Money pit thread, read at your own risk!

[stcbenz83]

i spent $13,000 on the 240D for alot of odds and ends. new paint, AMG kit etc.... Take that HATTIE!!!

haha i wish, but sadly my total is around 2600$ i paid only $800 for the car. This is because i bought it from my best friends dad and he hated seeing it sit around and he knew i really wanted it. soo 800 for the car plus the 1800 i put into it

[redbaronph123]

hmm.. lets see now... I got my 79 300TD back in 2004 for about $4496 (converted from Philippine Peso).

(all converted from peso with a P55.5 - $1 exchange rate)
So far.. I have had about
1) $690 - transmission overhaul - Nov 2004
2) $1531 - body repair and paint - Mar 2005
3) $108 - Lower pan replacement due to broken diff mounts (sorry.. dont really know the part, i just called it lower pan) - Nov 2006
4) $477 - replacement of converted AC system to original MB - Jan 2007
5) $450 - miscellaneous small items repair or parts put together.

so comparing to the thread starter's total, i guess i'm still at the good end.. however, being here in the Philippines, this is definitely not cheap..

[winmutt]

You people are nuts.

83 euro 300d. $1000, have a front end rebuild kit but maynot use for this car ($295). All other items normal maintenance
80 300TD. $1800 New calipers in the front. Bought a parts TD for $300. Bought a new caliper for front. $100ish. All other items normal maintenance.

85 300d... $500 and we have yet to see.............

[79300sdtd]

i am on the cheap end of things. $500 for the car and prolly about $600 for tires, rear shocks and filters.

[captainmonk]

hattie could become a lil obsessive by the time he gets old like say 30


my $2500 mercdes in july has had $2500 of drivetrain and front end work by now and it is a good thing my a/c here in nh today

[rigarzatx]

it makes me feel so much better about my exploits...

bought a 87 190d 2.5 turbo with 214k in September for $985.

Drivers side window didn't work. $100 for the motor plus $100 to install.

Transmission was shot. So I dropped $2000 for the rebuild.

So I'm out $2,220 plus cost of the car. Sure is fun though.

[Ara T.]

Mine hasn't needed so much. In 4 years I've done 4 shocks, all 4 calipers/pads, tires, upper control arms, brake lines, a door check, master cylinder, 1 window regulator. It needs lower control arm bushings though... that's a big expensive job.

[pawoSD]

Here I am!

3.5 years ago I bought my '82 300SD for $3707.07 on ebay. Managed to get about $300 taken off when buying it because of some issues he didn't mention (window problem, and the interior a little worse than stated).

So a breakdown of the costs: $3400 roughly to buy, $200 in travel costs, $3600. In the first year $2700 was spent at the dealer to replace all seals in the transmission, idler arm, timing chain, an oil change, valve adjustment, and alignment. I broke the passenger side window trying to fix the seal , so $130 for a new window to be installed...following year had the tires replaced with goodyear assurance, $380. Did the rear brakes, $200, front brakes (at dealer) $290, added sirius radio system, $160, Replaced oil cooler lines AND oil cooler with brand new one, $400, valve adjustment at dealer, $110, alignment, $105, Replaced all brake flex hoses and bled/flushed brakes, $115, rear brakes warped, replaced with better ones, $175, parking brakes, $60, tires crapped out, $77 for a set of michelins, huge discount there. Cooling system replaced, new behr radiator, hoses, expansion tank, etc...$450. Trailer Hitch, $160, blower has been replaced, $130, Custom gauge cluster, probably around $100 worth, efforts into rust repair and prevention is around $250 so far....water pump was replaced, $60, replaced belts, $25, lower hose heater setup, $56, probably $200 in filters by now, transmission cooling hoses, $36, monovalve and cruse equipment replacement, $160, remote locking $60, self valve adjustment, $78, muffler system was replaced, $165, Rear suspension and ball joint up front recently replaced, $1021, hood pad has been replaced, $55, motor mounts...tachometer amp and cluster pod have been replaced, $140, and I am pretty sure I am forgetting about $1000 worth of other little random things. So lets add that up:

Rough but fairly accurate estimate: $12,648 Wow. And its probably more than that. I've driven it 44,180 miles...0.2862833 cents per mile, and a rough "monthly payment equivalent" of $301.14 Looks like that job I just had done put me slightly in the lead Hattie! My tranny is still excellent and I can't afford a paint job...yet, so this years spendings will be less than yours will be, so you'll regain the lead. I am buying a 380SEL to add to the collection though, we'll see how the pit turns out on that one!

My dad has driven his '83 about 33,000 miles (over a 2.5 year span) and has so far kept the total spent on the car to less than $6500....so his average is 19.6 cents per mile, and a payment of $217 a month or so.

Minivan was $21890 new, payment was $392 a month, and it has 86k on it...so about 25.4 cents per mile. It has probably had around $1600 in repairs so far. So 27-28 cents per mile would be more accurate.

Wshew.

[rg2098]

Lets see.... $4500 initial price with shipping. Right now I have around $13,000 total into her. So around $8500 in parts, divided by 30,000 miles = .28 per mile. I thought it would be higher.

[riethoven]

My 1985 300TD with 292,000 miles in April of 2004, $2,250 + $120 in train tickets to travel from LI to Baltimore to pick it up, compete new brakes including rebuilt calipers on the front and rebuilt them myself on the back, not including master cylinder; $560, Rebuilt axles from CVJ + synthetic rear end fluid and other parts; $400, Euro bumpers and trailer hitch, double roll cargo cover/net; $600, FSM and other literature; $100, Rear hatch struts; $60, Oil changes; $340, Other regular maintenence; $360. AMG Penta wheels; $425 That puts me at $4,790 divided by 44,000 miles = 11.85 cents per mile. I must be missing something, but nothing big.

I don't want to think about the W124 that needs a new head. That will be over $2,000 before I drive it a single mile. I have already towed it about 70 miles.

[R Leo]

My 115 has been one of the cheaper cars I've ever owned. Paid $1500 for her and the only things I've done in 20,000something miles is replace the master cylinder, change oil and filters and, swap tires to it from the Euro hangar queen to pass inspection. <.07/mile.

OTOH, the SDL has burned through cash faster than a silicon valley start-up. >.22/mile

[shertex]

Bought my 1992 300D for $5900 in Sept 03. Had 137,000 miles on it. Now it has 186,000. I've spent just shy of $10,000 on it, but that's EVERYTHING: repairs and routine maintenance. I don't do any of my own work, so that's added to the cost. Among the things fixed/replaced: ball joints, blower, radiator, steering damper, tie rod ends, shocks/struts, thermostat, belt tensioner, sealant in AC system (which has worked GREAT), auxiliary water pump, alternator, front crank seal, injector seals, and glow plugs.

All in all, comes to right at 20 cents per mile. If, over the long haul, I could get it down to 15, I'd be very pleased.

One of the tricks I play on myself (and have tried to use on my wife but she's too smart to fall for it) is to tell myself that, since I got the car for such a great price, it's as if it came with a repair allowance (somewhere in the $4-6,000 range). Looking at it that way, I bought a great car for $10-12,000 and haven't had to spend much on repairs!

[iNeon]

Think twice the next time you begin to fume about your wives Manolo Blahnik shoe collections.

That kind of money spent on something that is only modestly appreciable is just plain foolish. You do realize that you could buy an Albrecht Dürer impression for that money, right? 10 Edo Period prints-- even a reniassance painting with some measure of artistic merit!!

On a 1987 300SDL with 250,000 miles?

[vtmbz]

This is a thread I can relate to! People buying 25 year old cars as "daily commuters" should stick with Camrys or Accords. I tell people that my Mercedes doesnt exhibit my earning power but my mechanical ability--
since May of this year I have spent 1100 for purchase of my 85 2.2L and 2700 for parts--no hired labor yet.

So that works out to about 542 a month so far-- only my old Saab turbo was more expensive.

But--having kept a 25 year old car somewhere around me for most of my life-- this one is the most fun to work on, the most satisfying to repair, and the best ride by far...

LIfe list highlights:

49 ford tudor
46 Ford v8 pickup
62 Fairlane
55 Belair
84 Saab Turbo
67 Ford Ranger

[R Leo]

Originally Posted by iNeon

You do realize that you could buy an Albrecht Dürer impression for that money, right? 10 Edo Period prints-- even a reniassance painting with some measure of artistic merit!!

Try making a road trip in an Edo or a Dürer or going to work or even to the corner stop-'n-rob in one. Absolutely no legroom and crappy mileage too.