Any New "NON Appliance" Cars we should be looking out for? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Carrameow · #1 10-30-2006, 11:40 AM

To me, an Appliance Car is, well its NOT a Hyundai Sonata or Excel, or a Honda Accord ( even though its not such a bad car!) or even a Lexus. You use them for 100K and unload them, just like your refrigerator or TV and you don't bother to wax it, talk to it or even maintain it.
A Non Appliance Car is a car of distinction, a machine of character, like the Mercedes 240D, 300D and Volvo 240 and SAAB 9000, all cars I was introduced to here.
They are cars you keep on the road for a half million miles and are your prize possessions. You talk to them, sneak out of work and risk your job to find parts for them and even weld and paint them when they rust...You honk at another driver of one when you pass them and they honk back... Could you imagine repainting your Excel when it rusted? Could you imagine honking at a fellow Hyundai Excel driver or Honda Accord driver?
If they made the 240D and 300D in 1980 and the Volvo 240 up to 1990 and the SAAB 9000 in 1995, there must be something out there of 2000 vintage that I could start to dream about owning...in about five more years when i could afford one...

OldPokey · #2 10-30-2006, 12:05 PM

My 95 Buick Century is an appliance. It uses no oil, it has no vices. It needs struts and new tires, but the cheapos on there work well enough. It gets regular fluid changes and drings RUG, and gets undercarriage washes after winter salt fests - that's it. I installed a nice radio because otherwise it would be too boring and would put me to sleep during my daily commute.

vstech · #3 10-30-2006, 12:10 PM

I am thinking about the new challenger from DC, it looks Awesome, and it would of course come with the 6.1L HEMI
Maybe the new camaro...
John

rg2098 · #4 10-30-2006, 12:23 PM

A CDI. Generally the people who buy the diesels have somewhat of a caring about the vehicle. You don't get the "Homies" pimping out a diesel and driving it until it falls off the road.

Hatterasguy · #5 10-30-2006, 12:56 PM

There are a lot of nice new cars out there. MB makes a ton, the new W221 and W211 are sweet! I think the new SL's look amazing.

I'm actualy starting to like the BMW X5 and Range Rover 4.6 a lot if you want to talk trucks.

Infiniti makes that sweet V6 in the G35, that is one nice package.

What a great time to be a car fan! There are so many fast, cool looking cars out there! There are fast to! A V6 powered Accord will crack 60 in about 5 and a half seconds.

Carrameow · #6 10-30-2006, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

What a great time to be a car fan! There are so many fast, cool looking cars out there! There are fast to! A V6 powered Accord will crack 60 in about 5 and a half seconds.

These sure aren't Appliance cars, but they aren't the ones I am talking about that we 300D lovers would like to own.Tese cars are like the Corvette or Porsche, they aren't like the 300D which is more of the kind of car I am talking about...we all can afford them, they are eminently repairable, they are common sense engineered...The 300D is a car without an ECU, and though the Volvond SAAB have ECU's, they rarely go bad and are still fundamentally mechanic orientecars...

GREASY_BEAST · #7 10-30-2006, 01:10 PM

The Loremo is scheduled to come out in 2009... in Europe... who knows if/when in U.S. http://www.loremo.com... I would defenitely take extra good care of that car... although there isn't much to take care of

... I really can't think of any other new vehicles that don't have so many damn bells and whistles that I wouldn't even want to get near one... VW TDI is nice but waaaaay too complex and too many electronics... I like knowing that I can fix most things on my 300TD on the side of the road.

Hatterasguy · #8 10-30-2006, 01:28 PM

You can keep any car on the road as long as you are willing to repair it. These old cars suck up a ton of money like any old car.

The new Mustangs are quite nice, and built better then the old junkers I mean fox body Mustangs.

The latest Vette is built better than any to date. They don't rattle anymore!

Porsche 911 is a classic favorite, the old ones are super simple and easy to fix as well. There are a couple Porsche guys I know one has a bunch and just restored a 356. The other just finished a 1967 911.

Carrameow · #9 10-30-2006, 01:41 PM

There just isnt going to be another 300D to look forward to...(Bohooooohooo waaaaaaaaaahhh wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh).Of course, we really do not know that because we will see things differently in 15 years and maybe some car coming off the drawing boards right this moment may wear the Title.

Cars are much different today. They are all designed to fit the Niches of a market. No car can hit a broad spectrum of the market today, not even the Accord. Back in 85, of course things were different. They even design some car models for single career women.(The Tiburon.) The auto industry is different today. The average lifespan of a model has shortened also.

iNeon · #10 10-30-2006, 03:39 PM

They made 240 Volvos until 1993.

Cars are more reliable today than they ever were in the 70s and 80s-- My appliance car has 150k miles and hasn't needed a repair beyond a window regulator after the 75,000 mile warranty ran out.

It may be true that a w123/116/126 will last years and years, but the truth of the matter is that they're finicky, picky, sensitive cars that need constant attention and tweaking.

I don't have to smack the instrument cluster to get lighting at night in the neon-- I don't have to continually adjust the bowden cable and diagnose vacuum leaks. I don't have to turn off the a/c to merge onto the interstate and I surely don't have to turn the neon off to order a hamburger from the clown's mouth--

These old cars have a time and a place, namely the 1970s and 1980s-- They don't get along so well with 200hp cars with ABS, traction control and agressive drivers that use every red light to make a timed 0-60 run-- They were designed when a car lasted a generation, but did not get the use modern lives dictate we give our automobiles. They were designed to get you somewhere only moderately on time.

Modern lives will not allow people to wait 30 seconds to start their cars-- people ask me all the time why I am waiting to start the car-- a lot of them panic, even! Modern schedules don't let students be even 10 minutes late-- something an older car EASILY will do without even being broken!

To say that we need 2007 model year w123s is preposterous! The w123 would flounder if it were released today! They are terrible for the environment in both emissions and the impact their manufacture had on the environment. They are tremendously wasteful in construction, something new cars are surely not. There is a woeful amount of wasted material, all the chrome, all the wood, all that silly trim on every single panel-- all superfluous to the actual function of the vehicle.

It is a blatant lie to say that an old benz is a practical, no-nonsense car. It wasn't when it was new and 30 years can't change something so integral to the philosophy it was created under. Quit trying to convince yourself of that.

Carrameow · #11 10-30-2006, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iNeon

T
It is a blatant lie to say that an old benz is a practical, no-nonsense car. It wasn't when it was new and 30 years can't change something so integral to the philosophy it was created under. Quit trying to convince yourself of that.

How Dare You, you $^^*&**!#^*(

Seriously, there is a tiny little bit of truth to what you are saying. Or a lot. My coworker has a Dodge Intrepid with 220K on it and most cars last 200K if you take good care of them and they are somewhat decently made. You may need a few repairs, but nothing serious. Well we could bring back the Model T too, but it just doesnt fit into the 21st century.

vahe · #12 10-30-2006, 04:02 PM

I hear that Honda Accord is introducing a diesel for 2008, that will be my next diesel.

Vahe
240D 77

iNeon · #13 10-30-2006, 04:07 PM

Hey, don't shoot the messanger!

I'm a big fan of these cars, I can't imagine not owning one at this juncture-- I also can't imagine not owning a VW 1200 for spits and giggles, or a neon for almost point-and-shoot driving with just about negative maintenence--

A good analogy would be that these old cars are more like a nice old metal-body Japanese camera. They're heavy and cumbersome, long lasting and finely produced-- But modern ones are lighter, fully automated and still under warranty.

My modern car pick is a Chrysler, just about any one of them-- The larger cars are RWD and v-8 powered, a great mix that will provide years of service-- they've got the stunning Pacifica, AWD and 6 passengers with 30mpg to boot! The PT is well built and rides on rails, will swallow decent sized items and has astronomical resale value.

To follow up my previous post-- You need to just admit that you enjoy publicly demonstrating your highly conspicuous consumption-- learn to wallow in it like pigs do in filth-- it's really a very enjoyable experience to know that you're driving around enough materials to make 2 geo metros!!

They'll truely never build them like this again-- revel in it.

DslBnz · #14 10-30-2006, 04:18 PM

The interior plastics of the olders cars feel far better than the cheap junk they throw into modern cars today. Whatever car has the most recycleable materials produced with the least toxic method of replication wins the award. Despite the fact it will age significantly quicker.

Newer cars are faster, more resistant to rust (galvanized), get far better fuel economy, and are more aerodynamic. But, IMHO, too much emphasis has been made into disconnecting the driver from the road with electronic brains directing every which way. Most luxury cars nowadays are quiet, have numb steering with oversized tires, also too many gears fish in hilly conditions for Merc automatic(if you are a moderately aggressive driver).

There is just something special about these diesels being entirely mechanical. Everything is fixable, and there shouldn't be a problem that would not be possible to remedy if one knows what they are doing.

If one of these older cars is costing a fortune to upkeep, it is because the previous owner balked at proper maintenence. I've only done a couple of radiators (cracked necks) to my 300SDL and 350SD. Both cars had service records dated up to the present. Very rare to have diesels maintained by the new car dealership, stamped by the book (or multiple service books) up to 225K miles and 185K miles, respectively.

iNeon · #15 10-30-2006, 04:33 PM

DSL-- you make a decent point, but miss it just a hair in my eyes--

It may be true that our old Mercedes plastics have aged gracefully, but it can't be overlooked that these cars are smack dab in restoration limbo-- it is the next 5 years that will make our cars either classics or junk--

VW Beetles went through it a decade ago, and there are sharp dividing lines between amateur restorations and original survivors that have only had their bad bits replaced-- the prices range from $1,500- $12,000

The move to only providing mechanical parts and parts that cross-reference with newer models has already started, and will continue, eventually only leaving us with aftermarket servicing and parts--

How exactly can you claim that 2007 plastics won't hold up as well as 1979 plastics? My blue dash really hasn't held up very well