Help for the decrepit

[Derek Smith]

I've got a bad back and this is limiting my driving enjoyment. Anyone any ideas for a vehicle that fits my requirements, which are:

Automatic - I can't extend my left leg,

An more upright driving position, rather like an office chair - I'm over 6'2",

A minimum of five adult seats with decent headroom in the rear,

To fit in my 4.87m parking area (that's length),

Preferably hatch/estate,

Petrol engined,

Fun to drive, preferably partly due to performance,

Decent reliability,

Around 12k or so.

I've currently got a 2l Focus estate auto which is great apart from low seating. It has got to the stage where I can't go on long runs, and my rugby team away matches have had to be abandoned.

Thanks for reading this far.

Derek

[Derek Smith]

55palfers said:

If you look upon a budget as merely a starting point...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-04-Mercedes-Benz-E-...


...but for proper PH kudos, has to be a W124

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-Benz-W124-320-5...

Edited by 55palfers on Monday 20th February 19:32

Thanks for that.

Oddly enough I had a W124, a 2.8. Not sure why I didn't think of it. Perhaps it was because I got 17mpg coming back to Brighton from the Gower one wet February night. I put the cruise control to 95 and thought that if I got pulled I was willing to pay the fee. It was before, just before, safety camera partnerships.

It's nicely within the length, if not by much. Most other criteria fit.

I've recently had three other Mercs, two SLKs and a CLK. They've cost me a fortune, but I spent nothing, apart from lots of petrol money, on the W124. A lovely, smooth engine, if not overwhelmingly powerful. The auto box complemented it perfectly. Last of the decent stock Mercs before the penny pinchers moved in.

I'm struggling now to think why I hadn't thought of it before. Perhaps it is because I'm struggling to think.

Ta. It's on the list.