It's a crazy market here too, selling MB tool kit's for the price of a whole car such is the dire availability of land/storage space.

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David


1996 Mercedes S124 E300TD - 129k - rolling restoration project -

1998 Mercedes W210 300TD - 118k (assimilated into above vehicle)

People looking for daily drivers will usually pass these 123 and 126 cars over now. They have entered the special interest area for general cars. Also in Canada parts are like many other things are getting expensive. Plus almost none available in the eastern Canada areas junk yards. This is also compounded by a much more frequent crushing schedule by most yards.

When you factor in todays average cost for any paid for services. Many young people today would not even pick up a wrench. Even if they owned one. They to me or at least the majority of them lack any self confidence in the mechanical area as well. It also may be almost financially impossible to build up the amount of equipment you need to tackle all aspects of car servicing today.

.For example I built my first sailboat when I was seven years old. Only a little eight footer with my grandmother making the sail. By age thirteen I was working part time after school and Saturdays. Maintaining a small fleet of trucks for a neighbor who was a plastering contractor. Some of us even learnt how to scrounge to meet our needs. Almost a dead or lost art form today.

It was just more convention for many of us older guys to repair things as well. Probably out of financial necessity in my earlier times. We never even considered farming out the job usually. Newer cars if not a nightmare in complexity compared to what I grew up with. Require much more equipment and perhaps even knowledge to deal with.

On the other hand if a younger guy wants to work on his car and get familiar with cars. The older 123s are a great self teaching vehicle. It reduces the chances of being ripped off as well.

Every year on the road accumulates more milage . In my opinion beyond a certain amount of accumulated miles the cars become almost restoration projects. This is going to get worse. You really have to like these cars to get involved with them as well. More so going forward.

Society evolves continuously and these cars no longer fit in for many. I can understand this. Most are semi conditioned to participate in the throw away society as well unfortunately. Even old goats like myself notice if a newer car is becoming problematic or shows it will soon be. I replace it with little consideration.

The 123s have done remarkably well in staying on the road as general transportation. At least in some areas as long as they have so far. I even wonder if longer than any other brand? Certainly any from their time period. Especially when based against other brands production numbers.

I am not going to sell any of ours off. Hopefully the wife will give one of each to other members of the family. What they do or not do is up to them. Hopefully pass them down to grandchildren or great grandchildren.

My brother in law does not negotiate like my generation did. He simply examines the vehicle. Tells the seller in todays market it is really only worth to him whatever. They seldom accept it.

Then states just call me if ever interested and leaves his card. Seems to work out pretty well in general in his case. He seems to have a good constant flow of vehicles.

He is a flipper I suppose. He does not buy junk though and repairs any problems himself properly before disposing of them. It indicates at least to me there are far too many overpriced cars for sale out there that attract no buyers.

For exactly the reason you gave. People are unwilling to insult sellers that are at best only hopeful or totally out of touch. Nor are they aware there are a real excess amount of used cars sitting out there.

Well, when you look at the cost of repairs, in California anyway where I used to live, if your rear axle half shaft goes bad, at 125 dollars an hour, and 500 + or - dollars for the part, your W123 is a total loss. I plan to get rid of mine before disaster strikes.

Richard

All cars out of warranty are a total loss if you're dependent on a $100+ per hour mechanic.

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

Meh... I see W123s all the time in traffic in SoCal. Some are in very nice condition, others look like dogs. Some with old drivers, some young folks. Somebody is still driving them. And that means somebody is doing the maintenance. A few weeks ago, at the fuel station I saw a younger guy with a W115 240D. I would imagine that the cars that have been invested in by enthusiasts or original owners still have a long life ahead of them and the ones that were neglected becoming parts cars or getting crushed.

Aside from the cheap monthly fees with new cars, there are also higher registration and insurance costs. My car still makes financial sense for me and looks better, handles better and has better visibility and ergonomics than the newer econoboxes.

Dkr.

By way of a counter example...out of curiosity I was going to go look at a 1980 240D manual with a low miles 617 turbo swapped in...but high miles on the chassis. Seemed like an interesting car that I wouldn't mind owning....but way overpriced at $6000. Just learned that it sold for asking price.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I occasionally drive various brands of new cars. Some are absolutely pathetic in many ways. Over thirty thousand up here in Canada for many and they are poor examples of the car building art to say the least. It really amazes me that they even sell.

A good cars overall indication. You drive it several hundred miles on a trip. When you get there you feel no personal wear and tear from the drive. The steering Is really good and effortless. No almost constant correction. Just nice to drive as well.

Many of the econo box cars ride like go carts and some just little better. Larger wheels on the upscale ones create much thinner sidewalls. Not doing nearly as much in providing a smoother ride.

I also know they go to almost extremes. In not putting much sound insulation in many of them. Almost makes you want to install some yourself. Service costs after warranty can be outrageous as well.

No wonder many never get clear of a new car payment. It does keep the economy going to some extent though. The amount of leased and purchased cars each year must be considered as a barometer of the overall state of the economy. Or was may be more accurate. There is little choice in buying or leasing a new one for many consumers. To me they are semi trapped in a vicious circle.

You want bizzare? I drove a mid sized new car that the steering feeling was so bad. I would not buy one. I thought the system or something was damaged. I had a look on the net and many buyers where complaining of it as well.

Like myself they thought you would kind of quickly get used to it perhaps. Buyers complain that this is not the case. I had to wonder if the electric assisted steering was doing something odd. How can a major company mess up something like this? This late in time.

This brand has also been losing market share. It could be as simple as many people taking it for a test drive may also not like the steering. To me it felt almost totally dead.

That's a 1000 dollar car at max. Insane. It's all what someone is willing to pay. Myself and anybody else wouldn't pay more than 1000 for a 37 year old car with what could possibly be a questionable swap performed. The fact that it was swapped makes me want to pay even less because I don't know what mistakes I'll have to fix when I work on the car.

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

Barry12345--That is my impression, as well! I've driven several new rental vehicles, from small to mid-sized for long out-of-state drives due to needing air conditioning with a passenger and my dogs.

I found it very difficult to get used to the blind spots of newer cars. The beltline is so high that you can't really see the road next to you. The trunkline is so high, and the C-pillars so thick that you can't effectively see anything behind you, either. No wonder they have to have back-up cameras now!

I also found the seats lacking and after several hours of driving, found myself constantly shifting my body weight to keep from feeling sore.

Navigating controls was difficult with SO many buttons.

The steering drove me crazy and was the most exhausting part about driving the cars. Instead of staying centered on the road, it was a constant battle to keep the car straight. The moment the car would go from straight, it would seem to veer off in one direction or the other. I felt like I was constantly rocking the wheel back and forth with the car constantly tilting from side to side.

I also didn't like the acceleration curve. It seemed that there was a huge gap in the throttle--like it was all or nothing. I'd put my foot down and nothing would happen, then the engine would suddenly wind way up and the car would move, and then it would seem like it would run out of steam after a certain speed. It made passing another vehicle a bit scary.

It also seemed like there was very little space for luggage. I've not been impressed.

In contrast, I've driven my old Mercedes diesels on trips alone thousands of miles each way and never even felt sore. I've always felt like I had a great view of the road with little blind spots, and steering has felt effortless, like I could have kept my hands off the wheel for long periods of time if I wanted. I also know that my cars have had smooth, predictable acceleration to make passing another car more confidence-inspiring.

Driving newer cars felt like a stressful chore, while driving my old diesel Mercedes felt relaxing, plus the trunk has plenty of space.

The next time I make a long trip with another person and my dogs, I plan to do it in my Mercedes which will hopefully have working climate control by then.

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Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/

DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

One advantage of old M-B diesels is that the problems are known and fixes have been found. You should research before buying any car. New models can give expensive early-adopter problems. Past examples are GM's late 1970's diesel cars, GM's original 2-4-6-8 cylinder deactivation, and Delorean's stainless "rust-free" car whose powder-coated steel frames suffered severe corrosion. Today, you can read many stories of suspension failures (control arms, ball joints) in Tesla Model S cars, and their Model X SUV appears worse. A high price doesn't give reliability guarantees. M-B seems to have put that cost into engineering thru the 1980's (though auto-climate was perhaps a-bridge-too-far). By the 1990's, it seems the engineering was less funded.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

My 1980 300D is unquestionably beautifully engineered, but still, isn't it way too complicated? I had a 1973 220D for years that had everything a car needs. It had no climate control. No glow plug relay. No power windows. No vacuum actuated door locks and everything else. Nothing complicated. It just ran, and everything worked. That was a fantastic car.

Richard

And then buy what for $ 625 ?

I don't care what my cars are " worth" , I care more that they are serviceable cars.

Typically I buy $ 500 / 125 K mile / 10 to 15 year old / decent body cars with engine or trans failures. I then rebuild engine / trans, replace all hydraulic parts in the braking system , pads, rotors , fuel pump , coolant hoses , all front end parts , rebuilt steering rack and more. In the end I have 2 to 3K in parts but the result is a car that effectively has 35K miles and will easily go another 125 K miles with nearly zero random breakdowns. Sure, I have more into the car than it is " worth " but where can you buy a car that will go 125 K miles for $ 3,500 ?

Another one: 86 SDL with low miles (89k), AC didn't work but otherwise in good shape. Sold for asking price of $6k before I got a chance to look at it. That one didn't surprise me as much.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Ratted out rusted, super high mile cars, with multi-able issues don't sell well, just due to the cost of repair. But clean, rust free cars with no issues will bring top dollar no matter where they are located. Both of my W123's would sell for way more than most of you would think they are worth. I would not take less then $25k for my wagon and my coupe is worth at least $15k. I would have no worries with driving either of them anywhere. They only require routine maintenance, which does not cost that much. I laugh when some of the members here say that it cost so much per month to keep their car up and running and that they have to constantly fix it. I think that if they would stop trying to drive what is basically a parts car, and spend some more cash up front, they would be way ahead of the curve. And to buy one of these "CHEAP" cars and then pay someone to fix it is just wasting money. In all of my cars and trucks I do all my own work, and I could not afford to pay someone else to do the work I put into them. I have no problem spending $50k in parts alone for one of my Unimog trucks, as I know I will get it back. Same with putting two times more in parts than what I pay for a W123. I know it will be worth it in the end. Plus these cars are just starting to make the slow climb in price. In ten years, we will all be wishing we owned more of them.

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Von
Fairport, NY
1973 Unimog 416 Doka
1980 Unimog 416 Doka
1981 Unimog 416 Doka
1984 Euro 280CE w/diesel conversion
1985 300TD Estate wagon
(I really need to stop buying these things!)
http://vonsmog.com