Thinking about abandoning ship...
 

...and by that I mean ditching the cars/parts/everything. I'd keep the 190E though.

Leaning toward a BRZ right now. I have multiple reasons as to why, but the main factors are time and convenience.

Talk me in to or out of it.

Though I miss my mercedes sometimes, getting rid of them for something new is the best thing I ever did

My Ranger starts in all weather, has cheap parts, is comfortable, doesn't really break down, and has only stranded me when the alternator went (once) and when I rolled the dice with dry rotted tire stems.

But it's no merc, rides rough, is loud in the cabin, and doesn't have the torque.

What is a BRZ?

- Peter.

The new Toybaru.

Cheap, small car, decent power, great economy, RWD, 6speed manual.

THIS!

BRZ is one of the few new (gas) cars I'd consider. Real transmission, not a 2-pedal gearbox meant for dumbkopfs, RWD, great handing, OK mileage.

I got a ride in one the other day, I really liked. It combined what I liked about the RX8 with a more reliable more efficient motor.

Its not for me but I really did like it.

If you don't have time to diddle, bail while you still can (IE the stupid thing is running properly).

-J

This!

So much good advice on this thread!

I test drove the BRZ. A little low on power for my tastes, I'll wait for the STI version.

Times and circumstances change in any individuals life.

Been there done that, don't regret it one bit. I would say consider keeping a "tinkering" car on the side though, to suffice the spirit. Probably something classic but cheap and doesn't need to be driven much.

8V Mk2 GTI :)

-J

Your a young dude. You need to jump. I'd get the FR-S. I don't know about your area, but the local Subaru dealer sucks in the service department.


.

I had to young man, I couldn't fart in my clk without it costing me $800 or so. I just as happy driving my Mountaineer. :D

Much as I like driving my old Benz, it is nice having a newer vehicle that doesn't need much done to it.

FRS is badged a Toyota GT86 in England. Clarkson loved it:

Top Gear GT86 Segment [FR-S/BR-Z] - YouTube

Edit: Found a video listing the differences between the BRZ and FR-S http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSmx-vqK1TM

Know when to say when.

With each passing day, I'm thinkin' more & more than I've put the kickstand down for the last time on my Harley.:( Haven't ridden it in the past 11 months. I lost a good friend with whom I traveled many, many miles back in August when he was killed on his bike going to work.
JOSE NICK SANTANA Obituary: View JOSE SANTANA's Obituary by The Press of Atlantic City
Hamilton Twp. to honor Nick Santana on Veterans Day - pressofAtlanticCity.com: Hamilton Township

Three weeks ago, a fellow motorcycle club member was seriously injured in a collision with a school bus on a winding S-bend road in the middle of the day. He was a retired motorcycle cop. He's been in an induced coma for three weeks. Broken back, two punctured lungs, spleen ripped out. So sad. :(

Know when to say when.;)

I'd still rather die in a motorcycle wreck than crapping and pissing all over myself in bed when I'm 105.

Been there, done that, regretted it. You'll get tired of the car and wonder why you have 20k in something when a $5000 car gets the same enjoyment, and you can use the money for other toys.

The new GLK250 diesel is tempting though.

To me, these old cars are toys to drive when I'm in the mood. If it was my only car, I wouldn't own one. "Newer is better", and my daily driver is a 2013 2500 Suburban. If I had to sell all my stuff, the Burb would be the last to go. No sure what your situation is, but if you only get one car, get something newer and spend your new-found free time doing something you love.

I wouldn't daily-drive an SUV if you paid me a million bucks to. If I wanted to drive a truck, I'd get a job with UPS. To each their own, I guess.

Wow, I thought for sure that you would all talk me in to keeping the MB's!

I guess I can elaborate a little more as to why I'm wanting to do this.

Basically I'm right in the middle of school and I just don't have time to put a ton of work in to the cars anymore. For example, my E320 needs brake lines. Just brake lines! And it's needed them for a few months! But I haven't had the damn time to do a one hour job.

I also am going to be driving about 250 miles a week for the next several semesters due to my location to school, and right now I'm getting about 20mpg in mixed driving. So roughly a tank a week just to get to work and school in the E320.

I've got an absolute TON of parts for Norm too, but they've seriously just been sitting on my shelf for the last two years. I just don't see myself getting the chance to really sink a ton of time in to the car as I once thought I did.

I know that once school is over with that I'll be moving to wherever the job may be, and I don't know if I want to lug a truckload of parts with me. Even if I stay local I'll be moving out of the current house I'm in.

Lastly, I'm a mechanic of sorts for my job. I get my tinkering thrills a few nights a week and get paid to do it. When my days off come I would rather study than go in the garage and get really pissed off from working on my cars.

I think the BRZ would be nice on a few levels. It's fun, it's a good looking car, it gets 30+ mpg, it's a manual, and it's not overly expensive.

It is too easy to go the wrong way for all of the wrong reasons. If it takes your time and money and gives little back then it is probably not a good match.

A new car can also be a poor match and it is a more costly mistake in terms of both time and money. Pay, pay, pay. Measure many times and cut only once.

Stuff doesn't make you who you are.

Drive cheaper cars, don't eat out and you can retire about ten years younger.

Drive less, lots less. Understand what a consumer is and try to not be one.

Tons of salient points being posted. You pretty well have to have a very reliable car for daily transportation. Or if married two of them usually today. Other cars are optional.

Reliable does not have to be really new. We consume new and low milage used vehicles. Then there are the others. Depending on your local climate you could set your older Mercedes aside for another day.

At your age things will change has to be a given. I hope everyone realizes that these old 123s may not signifigantly rise in value but they will soon be scarce and will represent another time. Pretty much as a finback Mercedes does today.

I ditched my 50 mercury in good condition for 100.00. My 39 ford two door in very good shape for 125.00 and my 46 ford hot rod business man coupe for 100.00 at one time.

Many times I have thought to myself my father was right. He told me I should be putting some of my older cars away at the time and not just letting them go. Those three cars incidentally where in real good shape. Plus at that time were already older cars.

Each one had a story. The 39 ford resided in a small community in the far north. There were no roads in or out of the community. The car was always put up on blocks for each winter. The old couple retired to southern Ontario and barged the car out with their other possessions.

I put a note on the windshield and the lady called our home. My mother of course told the lady her son would not want a car that old when she called. At least my mother told me she had called. I went to work really fast to find that older lady and did.

Even though the car had less than 20k on the odometer. She insisted her husband have a garage go over the whole car before passing it over. Essentially a new 39 ford was passed to me in the end.

The 50 mercury was almost pristine as well. Still back then an older car was worth very little. Many of the local guys would frequent the ritzy section of wealthy north Toronto and grab older pierce arrows and their like for very little money..

Usually the cars were in great condition flower vases and all. But older. On a few of them I was aware enough of the future for those examples to suggest to a few guys they should not be driving them as daily Drivers.

Time has proven me right I guess but there was no way we could be certain of this much change in the future back then. A few of the guys were unconsciously driving todays really expensive classics as daily drivers. I was not.

Some very good points here to especially get free of the system early.

I have almost always gotten a milage return from either my employer or situation. Even now I think it is about .43 per kilometer for some of my driving. Not sure of the exact current amount as my wife files the expenses. That's about .60 cents a mile still.

I remember back when it was .10 cents per mile well before metric was introduced in Canada. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. Needless to say I like animals and this is just an old expression seldom heard anymore.

Come live in Texas - you'll change your mind. Suburbans are the best highway, family vehicles around, and it takes us 3 hours to get to the next city and 12 hours get across the state. I wouldn't live in NYC if you paid me a million bucks to. To each their own, I guess.

Back on topic, for me, these old Mercedes are toys - not daily drivers. Yes, they can be daily drivers and do a good job at it, but it's impossible to beat modern climate control, new engines, and reliability - it just comes at a cost of depreciation. But when I have to be somewhere without fail, I don't take one of the toys, I take my modern driver. I know lots of people who daily drive these old Benzes - it can easily be done, but there is a cost associated there too and it's not always money. It's time as well.

I've never owned an SUV and virtually all of my driving has been long distance. N.B.D. I'd sooner have something like a Passat turbodiesel for that job.

I think what some are getting at is not to buy new, but to get a newer used vehicle. For example, my "new" vehicle was purchased for about 20% of the original MSRP when it was four years old. The FR-S has only been in production since January of '12, so they probably aren't seen much on the used market yet. You might consider a Mazda MX-5. I've pretty much ruled them out until they offer a coupe. I owned a convertible once, and that was quite enough. If I want to go roof-free I'll ride my motorcycle. A V-6 Mustang might also be something that would work for you.

Thinking about abandoning ship...
 

I'll give norm a good home.Really, I'd love to give him a good home. Hopefully I have enough when you decides to bail.

I will say it is nice driving a modern car, even though mine is a 2004.once I got it sorted out a I have to do is out gas in it and drive. As long as I don't get sucked into customizing the cooper I can focus my attention on a toy car or something else. I do need another automatic car so Megan's car can be down for repairs so maybe my toy will be something I can restore and she can drive to and from work.

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I got out of the GTI quickly as well, after only 2 years but I don't regret it. I completely understand the OP's point about not having time to work on something, I'd add in the space (not having a driveway) makes it difficult as well, especially if your local code enforcement officials are sensitive to non-running cars parked on the street. I wish I had a nice big driveway/yard to keep a project going but more than anything I need something solid and comfortable that I don't really have to think about. Also nice (but of course not required) is something ludicrously fast and/or fun, which is something I would say non-AMG benzes are lacking. Its a luxury having a new(er) car or faster, or more luxurious car than something bare bones for sure, but if you can afford it why not?

I dropped my bike off at the shop for its 22,500 mile service yesterday. I walked back, and saw an SN-95 Mustang V-6 5-speed on a lot with a sign asking five grand. Good gas mileage, fun to drive. New enough to probably not need much work to keep it going. Too bad it's on the wrong side of the country for the OP.

I've been talking to Tyler a bit about all of this.

I need to really go look and drive the BRZ to see if it's worth it to get one right now. It would be a few years to pay off (hopefully less after college) so I want to make sure it's worth it. I think I'll be in a better position to buy "new" and not really worry about a drawn out car payment in a few years too.

We've been talking about a few other cars as well. Mazdaspeed Miata seems to be a good first choice in the "used" category. I can basically put down 10-11k if I free everything up, and would have the rest to pay off, and the mazdaspeed's are right around 8-12k right now. I loved my Miata when I owned it, which honestly is the main reason I'm thinking of getting something newer and more fun. Wish I could find another cheap one!

I'm not really interested in Mustangs, unfortunately.

I did manage to do my brakes and a few other small items on the E320 today, but it still ate up my entire day. I'll have to see what kind of return in mpg I get off of it, but I still need an alignment badly. I'll probably wait until I do the rear multilinks though before getting one :/

Another thing is I would really love to put time in to the 190E. It needs it badly. It'll never be worth anything to anyone but me, and I'm aware of that. Not now obviously, but in the future it would be my main "tinkerer".

A new car seems cool until you're making huge payments every month....and get bored with the car. I bought a new TDI 6+ months ago, and while a nice/decent car, it is not worth its cost IMHO. I'll be looking to trade it for a 6-10 year old MB next summer most likely. My brother bought a 2002 W210 not long after I got the VW, and his car was less than half the cost and drives better. Only advantage a new car has is warranty, but that goes away quickly. And the TDI is not a car I want to own without warranty. It has some issues that can cost more than an entire used MB to fix. :eek:

Misread, don't ditch the benz unless you're buying the next car outright. You will have a car paymnet, increased insurance, high registration/tax, and you will flip out when a shopping cart hits it.

The benz is paid for, has cheap insurance/registration, can can plow through a parking lot of carts with no regrets :)

My truck is paid for, cheap to maintain, cheap to insure, and I don't mind when it occasionally gets dinged as long as the doors still close.

food for thought depending on your local tax structure.

My friend has a 2005 wrangler, and pays about 800 dollars a year in property taxes on it on top of his payments at first, and his complete insurance.

The fiance and I have 5 cars between us, and I pay about 80 a year in tax on them.


That said, to each his own. If you want something new, go for it. Personally I wouldn't buy anything new while in college. Student loans are enough, ill put up with a cracked dash and worn leaky jalopy to save hundreds of dollars in car payments on top of loan payments. While I was in college I kept a ratty volvo wagon going the entire time on a shoestring budget. I completely trusted it. It was just as reliable as many a new car, just dented up and chewed in places

Another option is it sounds like you have a bunch of car commitments with several old cars at the same time. Why not thin the herd? keep one, the 190E it sounds like you appreciate the most, and put your repair budget for all 3 into that one car.

If you aren't repairing 3 old cars at the same time, you suddenly find you have a lot more free time

Good point, but absolutely keep at least one other method of transportation on the road. Maybe register the backup car as a leisure/antique/whatever and keep your miles down. I've been the guy riding his motorcycle to town in December for an oil line. It was cold, but beat walking by a long shot :D

personally I wouldn't even bother, though you make a good point. :D

My opinion is if you like to daily an old car, you gotta be married to that old car and committed to working on it a bit every month. Certain point, the thing is ready to go, and might as well be a new car, but you are never gonna stop working on it, so you better enjoy the maintenance.

Another thing I don't do anymore is I don't build up a mountain of parts, and try and do 50 things at the same time on a old car 'while im there'. Makes sense for some stuff, but what that does for me is create a discouraging list of things to repair that grows and grows for a personal car and the typical reaction is "f**k this mess, im gonna sell it" after a certain point.

Much better practice for actually using the thing as a daily is replace the one item, see something else thats pending, order it up, and replace that when it gets there. Make a reasonable maintenance schedule, plan it out, then its easy.

you spend probably more total maintenance time, but less individual repair sessions, and never a daunting task that kills initiative. Plus its way more likely you get much more use out of the car. It never sits for a month as you get around to doing 15 hours of work on it.

For instance, the fiance's car needed rear springs, rear brakes, rear shocks, rear rust repair, and rear axles.

I seperated it into 5 different repair sessions. Graded those from "emergency" to "rainy day", and proceeded on that basis. More likely everything gets done when you do that.

Brakes first, buttoned car up, back to driving.
springs and shocks, buttoned car up, back to driving.

Next will be axles, pretty soon its all done, but I didn't have to work on the car for 5 complete days to install 50 parts. 2-4 hour maintenance sessions only, pre scheduled.


basically, the sum of my endless comments is if you are planning on being your own mechanic, the first thing you have to be is your own service advisor and plan out the jobs you are going to give the mechanic. Then an old car can easily be used as a daily

If you're thinking of modding at all, get a standard Miata. Not much out there on the MSM, plus a turbo kit on a stock Miata will cost about the same and deliver higher numbers.

Eh.


Bought my GMC a year ago, and never looked back. Only thing I did that wasn't routine maintenance was put a starter in. Covered 30k miles in that year, 10k towing ~8k lbs.

For me (with my lack of free time), there is nothing better than just being able to jump in the truck, and go. Seriously, as much as I love wrenching on cars, the last thing I want to do is be wrenching at 11.30pm on Sunday, to be able to get to work on Monday.

This is exactly how I feel. I spent my whole day yesterday getting just random crap done on the car, and I was really worried for a minute that I wouldn't be able to make it to school this evening due to an alignment issue. Thank god for string and jack stands...

As far as the 190E goes, there is no way I could make that a daily driver without spending several thousand on it and a few weeks of time. It really needs a lot of love, so fixing that up is out of the question right now.

I talked it over with a few other friends of mine, and it seems like going used but newer now is the easiest option, then trading in/selling in a few years for a new car when I have a real full time job. Not that I don't do decently well right now, but you get the idea.

I owned a 95 M-Edition last year and loved it. I think an NB Miata would be a good candidate, and I do like the MSM. Like I said I need to go drive a few of these cars and see what I feel like after.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I do appreciate it.

Losing too much "time" would be a deal-breaker for me, if that was what I needed more of. Not sure what you mean by "convenience," but if it's something not dependable enough to meet your transportation needs, and taking too much time, I'd probably get rid of it.

Is get a good NB Miata to drive.

My favorite was the 2001 LS. Nardi wheel, nice little body kit and wheels, perforated leather seats, and a nice stereo.

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC03766.jpg

Others may feel different. With every last new car we have purchased over the years. In a very short time the ideal it was new is gone.

I've never bought new. My dad did several times (first in 1953 with an MGTF-cool car), but not since 1971 (Ford Maverick Grabber 302-also a cool car-Dad used to have some taste before he started buying Cadillacs). The closest I've had to "new" were a 2006 Kawasaki in near perfect condition that I bought for $2600 in 2011, and my '83 300D that I had major body and paint work done on this year. The '06 was run over by a truck while it was parked five months after I bought it, and the insurance settlement worked out well for me. The '83 got its first new door ding within two weeks of the repaint. Careless bastids! It still looks a lot better than it did before, but the rear suspension is asking for new bushings all around, and the steering box has a huge dead spot on center. Sometimes I want to give up and buy new/newish, but a quick check on the cost of fixing mine vs the cost of a newer vehicle tells me I'll be driving the W123 for a long time yet.

I'm with Barry. I have bought a number of new cars back when I didn't have the current skill set. The new factor wears off and the cycle begins again. Just the way the manufacturers planned it.

If you can avoid the cycle at an early age and invest the savings in something tangible you will be way ahead of the power curve.

Twitch Kitty said it best. I am about at that point now. The $50K on new cars that I spent in the 80s and 90s, invested at the rates of return in those days would have gotten me done sooner.

I think I've decided on trying to find a nice Mazdaspeed Miata. Or an LS at the very least.

Wagon will be going up for sale in about a month once I finish up a few things on it. Probably not the best time of year to sell, so I might be sitting on it for a while.

This also means I'll be able to keep Norm for the time being.

The answer is always, Miata.

You'll find a buyer for the E320 Wagon, someone will want it.