.

If you do look at W220s, make sure it is a 53 - 06 car, they are the only ones worth considering.

Edited by V12 AMG on Tuesday 1st September 14:52

[JZZ30]

MJK 24 said:

Just me that thinks that looks very Japanese on those wheels?

[harrykul]

This is what I had in mind for the poster a few days ago- a great car for mile munching.

[W00DY]

Challo said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

2.8 Turbo Vectra for less than 2k.

Cheap on paper, but in reality you can buy a nice car for £2k. Or a least one with a much nicer body and badge.



http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

[lostkiwi]

Picked up my r129 on the weekend.
A few little issues to fix but I'm loving it so far.
Definitely needs the engine harness and throttle harness replacing but I had budgeted for that anyway.
Checked the VIN and the Sacco and body were in Bright Silver (code 744) from the factory so thats a nice to know.
Had squeaky leather but thats now sorted with a little silicone spray and some wind noise from the hardtop where the door glass meets the hardtop. I've rubbed in some rubber lube to soften the seals so hopefully that will help.
Other than that all good (and no leaks!) and lovely to drive.

Just need to lose the 19" 'Brabus' alloys.

[Strawman]

W00DY said:

Cheap on paper, but in reality you can buy a nice car for £2k. Or a least one with a much nicer body and badge.

A shame that is in the £505 tax bracket, I can see a lot of post 2006 luxury cars in a few years getting exported or scrapped.

[Challo]

Strawman said:

W00DY said:

Cheap on paper, but in reality you can buy a nice car for £2k. Or a least one with a much nicer body and badge.

A shame that is in the £505 tax bracket, I can see a lot of post 2006 luxury cars in a few years getting exported or scrapped.

But that has done 150k and in the big tax bracket. The vectra was cheaper tax and only had 70k on the clock.

[MJK 24]

harrykul said:

Reims would be my guess...

Correct!

:-)

[anonymous-user]

W00DY said:

Cheap on paper, but in reality you can buy a nice car for £2k. Or a least one with a much nicer body and badge.



http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

My spidey senses tell me that in person that car will be an absolute heap. Very, very cheap though!

[E30M3SE]

dme123 said:

W00DY said:

Cheap on paper, but in reality you can buy a nice car for £2k. Or a least one with a much nicer body and badge.



http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

My spidey senses tell me that in person that car will be an absolute heap. Very, very cheap though!

You don't need spidey sense for that, just look at the pictures.

Ad say 155,878 miles, picture shows a gnats away from 162,000 miles.......

[anonymous-user]

E30M3SE said:

You don't need spidey sense for that, just look at the pictures.

Ad say 155,878 miles, picture shows a gnats away from 162,000 miles.......

My spidey senses include my eyes

Actually I think that's about my only spidey sense.

[W00DY]

I just picked the cheapest one especially given it was an estate.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Still expensive tax, but it's also not a Vectra.

[r129sl]

Quiet appealing some of these w220s, although it is amazing how low prices of its successor have fallen:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

[tobinen]

A rather nice-looking S210, not many tick boxes left unchecked.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/mercedes-benz/mercedes-2...

[V12 AMG]

r129sl said:

Quiet appealing some of these w220s, although it is amazing how low prices of its successor have fallen:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

That looks good. I much prefer the look of the LWB car and with 18" difdas preferably.
The linked car has just one option; memory, heated seats.

If you plan to do a lot of miles, ventilated seats are a good option. The perforation extends over the complete leather surface (heated seats are just perforated in the little centre patch) and the gentle fan really stops any sweatiness, no matter the weather.

[SpeckledJim]

W00DY said:

I just picked the cheapest one especially given it was an estate.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Still expensive tax, but it's also not a Vectra.

I was feeling a bit glum, so I just started with a blank sheet of paper and began listing Things That Are Not Vectras.

That went quite well, and the list was pretty long. So I felt a bit better.

Here's the thing. I then cross-referenced the new list against my list of Things I Have, and therein lay true satisfaction. Every single line item on Things I Have also appeared on the Things That Are Not Vectras list.

Imagine my joy! Back to work with a spring in my step.

[harrykul]

These w220 cdis are very tempting. Here's another:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

[V12 AMG]

tobinen said:

A rather nice-looking S210, not many tick boxes left unchecked.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/mercedes-benz/mercedes-2...

Is the silver one in the background a replacement or his & hers S210s?!

That will make a good work horse for someone.
No electric memory or orthopaedic seats but spec is pretty good.
I think the price is rich though. Problem with all W210s is that there will be rust. They've changed wings to make the car look good for sale, but chances of rust behind the rear bumper and other places are very high.
This car has the dash pixel issue as well.
I personally feel £2000 is the ceiling price for a car like this now which has generous mileage on it.

Edited by V12 AMG on Tuesday 1st September 14:47

Edited by V12 AMG on Tuesday 1st September 14:55

[jke11y]

harrykul said:

These w220 cdis are very tempting. Here's another:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

It was going so well until we got to the boot



RE the 210, never heard of "Avantgarde select" and like many of us Im a bit rain man on the specs of these old barges. Learn something every day!

[SuperHangOn]

V12 AMG said:

Is the silver one in the background a replacement or his & hers S210s?!

That will make a good work horse for someone.
No electric memory or orthopaedic seats but spec is pretty good.
I think the price is rich though. Problem with all W210s is that there will be rust. They've changed wings to make the car look good for sale, but chances of rust behind the rear bumper and other places are very high.
This car has the dash pixel issue as well.
I personally feel £2000 is the ceiling price for a car like this now which has generous mileage on it.

Edited by V12 AMG on Tuesday 1st September 14:47

Edited by V12 AMG on Tuesday 1st September 14:55

Trouble is, all the plastic liners cover all the rot so it's a bit of a gamble. Mine is superficially very almost as nice, identical mileage but needs a fair bit of welding to the inner arches. Thankfully the important bits are ok so it's going to get fixed and a dose of por 15.