Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol11]

[Stegel]

charltjr said:

Fair point, there won't be any hurry if he does decide to move it on.

The car you linked to has been at that price for about 5 or 6 months, before that it was on at £8k (same dealer) for at least 12 months. I tried to look at it (when at £8k) 12 months ago while passing but was told it was in the Isle of Man and "I don't mind keeping it, it's only going up".

Two sold last year - an early car at Brightwells, a later car at H&H, both reasonable condition, but with work needed, both circa £6k. There was one late car on for ages (I think r129sl looked at it) north of £14k, not sure but it may have sold now. ETA - there's another coming up at Anglia car auctions later this month.

I think the advice above re value is spot on.

[2stis]

Lowtimer said:

An M5 or an Alpina B10 perhaps but not a cooking-spec car like that.

Even an M5 going up I would question - mine seems to be pretty much worth what I paid for it 6 years ago. The difference is all the dogs for 5k (thread eligible back then!) seem to have disappeared in the years since. They have either rotten away or the same cars are now being offered back for sale currently for 8-10k!? Interested to hear on here though that my 540i Touring might be rising in value from the grand or so that I thought it had fallen to.

To answer the other question in terms of barge mileage... Accord 2.4 may not actually qualify as a barge - 15k p.a. M5 2-3k p.a. and the Daimler Double Six only does a thousand or so per year.

[Lowtimer]

I think any solid everything-works, tidy, no-scabs 530i or 540i Touring with a good history and a year's MOT is worth well over £1000 now. Mind you, having just shelled out to have mine fully repainted, I would think that, wouldn't I?

And *sigh* it's almost almost almost ready but still needs about a full day's reassembly, so it's looking like next weekend, not this weekend.

Then it'll be time to get the front seats done.

[r129sl]

dme123 said:

charltjr said:

ChocolateFrog said:

If you're not desperate to sell you can always put a slightly optimistic price on it and gauge interest from there.

Anything will sell at the right price.

Fair point, there won't be any hurry if he does decide to move it on.

I'd say that for something like that time and waiting for the right buyer is as important as price. It might fail to sell this month for £12k, fail to sell next month for £8k, but the month after one of the few lunatics who buys these things might be looking for one and that's the best available by a mile so he'd pay £14k. Figures from the air, but you see my point?

^^^This.

Prices are all over the shop; the market is too small to set a predictable prices. Sometimes they sell immediately, sometimes they languish a year or more, whether priced at £3k or £15k. I would suggest that £5k is the cheapest a sound private sale 600 should go for; £15k the maximum. Also, there is a bit of Disraeli to the used car market: the world takes a man at his own estimation. Or, rather, if the price is high, buyers assume the car is worth it. This is why the £8k 300 E could never be bartered down to £3k: somewhere, someone is daft enough to pay near 8. So too with a CL600.

What is the colour and trim? Why aren't you buying it?

Edit: the comparator car at VIP Car Sales has been on the market for three years or more and started off at £8k.

[mccrackenj]

Remember this beautiful colour combo from late last year?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Benz-E220-W124-...

[bob-lad]

mccrackenj said:

Remember this beautiful colour combo from late last year?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Benz-E220-W124-...

From the days when Mercedes wood looked like wood rather than plastic.

[Zonergem]

Now it's unfair to judge without knowing the full facts but what happens between

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/192811/merc...



and the car hitting the market again three months later?

[TheLordJohn]

I noticed a £600 (IIRC) price increase but to be fair, there's nothing stopping people asking whatever they like for their car.

[anonymous-user]

r129sl said:

Why aren't you buying it?

My current obsession is track day cars, so I'll have to stick with the Mondeo a while yet

All useful stuff, thanks again to everyone who commented.

[Zonergem]

True. if you've lucked into a presentable W124 at a good price with the intention of using it as a daily then the sound of newly-strewn salt hitting the bodywork when a gritting lorry goes by is the sound of money falling off the car.

There was a Moonraker Blue 3.5l V8 SD1 on page 48 of this vol of 1-5k - auction ended early just before NYE (asking price was over thread budget anyway IIRC) and now it has reappeared with a dealer for a bee's dick under 8 bags, stripped of some stickers but otherwise as you were.

Perhaps when you start to see the same cars reappearing is God's way of telling you to lay off the classifieds and go for a nice long walk instead!

[derin100]

Well, it looks like I may have already sold the E34 540i !

[kiethton]

2stis said:

Lowtimer said:

An M5 or an Alpina B10 perhaps but not a cooking-spec car like that.

Even an M5 going up I would question - mine seems to be pretty much worth what I paid for it 6 years ago. The difference is all the dogs for 5k (thread eligible back then!) seem to have disappeared in the years since. They have either rotten away or the same cars are now being offered back for sale currently for 8-10k!? Interested to hear on here though that my 540i Touring might be rising in value from the grand or so that I thought it had fallen to.

To answer the other question in terms of barge mileage... Accord 2.4 may not actually qualify as a barge - 15k p.a. M5 2-3k p.a. and the Daimler Double Six only does a thousand or so per year.

Not just the tourings.

My 540i featured in this thread a volume or 2 back when I bought it in '13. 540i sport, saloon, a 2003.

Paid £3k then and the insurance co's first offer (was pulled out on) was £5k and possibly rising from there.

[mondayo]

After my failed attempt to view this car last Sunday, it's been relisted. It's a E350 estate.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201783645962?_trksid=p20...

Seller emailed last night with the following....so far I've resisted gloating and I told you so, type emails.
"Hi,
I held the car for a week and can you believe it that joker didn't show up.
Anyway car is still available if it's not too late. "
On a slightly related note, the vendor claimed she'd taken a holding deposit prior to taking it off the ebay. Would one assume that they've now lost that deposit?

I am interested in it but don't fancy driving over 200 miles to view it, particularly as I think it's a bit on the pricey side. Are there any beards/threadists in thew Brighton area who'd like to go and have a nosey of it?

[derin100]

mondayo said:

After my failed attempt to view this car last Sunday, it's been relisted. It's a E350 estate.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201783645962?_trksid=p20...

Seller emailed last night with the following....so far I've resisted gloating and I told you so, type emails.
"Hi,
I held the car for a week and can you believe it that joker didn't show up.
Anyway car is still available if it's not too late. "
On a slightly related note, the vendor claimed she'd taken a holding deposit prior to taking it off the ebay. Would one assume that they've now lost that deposit?

I am interested in it but don't fancy driving over 200 miles to view it, particularly as I think it's a bit on the pricey side. Are there any beards/threadists in thew Brighton area who'd like to go and have a nosey of it?

I can't help you with viewing but I have to say: "My! That really is a gorgeous looking car!" If I were in the market for a new barge I'd be seriously tempted by that...even if it is a Mercedes! (I'm still in rehab after a previous Merc experience a while back...but making progress)

Emily really knows how to take a picture too!?

[idiotgap]

derin100 said:

mondayo said:

After my failed attempt to view this car last Sunday, it's been relisted. It's a E350 estate.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201783645962?_trksid=p20...

Seller emailed last night with the following....so far I've resisted gloating and I told you so, type emails.
"Hi,
I held the car for a week and can you believe it that joker didn't show up.
Anyway car is still available if it's not too late. "
On a slightly related note, the vendor claimed she'd taken a holding deposit prior to taking it off the ebay. Would one assume that they've now lost that deposit?

I am interested in it but don't fancy driving over 200 miles to view it, particularly as I think it's a bit on the pricey side. Are there any beards/threadists in thew Brighton area who'd like to go and have a nosey of it?

I can't help you with viewing but I have to say: "My! That really is a gorgeous looking car!" If I were in the market for a new barge I'd be seriously tempted by that...even if it is a Mercedes! (I'm still in rehab after a previous Merc experience a while back...but making progress)

Emily really knows how to take a picture too!?

Preface lift car at post-facelift price. For my money, go for one with higher miles and half the price for pre-facelift or same money post-facelift. With this one you have inflated bork potential without the cheapness offering the insurance of a warchest.

[derin100]

mondayo said:

Was it always the plan to sell the 540 Derin?

No, not originally. I bought it almost exactly a year ago, a week after selling my last E34 540i and started the project then. The sale of that car was sold with much regret but I had to do it to try and recoup some of the losses I'd made on a previous Mercedes C124 300. I really like E34s and the 540 especially so I wanted to do another to have for myself.

However, in the interim it does now look like the sale of our house is actually going to complete in the next 2-3 weeks and I'm losing my garage space. I've already had to put two of my cars into storage and realistically don't want to put a third into storage as well. So, I've decided to put the 540i up for sale whilst it's really at the 'top of its game' condition-wise.

[mondayo]

Was it always the plan to sell the 540 Derin?
A trio a 5 series estates. Two 525i's (an E34 and E39) and a 540I.
The E39 looks very tidy and smart but silver with grey leather doesn't float my boat.
http://m.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C825794
Virtually the same money, a more interesting E34...and it's one of those special edition models...the appreciating edition. A more appealing colour combo, for me, but quite strong money.
http://m.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C824821
And finally the 540I. It's been kicking about on autotrader for a while and is now on car and classic too. Apparently it needs taxing at the end of the month, so the vendor is possibly extra motivated to sell.
http://m.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C824059

[Lowtimer]

kiethton said:

Not just the tourings.

My 540i featured in this thread a volume or 2 back when I bought it in '13. 540i sport, saloon, a 2003.

Paid £3k then and the insurance co's first offer (was pulled out on) was £5k and possibly rising from there.

It's definitely true to say that the all versions of the 540i have seen a bump in prices, and well deserved. On top of that the bonus value for manual models is even greater for the 540i than for smaller-engined ones, because of scarcity. Manual tourings, well, I should have bought the black one last year.

[Motorrad]

mondayo said:

After my failed attempt to view this car last Sunday, it's been relisted. It's a E350 estate.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201783645962?_trksid=p20...

Seller emailed last night with the following....so far I've resisted gloating and I told you so, type emails.
"Hi,
I held the car for a week and can you believe it that joker didn't show up.
Anyway car is still available if it's not too late. "
On a slightly related note, the vendor claimed she'd taken a holding deposit prior to taking it off the ebay. Would one assume that they've now lost that deposit?

I am interested in it but don't fancy driving over 200 miles to view it, particularly as I think it's a bit on the pricey side. Are there any beards/threadists in thew Brighton area who'd like to go and have a nosey of it?

You've had a lucky escape IMO, every car I owned in Brighton (and Hove actually) ended up suffering from rust. My MK2 Golf started falling apart, 205 rusted round the sunroof and my Focus was starting to look bad underneath after a year! A combo of fresh sea air and enthusiastic gritting I suppose.

[LayZ]

idiotgap said:

Preface lift car at post-facelift price. For my money, go for one with higher miles and half the price for pre-facelift or same money post-facelift. With this one you have inflated bork potential without the cheapness offering the insurance of a warchest.

That would be my take too. There are lots out there with big spec and many well cared for. The 12.9mpg on the dash will put nearly all normal buyers (i.e. not us) off!

Almost heresy to say I know but try an OM642 V6 320 CDI. Performance almost the same as the 350 petrol, can chip to 272PS, very refined, and it'll literally never say anything like 12.9mpg. There's a reason most of the higher end W211s are in this spec.