I'm sure I already know what the outcome will be... but I'll ask anyway.

As some of you know, I've been looking for a beater since I wrecked my wagon. And a couple of local options have popped up. But which one to take?

Both are similar is condition, and both guys like my trade/barter terms.

'86 Honda accord 5 spd. Everything works. His price is 700, but like I said, we're trading stuff/cash.

or

'74 280E automatic. Daily driver, looks good enough. Listed for 1000, but I wouldn't give more than 800 for it. Same trade/cash setup as the honda. Webber carbs scare me

I'm assuming that the Honda will win hands down as far as reliability goes.. But it would feel odd driving a foreign car that's not a Mercedes. Keep in mind, I'm 79"s tall. And for this sunfire thing that my brother has loaned me... well if it exploded I would be happy. Such a POS.

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08 R320 CDI current

Past
95 E420
87 300D Turbo 5spd
90 300TE
83 300SD
85 300TD
92 400E
85 190D

Buy the Accord. You will be happier.

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The Accord will start and go most of the time and will be economical, just like in 1986. If you do repairs on the Accord it stays repaired.
The 280e is a gas hog and very hard to make a daily driver. Especially a cheap worn out one.
But because of the age you will have to tinker on one or the other probably; but my point is, you tinker on the Honda once and it is done. It stays tinkered.

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"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

The 280E of that era gets about 15 mpg. You mentioned Webers... If the Mercedes has them it is because someone dumped the original Solex. If you don't like dealing with Webers you would have really loved the Solexs.

I use the plural because some of these had two two bbls and some had one big four barrel.

I think you would find parts for the Accord easier to come by. It will also handle better in snow.

I've never owned either - but in the case you outlined above......if I were in the unenviable position that required me to make that choice in beaters, I'd go Asian all day long. Both sound like they're likely moneypits to keep on the road with any use.

For regard to your personal safety, do yourself a favor...

MERCEDES
Mercedes 240d 1979 trade 150,000 miles Great Condition
Mercedes Benz Runs great.. Awesome Deal
Mercedes 300td/1987
1994 Mercedes E420

OTHERS
Volvo 240 wagon 1991
1993 Buick Park Avenue $1200 o.b.o
96 crown vic police car

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[GONE] - 1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel - 130k miles - Smoke Silver (702) over Mushroom leather (265) - Bladder blasting, coast-to-coast work machine.

Fwiw in high school two of my buddies wrecked a 86 accord. One walked away the other had a broken neck but lived. I was in another car following and saw the whole thing. When my Bronco died I got an 89 accord and loved it. Hands down the Honda is the better beater.

The Honda will definitely be a better beater, and as an owner of a Toyota/Honda I-4/5-speed, I can say they are a blast to drive. One of my favorite manuevers is taking a 60-70 degree turn in third (around 20 MPH), blasting out of the corner, running the car to about 40 MPH (or the speed limit, whichever is lower), and then chucking the shifter into fourth. Ah, pure bliss.

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1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

You really cannot put reliability back into a vehicle with too many miles on it in my opinion. Without spending too much to do it. Initial price cannot be the only consideration.

There are a few owners out there that have kept things up well on high milage cars but they are the exception more than the rule. I have a basically good 2006 car sitting. Just waiting for me to replace all the parts the original owner obviously never replaced as they wore of failed with service. It has only 80,00 miles total on it and there is quite a list. Actually that car has been sitting for two years as I have more imperative things to attend to.

I assume they traded it in when they got an estimate from a garage for repairing it all. Not too bad when I sourced the parts but all of them new from the garage would be a crippling bill installed. At least several thousand dollars for parts and installation.

The four brake rotors and brake pads alone where 450.00 at the local jobbers. The blower motor I did not even price. Just aquired one from a pick and pull. This car has expensive suspension components but I also located and aquired the ones needed new cheap enough in the southern states. A few small things that were time intensive I already did.

The strange thing is the car still looks like new body wise and the interiour that is a problematic off white fabric is also spotless. I will have to put a set of seatcovers on the seats or they would look like a disaster zone the way I use cars sometimes when it goes back into service.

If it has it, then someone dumped the fuel injection. The 280E is a ROW version that was not available in the US.

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With best regards

Al

While all these may be safe - I would venture that every single one of them would cost more to operate per mile, (after buying) than the '86 Honda of interest.



Many years ago, I had a friend that would drive excessive commuting miles in a micro-subcompact, old Honda Civic, while her majestic, low-miles '82 300SD sat in her home's garage. I personally place a high priority on my personal safety, but as I wrote, that is not everyone's motivation in life.


While I feel that being safety-conscious is an admirable trait in another, safety seems to go out the window at times, when one is trying to stretch one's dollars by needing to shop for and buy/drive a 'beater.'

If you are an experienced and serious DIYer or an auto tech AND you want the old MB for the nostalgia of it AND you are willing to put in what is necessary to keep it going, go with the MB.

For MOST people, that old stick shift Honda would be tough to beat for point A to point B transportation. Even if you had to do some work on it, parts are reasonable and it will be much simpler to keep going. The fuel bill would be more pleasant also.

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I thought about that, but since a lot of folks now call any gas fueled Mercedes an 'E' I just let it slide.

The original poster was the one that mentioned Webers. He could have been talking about the Accord, but dumping the Solexes for a Weber set-up is pretty common on gas fueled Mercedes of that era. Of course, if you have a 230 with a sidedraft you are sorta stuck with it.

If it is a 230E that had the FI removed and replaced with a carb then I doubt that it will ever run right. The FI cars also had a different camshaft and most folks don't bother to change it out when they swap out for the carbs.

But this is something good to bring up since the guy is trying to make a decision on which Beater to buy. If you are starting with something that needs some real sorting out, like a new camshaft, then it makes the Accord an even easier choice to make.

an 86 accord isn't a microcar or tin can IMO, its comparable in size up to the 6th generation variant, obviously with less safety features, but it isn't exactly tiny. This is hands down all in the accords favor. The mercedes may be safer, but primarily because it wouldn't be leaving the driveway or running reliably.

Id go with the honda all day every day, and I wouldn't be overly concerned about any lesser degree of safety on a 3rd generation accord. IMO, the 86 will be far safer because it has a far more modern steering and suspension setup than a 74 benz. Whats better, taking more punishment because you couldn't avoid the pileup? or avoiding it entirely?

My Uncle just wrecked an 89 with 300k? on it that was originally bought by my grandfather, who had the 89, a mid 90s, and a early 2000s all at the same time, and unfortunately, all the same color- beige .

It was running like new, and he had ironically sold his far newer car to keep the older honda just because he loved it. Shame it got destroyed. I say honda all day. I love benz, but as a beater you can depend on, this is really not even a contest

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Either car is likely to need stuff if you're going to drive it more than a couple months. Drive both. Buy what you like.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.