My SDL is on notice, I'm thinking about selling.

[Hatterasguy]

This thing is just costing me way way to much money. Every time I fix something, something else needs to be fixed! It seems like every few weeks I am dumping a few hundred dollars into this thing! This week alone I have another set of injectors on order, I'm hoping to get a good set out of 12! But Phil will give me my money back for the 6 bad ones at least so I am really only out the $120 to get them all tested. I also am changing the vac pump and need a few other little things so thats $400! So a $520 week! This thing just doesn't stop costing me money! I don't see an end to it! I think I just hit the wall today, I hit another car in the parking garage at SCSU. The girl was illegaly parked but I still cut the corner a little close. It was both of ours fault but still now I have $6k in a W126 that looks like s$%$ with a big dent in the door! And a nice dent in the rear rocker and some nasty scratches, cha ching more body work. I think I hit the wall with this car, I love driving the thing but now while I'm driving I just keep thinking "what is next?" The trans? The head? Will some jerk hit me and total it? I am seriosly looking into getting something newer with less miles, I don't mind working on the thing and if I had to put $1-2k a year into something fine, I can live with that. I just don't know if I can do this anymore I am just plain tired of working on this thing every weekend or day I have off. I am going to college and working 25 hours a week so time is at a premium.

My problem is I like the car so much, I don't want to sell it but I am sick of dumping every penny I make into it! I am about to look through the paper for a nice clean late model Camry. But I would really like to stay with Mercedes so I am hoping to find a real nice 1994-95 W124 say a E320/420, or a late 90's C280. I really like Mercedes and enjoy working on them but this thing is just to much, for someone with a good job and another car it would be perfect. You could tinker and fix things cheaper, but I need it to get around. Maybe I should just buy a Camry and get a 240D this summer for a few bucks and play with it.

I think I just hit the wall today the spark is gone! I want out!

Thanks for listening to my rant.

[turbodiesel]

I think you are just being a perfectionist with it. Many people drive these things into the ground with little to no maintience.. I see them all the time. Injectors are a little noisy.. leave them be. Vacuum pump is fine.. leave it alone. It grenading on you isn't a big issue. Just change the oil and trans fluid and keep it.

[ISmellDiesel]

Cool down. All the things you mention seem very much familliar, but an accident in a parking garage you cannot blame on your Diesel. I get the feeling that your problems may be located elsewhere, think about it. Get the door fixed, stay on the bulletin board and give the 'money pit' the maintenance it deserves. Also, I read, you may want to locate different mechanic for the jobs you do. Where you are, there is competition and it pays to shop around. Think about the payments you would do on a gasser and the total lack of joy you would have otherwise.

[MBDFahrer]

Originally Posted by turbodiesel

I think you are just being a perfectionist with it. Many people drive these things into the ground with little to no maintience.. I see them all the time. Injectors are a little noisy.. leave them be. Vacuum pump is fine.. leave it alone. It grenading on you isn't a big issue. Just change the oil and trans fluid and keep it.

Hi, my name is Jason and i'm a member of MNA (Mercedes Neglegence Anonymous ). Just kidding, I do the basic maintenance, and usually save up for a rainy day in which something horrible goes wrong. Right now, thinking about the vacuum pump as i've been warned that at 180,000, it should be retired for a newer unit. Lifters noisy, Pretty sure injectors are noisy, needs new hoses and what not (cooling and fuel), my hood is a black generic one that hasn't been repainted to match, sunroof still a mechanical mess as i'm too lazy to put it back together fully. Rear window switch that doesn't work, fader switch that bugs me, no A/C, no Cruise Control, antenna is going south and I think i'll stop cause even i didn't know my car had this many faults just off the top of my head.

[bill murrow]

Aw, c'mon Hattie. We all have problems or we wouldn't be on this forum.

you're just p-oed 'cause you got in a little fender-bender.

There is an eb and flow to everything and you're just in a little eb right now.

Hang in there

Cheers,

Bill

[tomm9298]

Hattie, I read many of your posts, you are a natural!! You love diesels !! You can't go to a MB GTG in a Camry !! How bad is the dent? Is the paint ruined in the dent? Down here we have Dent Wizard, it's a chain of guys that go to car lots and fix dents cheap!!! If you don't have one, call the local MB dealer ask for used car manager. He will know who to call. They fixed a 4 inch crease in a door for $35.00 !!! No paint was needed and it took about 30 minutes. Good as new. If it is a giant wrinkle or crushed, it is beyond their means. They will also know of someone that does on-lot touch up paint for scratches etc. Never quit. Don't fight all your battles at once. Fix the things that can totally disable your car or make it unsafe first. Then the rest when you have time/money. Anyway, that's the way I do it. Good luck.

[Pete Burton]

Make a conscious effort to let some of the things go, it's an older car - let it wait until summer. Really, if you are burned out with it give it some space. Having a nearly perfect car and driving it everyday can be quite a chore if you try to keep on top of everything - I was there with a Corvair convertible when I was about your age. Spend less on the car, keep it and broaden your horizons some. Has that huge backseat been put to the ultimate test yet?

[Brian Carlton]

I drove that vehicle on Wednesday and you have done some excellent work to it in a very short amount of time. Hell, you have done ten years worth of deferred maintenance in less than 10 months. The amount of effort you have put into it is admirable. As I have told you previously, I have not done 1/3 of the items that you have and we have owned the vehicles about the same amount of time. Mine has a few less miles, however, they all need a bit of this and a bit of that. You need to chill for a couple of months and enjoy the vehicle. The injectors don't need to be done now and the vacuum pump does not need to be done now. Give it some time. With regard to the body work, well, this could have happened to the Camry as well. Just get it fixed.

See the previous thread from Carrameow. We all get to feeling this way from time to time. You have put too much time and effort into the SDL to switch to a 124. Unless you decide to pay a pretty penny for it, what do you think you will be doing with the 124 in the first year after you buy it? A C280? Are you crazy? Just get your checkbook ready and bring it to the dealer. You are not going to fix them very easily, that's for sure.

[stayalert]

spark? Sorry to hear how yer feeling about your car. Hopefully it will change for the better.

[Hatterasguy]

Thanks guys I guess I kind of feed up with it yesterday. I am not blaming the accident on the SDL mostly I'm ticked at myself for not being more careful. It is kind of a big car to be parking it in a parking garage that is as packed as SCSU's gets. Illegaly parked cars don't make it any better! But at least the girl I hit was nice and kind of cute! It just gets to me because I think of the amount of money I have into this thing, (in parts btw a mechanic has never touched it) and their is still more to go. I am ignoring a few things the tranny is starting to leak pretty badly I'm leaving pretty big puddles when I park it overnight, but trans fluid is great rust proofing and cheap! Their is a bad vibration coming from something around 40-55, maybe the driveshaft? I just drive faster or slower! It is kind of hard to see out of the windsheild when the sun hits it, lots of pits. This will be fun as the sun gets lower.

Mostly the only thing I have to do is fix the rust under the rear window, I can't let that get any worse.

I'm still thinking though maybe a W210, I like the W210 a lot. I can't do anything until December anyway, I don't have time to look for a car now.

[tomm9298]

Naval Jelly is cheap and it loves to eat rust. Then just a little primer....
Keep the faith.

[W140 S600]

Ah come on chris, don't do it. As you say, its practically a 2004. As the guys have said, just drive to enjoy, dont fix anything else until it breaks. I'd just get the dent fixed and leave the rest of body work for after graduation...you will probably get more dents by then, im suprized i havent found one in mine.

[GregS]

I've can totally sympathize with your situation. I used to own a beautiful '90 300CE and an '84 300D. I originally bought the coupe to replace the older 300D, but in the end, the coupe was such a maintanence nightmare and money pit that I couldn't get rid of the diesel (which was as reliable as any Camry). Ultimately, I got so sick of dumping money into the coupe and spending all my spare time fixing it (rather than enjoying driving it), that I decided to sell. And you know what? I don't regret it, because I know if I still owned it I would still be dumping money and wasting time. The bottom line is that if you continue to feel this way over time, then the enjoyment of owning that car is gone, and you should dump it. Besides, sounds like you are a good mechanic, and you know what (expensive) prioblems are facing you. Can you really ignore that leaking transmission? You know it needs to be rebuilt, and can you afford that now? And for a cheaper fix, is it really worth the effort to pull the tranny to fix a seal, and not just rebuild the whole thing anyway?

Unfortunatly, after I sold my coupe, I was forced to sell my '84 300D because it wouldn't pass the state inspection of the new state I moved to. So here I find myself without a Mercedes, but still surfing this page. I'll probably be back into a Mercedes someday, but because I was forced to buy a car really quick, I ended up with a Nissan Maxima. And you know what? Its not the end of the world, and I DON"T spend all my time fixing it.

Lastly, please do not put yourself through w124 ownership. Yeah, I know there are plenty of people on this board while will wax on about what great cars they are, but I can tell you after personal experience that they are not easy to fix, parts cost way more (than my diesel at least), and that 6 cylinder engine is a serious gas pig (and it requires high-octane fuel!). Don't do it. Search this board for info on a mid-90s c220 or c230. They sound like really good cars, and they get great gas mileage. That is probably my next Mercedes.

GregS
'95 Nissan Maxima
'90 320CE (sold )
'84 300D (sold )

[Hatterasguy]

Well the tranny will probably die in the next few years it is starting to slip but MB trans can slip a long time. I don't have the time or money to sell it now but if I still feel this way come December I might sell. I spent today working on it I replaced the steering box with a used one. My old one was leaking pretty well and it had a lot of play, the newer one is much better. I also replaced the block heater cord; and just cleaned the car up a little. It looks and drives so nicely but two more problems came up today. The coolant light always comes on, their must be a bad connection in the system somewhere. Also it pulls to the left but the tires are not wearing funny yet? So I fix two things and two more things need fixing not to bad.

[turbodiesel]

The coolant sensor for the overflow tank is around $20.. mine went out at around 300k. An alignment is around $50. You're making a mountain out of a mole hill.