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  #1  
Old 03-19-2018, 04:26 PM
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Help, need car to drive while the benzes are getting repaired.

Right now I'm under pressure time wise to complete repairs on both mercedes so I need something to drive while the other cars are getting repaired. I'm considering buying either a Toyota Avalon or a Lexus LS 400 years 1994 - 2000 both are rear wheel drive. I do know the Lexus has a non-interference engine, I'm unsure about the Avalon. Does anyone have any experience with either of these cars?

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  #2  
Old 03-19-2018, 05:14 PM
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The Toyota Avalon is Camry-based and has always been front wheel drive. Camrys and I assume Avalons were notorious for oil sludging problems during those years but maybe that's all been ironed out, I don't know.
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  #3  
Old 03-19-2018, 06:21 PM
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Zen And The Art Of Diesel
 
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LS400 would be a suitable stand in for a Mercedes, I still want one.
It might actually be too good.

If you're used to big Mercedes, Lincoln Town Car.
Dirt cheap, reliable and plentiful.
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  #4  
Old 03-19-2018, 06:43 PM
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Maintained a '96 LS400 from new until about 270k in 2009. Good engine, A341E trans. It uses a timing belt, twin dizzy caps/rotors. Even a 2000 model is 18 years old now. Keep that in mind.

Some goofy designs, like a PS pump above the alt that when it leaks kills it. Ported vac switch for changing power assist. EGR tube likes to crap out. Starter under intake plenum. Not too quick, was about 250hp I think. Decent car all things considered.

If you are looking at these, look at Q45s too.

Honestly, you are better buying something domestic unless you plan to keep this purchase. I would rather drive a domestic SUV. There is nothing cheap about old luxury cars.
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'85 300SD 245k
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  #5  
Old 03-19-2018, 06:56 PM
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Why buy yet another car? Why not just fix one of the Benzes to the point that you can drive it while fixing the other, then swap cars and fix the first Benz?
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  #6  
Old 03-20-2018, 02:27 PM
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I'll caution anybody away from any Nissan or Infinity made after the late 80s. I had a 90 Twin Turbo 300ZX and, although only owned by an orthopedic surgeon and meticulously maintained, the electronics were horribly buggy and EVERYTHING was electronic. Never happier to sell anything in my life.

Other friends have had horrible luck with the cat converters coming apart and spitting sand like particles into the exhaust port, scoring up cylinders. This includes 4cyl and V6s from 1998 to 2007 in everything from a Sentra, Altima, Pathfinder and 350Z. Not sure on the Q45, but I'll not take the chance. Never again will I own a Nissan.

Had a 72 240Z that was amazing and an 87 200SX with the old single cam V6 that was nearly indestructible. I gave it to a friendvat 350,000mi. He drove it another 50,000, gave it to another and it went another 30,000, before he let it break a timing belt and bend valves nearing 430,000.
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  #7  
Old 03-21-2018, 02:47 PM
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Also thinking about an older Volvo........they do well in the snow and ice and seem to be easy to work on......
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  #8  
Old 03-21-2018, 03:10 PM
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Personally I'd go with a Toyota Corona, or maybe a Renault Megane. If you want good in the snow, you can't beat an aircooled VW Beetle. For maximum passenger and cargo capacity, a used school bus is a good choice, either Bluebird or Thomas.
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  #9  
Old 03-21-2018, 11:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HuskyMan View Post
Also thinking about an older Volvo........they do well in the snow and ice and seem to be easy to work on......
They are, supremely simple, rugged long lived and reliable, the 240.
None of that applies to a $1500 one with 250K on it though, but
in good order, they are wonderful needing only a few upgrades from stock to be great drivers.
Looks like $4000ish buys an honestly nice 240 that isn't ate up with differed
maintenance these days, good deals notwithstanding.

740 and 940 are about the same, maybe cheaper, hard to find not ragged out though, they are victims of their own durability. Mercedes crap out if you don't maintain them as intended, Volvo's will slowly deteriorate forever with no care and keep going, till they are too far gone to bother fixing. The tradeoff being a Volvo is not a Mercedes no matter how hard you try to make it one, believe me, I tried. But you can buy a manual trans RWD turbo intercooled Volvo and then go order all the trick suspension and brake parts and a T5 trans swap kit and damn near anything else one could want for them these days, so.. Depends on where one's priorities lay. The turbo models get really fast really easily with not a lot of money and little loss in reliability or driveability within reason.

I've owned a lot of 80's Volvo's. Not a Mercedes, but also not a Mercedes.
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  #10  
Old 03-22-2018, 01:03 AM
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Amen on the old Volvos. I have had good luck even well into the late 90s models. I have heard 2004 was the cutoff when Ford screwed things up. I had a 92 740 wagon, TWO 1998 V70s, and currently have a 94 960 wagon in addition to my 92 300TE. The Mercedes is a much better built car from the standpoint of ride quality, solid feel and quietness. The Volvos are more sporty handling, FAR more durable, faster, get better gas mileage and are LOTS easier to work on in all ways, as well as generally cheaper on parts. Also gobs of junkyard parts available, as compared to the Mercedes. Downsides are they are rattly, plastic interior bits fall apart (even worse than Mercedes), and they ride like a Honda Civic by comparison.

My decision to get a Mercedes was not that I didn't want another Volvo, I just couldn't find one with under 200,000miles. I bought my 740 with almost 300,000 miles on it and it just ran and ran, until a leaking temp sensor blew out and popped the head gasket at 400,000. It was running perfectly and I feel sure would have gone another 200,000 if I had put a head gasket on it. Both the V70s gave it up about 250,000. One hung up or burned a valve, 15psi on #2. Pulled the injector wire and gave it to a friend who needed a car. Still runs great almost two years later. Other one just developed electrical gremlins, so I sold it cheap to another friend that uses it as an in town car.

The 960 has only 160,000 on it, but the interior is rougher than I want, runs like a raped ape. Will blow the doors off the 300TE, no questions asked. Twin cam 4 valve straight 6 with that awesome Aisin 4spd overdrive lockup auto trans. Turns 2700rpm at 80 with a 6000rpm redline. The parts car in the junkyard for that one had 295,000 on the odometer and the car looked like it still ran. Very likely towed and never reclaimed, it was not wrecked.
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  #11  
Old 03-22-2018, 11:56 AM
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I have a 1998 V90. Good ride.

I still cannot fathom how purchasing another wreck makes sense when you already have two. The cheapest things to keep on the roads are domestic trucks and SUVs. Plain and simple.
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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.
[/IMG]
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  #12  
Old 03-22-2018, 11:59 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HuskyMan View Post
Right now I'm under pressure time wise to complete repairs on both mercedes so I need something to drive while the other cars are getting repaired. I'm considering buying either a Toyota Avalon or a Lexus LS 400 years 1994 - 2000 both are rear wheel drive. I do know the Lexus has a non-interference engine, I'm unsure about the Avalon. Does anyone have any experience with either of these cars?
If you don't care about image, anything with an old pinto 2.0/2.3/2.5 engine is cheap, easy to maintain, slow, and pretty much bulletproof.


Edit: HitmanX is spot on. Get a 1997 or older stickshift ranger with the above transmission. It will run pretty much indefinitely. Cheap brakes, cheap engine parts, TONS of working room, and the old ones have stupid simple everything.
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  #13  
Old 03-22-2018, 03:25 PM
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And you’ll want to get the 560 and 300 back on the road all the sooner

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

Last edited by sixto; 03-22-2018 at 08:15 PM.
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  #14  
Old 03-22-2018, 07:58 PM
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If you're want a driver with good parts availability, you really can't beat a De Lorean. There is a massive stockpile of parts for these cars as a result of production halting abruptly in the 80's. You don't have to worry about body panel corrosion either. Forget the avalon or lexus and get a DMC-12 instead.
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  #15  
Old 03-22-2018, 08:15 PM
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guarantee I'll get hate for this but, you can't beat a 90s Honda accord. they're soulless ugly pieces of crap, but if you find a stock one not all riced and chromed out they'll go a very long time with little maintenance. most things you can just ignore with them as long as the fluids are topped up and brakes are okay. I drove mine for a year while just topping up the oil once a month with seven eleven oil and drove it to the junkyard. Bought it for $200 and got $200 for it. a free car essentially. I only had to put a junkyard radiator in it for $10.

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