W140 S Class; am I mad?
Discussion
One of those days has hit me again, where I ponder what it would be like if I bought an unnecessarily large, thirsty car just for fun. Today it is the W140 Mercedes S Class. I've always had a soft spot for old Mercs, and while it's probably not the best idea to have such a big car on such a small budget, the petrol head in me is saying just do it!
Thing is I'm a student, which realistically means I shouldn't need a car, my flat is across the road from work, and just a 20 minute walk to uni, so it's not a necessity. But since selling the Fiat, I've just been bored out of my mind on those days where all uni work is up to date, not been called into the shop and all I want to do is drive. The idea of an older car appeals to me, as I love getting my hands dirty and just fiddling with the oily bits.
Theres a nice looking 1996 S280 in the classifieds for £1500, with 88k on it. This is roughly the amount I have left from selling the Fiat (a few quid went on a new laptop). I wouldn't be driving too much in reality, perhaps a couple of times a week, so fuel isn't too much of a problem even with prices as they are. At 21 insurance is getting reasonable I.e. under a grand for the S280, whereas at 17 it was 15 times that. The only thing that worries me is if something goes wrong: I know Mercedes charge the earth to replace stuff, and while the W140 isn't quite the branch of Currys crammed into a car that the current model is, I kow they have a fair bit of tech on them. But this still doesn't put me off. So talk me out of it guys!
Just as an indication, mileage would probably be less than 3k a year, and 1k of that would be the annual trip to see the family in Leicester and coming back to Aberdeen, which is part of the reason a barge seems like a good idea, as doing 1000 miles in a Fiat in 3 days is seriously uncomfortable!
Thing is I'm a student, which realistically means I shouldn't need a car, my flat is across the road from work, and just a 20 minute walk to uni, so it's not a necessity. But since selling the Fiat, I've just been bored out of my mind on those days where all uni work is up to date, not been called into the shop and all I want to do is drive. The idea of an older car appeals to me, as I love getting my hands dirty and just fiddling with the oily bits.
Theres a nice looking 1996 S280 in the classifieds for £1500, with 88k on it. This is roughly the amount I have left from selling the Fiat (a few quid went on a new laptop). I wouldn't be driving too much in reality, perhaps a couple of times a week, so fuel isn't too much of a problem even with prices as they are. At 21 insurance is getting reasonable I.e. under a grand for the S280, whereas at 17 it was 15 times that. The only thing that worries me is if something goes wrong: I know Mercedes charge the earth to replace stuff, and while the W140 isn't quite the branch of Currys crammed into a car that the current model is, I kow they have a fair bit of tech on them. But this still doesn't put me off. So talk me out of it guys!
Just as an indication, mileage would probably be less than 3k a year, and 1k of that would be the annual trip to see the family in Leicester and coming back to Aberdeen, which is part of the reason a barge seems like a good idea, as doing 1000 miles in a Fiat in 3 days is seriously uncomfortable!
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