Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

isellhondas

The engine "may" have a thrown rod" = it DOES have a thrown rod!

qbrozen

looks absolutely pristine and I have to admit I appreciate the looks these days more than I ever have ... but come on! let's be realistic with the price, huh?

I had NO IDEA those things cost $30k when they were new, though. I'm surprised they sold ANY.

Mr_Shiftright

Not a good thing when a car is unknown AND homely :P

Yes they say that this model Alvis will "do the ton" but I'll believe it when I see it. Those 95 horses must have gotten some good feed.

fintail

"Do Not Call if 6 feet or taller!"

akangl

"Do Not Call if 6 feet or taller!"

That's a really cute car and I'm under 6' tall, lol. I can't imagine the repair bills though if something did break.

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, bien, c'est une fosse de monnaie, non?

akangl

Ah, bien, c'est une fosse de monnaie, non?

Should I even dare to ask what you said?

hpmctorque

I think he tried to say it's a money pit in Swahile.

akangl

I think he tried to say it's a money pit in Swahile.

LOL, probably, but its still cute. :P

Mr_Shiftright

just some bastardized French...I wonder what the real word for money-pit in French is? I'm sure they have a slang word for it.

hpmctorque

I don't know French either, but according to an online English-French translater for the individual words, it looks like you nailed it, Shifty.

fintail

"Lovely copper color"...well, "period" color anyway

This looks well preserved...when I was little I liked these, just for the name

isellhondas

That BMW couldn't be a worse color!

fintail

Propane

isellhondas

I remember back in the early-mid seventies quite a few people had propane conversions done.

I don't remember what the benefits were if any.

It was a short lived thing.

Mr_Shiftright

It burns cleaner and explodes way better than a gasoline tank.

akangl

Will pay You $3000 to buy my SUV

qbrozen

what do you think?
Was this money well spent?
It was only $5k when i saw it 30 minutes before auction end and was REALLY tempted. But without knowing anything about them, I resisted.

What about this one?
Which is the better engine as far as upkeep and reliability? Or are they both poor choices?

I can never seem to remember which years and models fintail gives the thumbs up or thumbs down to.

IF you had to find an '87 or earlier (for the sake of cheap insurance), what would you be looking for? The wife would be taking it to work a couple of days a week, so reliability is important. Yeah, it probably shouldn't be an old Benz, but its the only thing I can talk her into.

Of course, we go through car ideas like socks on a firewalker, but this is the idea du jour.

Mr_Shiftright

I think they are both poor choices I think....real money pits these cars; however, if you can get a clean one for around $3,500 you might be okay, because you can always bail at that price. The person who bid over $6,000 on the '89 overpaid by a considerable sum----and the car needs tires, has some engine oil leaks, and it looks like it's been repainted (hard to tell but what's with the pinstriping?)

The '88 is priced more reasonably. The accident report is troubling. You have to be very careful of these Autochecks or Carfax...they do NOT...repeat...do NOT...pick up all accidents. I have personally inspected cars that I know had multiple accidents (friends' cars) that show totally clean on CARFAX.

But all in all, if you can stand 15 mpg on premium fuel and if you are willing to bail out on the car (sell it I mean) rather than get sucked into one major repair after another---then, hell, it's a great ride as long as it lasts.

These are real barges, though. HUGE cars, so if parking, traffic, etc, are issues, take that into consideration.

The old SELs are cheap for a reason, like the old Jaguars. They are much better cars than the old Jaguars but you know, still 18 years old and risky.

It's a question of getting in at a low price, shopping for economical service and parts, and knowing when to ditch the car rather than get sucked into an endless cycle of "well, I have $$$ in it already, I can't leave now"

Oh yes you can. I think there's a term for this fatal thinking in investing...is it called something like the End Sum Fallacy or something like that? The "logic" (which is no logic at all) is that "if I bail out now I can't recover my losses".

Me personally? I'd look for a 300E.

fintail

Personally, if I wanted a late 126, I would go after a 6 cylinder car. It may be slower and not much better mileage, if at all - but maintenance is a lot easier. Otherwise, I believe the 420 is easier to care for than the 560.

Another thing to be leery of on the east coast...these cars can and do rust, especially at wheelarches, and around the back windshield. Always beware of that chrome wheelarch trim, and inspect the car closely. That burgundy car is pretty, but I too am suspect of the originality of the paint. I have seen pinstriping on 126s, but only on earlier cars, IIRC. It just looks a little too nice.

The cars are generally reliable, but are not like maintaining a "normal" car. You'll pay at the shop. They are still nice to drive, if anything.

qbrozen

oh, i know carfax is totally useless. BUT, I feel the need to check it only for resale purposes. These days, being able to claim a clean carfax is even better for resale than an automatic tranny.

OK... so that's a "no" on the late 80s SELs from shifty. Is it all SELs? Or just those engines? or what? What can I say? When it comes to old ones, I'm attracted to the big benzes and tiny benzes. The tweeners don't do much for me.

I did spot a 300E in the local autoshopper recently for $2495. Seemed like a bargain ... suspiciously so, as a matter of fact.

Oh ... what about an E320? I mean, normally way out of my pricerange ... BUT, there is one on ebay that's local and has some bad mojo surrounding it. Only 72k miles, but they look like a rough 72k. CEL is on and so is a ... "check electronics"(??) warning. Should this be avoided at all costs or could it potentially be worth it if cheap enough? I mean, how likely is it this thing needs a HUGE repair at 72k miles?
Here it is.

Mr_Shiftright

I would interpret the CEL this way:

"I, the seller, actually DO know what the CEL means because I had it checked out and I didn't like the news whatsoever. So, rather than lie, I'll just pretend I am Sgt. Schultz---'I see nutting', I hear nutting'"

You want a good cheap BIG German car? How about a BMW 735i? they drive a lot better than a Benz and there's a more merciful aftermarket parts network.

The best used Benzes are the simpler, stripped down cars IMO.

qbrozen

Keep in mind, though, I don't like to use a shop. So if it is a car that can ONLY be repaired by a benz mechanic (or by using heavy specialty equipment because you gotta cut the car in half to change the spark plugs), I'm probably not interested.

The pictures of the engine on that 560 scared me the most. Looks like I'd need to take a week off from work just to track down a vacuum leak.

fintail

If you want an old E, get a 300E, the engine called the "M103". It is very robust. I would run from that neglected early W210. Money pit.

About the 126s...the V8 cars are the "no" cars, unless you have everything maintained by the book. They cost a lot to run, so people skimp.

qbrozen

geesh. Now i gotta go google these codes. ;b

fintail

You can do a lot yourself, especially on a 6 cylinder car...very easy to access many maintenance points. The V8s though, as you mention, very complex. Personally, if I was doing my own work, I would steer clear of a V8 car.

bumpy

somehow I think the motor and trans didn't go peacefully

what junkyard did this come out of?

I'm guessing you could fix this up and sell it to some drunk at Jackson-Barrett in a few years

irritate your neighbors

not your everyday roundel

Isuzcura

forced-induction people pod

back when trucks were trucks

qbrozen

Ok. So 89-91'ish 300E 300SE with the 3 liter, right?

now, how about more classics? If I can get an '87 or earlier, my insurance would be half. Any suggestions? Or is it really worth paying more insurance to get one of the above instead?

Mr_Shiftright

BMW 528E --woof! woof! (Not my favorite BMW)

'48 International -- I had one of these, back in the day....great old truck, but don't plan on going on a freeway.

"Show Winning" Saturn? The Greater Cleveland 4H Club?

'71 Riviera --- fair enough from the photos

70 Benz--- about $50 seems right. Check your meds, seller.

qbrozen

How odd.
Aside from the badge, this looks like the same pics from that 560!

interesting
Here's one you don't see every day.

Mr_Shiftright

Typical 80s AMG wretched excess. Good luck trying to sell that thing...what were they thinking? Oh yes, Wall Street cocaine sniffers....the good 'ol days?

qbrozen

are later V8s bad, too? Like an E420 with 120k miles?

fintail

Oh, I like them both. 126 just push my buttons somehow, and that one looks lovely...the biggest detractor is the mcmansions in the background. It may be a price that's hard to justify, but the car looks excellent. And that AMG is very amusing, excess indeed, almost laughable now. Those Hammer parts are quite scarce, a MB enthusiast would like that thing. Shame about the color, it is better in black.

fintail

Depends on the price and the history. I think those are slightly better than the older units anyway.

qbrozen

well, not only is $7500 hard to justify, it doesn't even meet the sellers reserve!!

qbrozen

I can't even explain it, you'll just have to click.

There is just so much wrong here, i don't know where to start.

The "reserve not met" monster strikes again.

I need an antacid tab.

Mr_Shiftright

'87 XJ6 -- they all stink of mildew and gasoline. You can almost bet on it. The mildew comes from chronic water leaks into the carpeting, and the gasoline is the porous fuel injection lines under the (gulp) manifold or the rusted out saddle fuel tanks.

boomchek

OMG, that orange Saturn looks like something Bambi puked out. With a body kit like that, it's a matter of time before potholes eat it up.

As for the BMW 5 series, once again the two wires need to be connected "easy fix". riiiiiiggggghhhhttttt.

Mr_Shiftright

528e is such a slug....you could start to cry driving it...

fintail

Not for the faint of heart

qbrozen

i like how its a "restored classic," yet he avoids showing any direct pics of the cheap pep boys seat covers on the front seats. and why have an extra engine and tranny? we know why, because the first set is on its way out ... but what's his excuse to buyers? "i just like the looks of it on my garage floor"?

his loose interpretation of the words "restored" and "classic" are just so ludicrous I feel like he should be struck over the head with a dictionary until unconcious. Does that make me a bad person?

qbrozen

ummm... i don't think that's green and brown paint. I think that's moss and rust doing battle. I've got $50 on rust winning that one.

Mr_Shiftright

The use of words like "classic" and "restored" in old car circles have become meaningless.

lilengineerboy

One of the vehicles in the fleet of my friends was a kind-of light green '82 528e automatic. The car was incredibly slow but handled nicely and was very roomy. As such it was nicknamed "the Love Turtle." It got replaced by an '87 325 (which was an "e" also although they dropped the badge for that year).
The 78/79-81 528i is a different car altogether and with a 5spd I thought was a great drive.

benjaminh

Those cars put a smile on my face and made me laugh in the midst of grading finals and papers. Esp. that El Dorranchero, or whatever it was!

Mr_Shiftright

Yes you're right the 528i is much more desirable and worth considerably more money. Those who know....know....

qbrozen

your very welcome!

texases

A few years back one of the BMW club experts was interviewed, and he considered the 528i the best of the era. I looked at a used one a few years back, always had been on my mind. Unfortunately, it had gone through the 'many owners of decreasing means' cycle, and was a heap :sick:

qbrozen

couldn't find any 528s, but how bout this
535i?
not alot of info to go on, i know.

by the way ... where else but Newark could you have a dealership with this name?

texases

Might be nice, those were the top 5 series back then, no v8s, so they came pretty well equipped. Would be nice to know its history, dealer probably has little/nothing. Those 6s were stout, lots of parts available.