Replace my MBZ with this one or new kitchen
 

Since my 1979 300SD was destroyed by a suicidal deer I have been looking for a replacement I found one on Craig’s list today, It is located one hour from our house. I have the cash to go buy it tonight but of course, there is a problem. The wife has been waiting to remodel the kitchen for 8 years and has just started getting bids on the job. When ( Think positive) I buy this car she will be miffed that she has to wait 3 more years till we save up enough to do the kitchen because I just spent 35 percent of the money on a old car. Do you have any good suggestions on helping her get over her anger if I do this? Look at the car and you will see why it is necessary buy and a great deal for 15 grand. http://home.comcast.net/~mr.diesel.info/MrdieselTreepadSite/index.html you may have to open the folder titled 1979 300SD
I think I need to get going to the city before one of you buys it first.
Dave S

It's a nice car. Isn't marital peace and harmony nicer?? :P

Take a deep breath and do the right thing, whatever it may be.
Good luck!

Just buy the car and then tell her afterwards.

Dude, are you nuts? Remodel the kitchen or you're going to regret it for the rest of your probably very short life. It's going to be a long, cold, and lonely winter if you buy that car...

- JimY

Those car seats look very comfortable. Maybe comfortable enough to sleep on when you get tired of sleeping on the couch. :D

use the money wisely.

my parents did their kitchen, completly gutted, ceramic floor, laminate counter, new appliances and oak cabinets for right under 14 grand. lighting all that stuff.

our kitchen is roughly 15x20 and it needed 2 short walls of cabinets(10x10 ill suppose)

hanging cabinets is not a big deal, neither is laying tile, installing lighting or patching drywall.

see if you cant find a happy medium. skip the ceramic floor and put cheap linoleum. make promises(and keep them) that she will get a new oven when you can soonest afford it, promise her you will do the floor when you get your taxes. you can do a lot of the work yourself. building a kitchen is easier than fixing a benz....

i wont be nosey and try to ask how much you guys have to spend on the project, but if you do a good part of the labor, you will have a home and hopefully a shiny mercedes in front of it, both to be proud of.

Do both. Buy the car and subcontract out the kitchen remodel (i.e. be your own general contractor). You'll save anywhere from 25% to 40% over turn-key contractor remodel prices.

I remodeled our kitchen for less than $10,000, including all new appliances....of course I did all the work myself, including putting the cabinets together and installing them.

Good luck!

I think the "do both" is the best advice here.

However I don't have a wife, or own a kitchen. Therefore, I think if I could afford that and it was 1 hr away, I'd be cruising over to see it right now. So I'm the wrong guy to ask.

FWIW the girlfriend says, re: my 126 300SD, that she can't imagine me driving anything else. I intend to remind her of that statement should my SD meet a similar demise to yours.

I'm sure you'll make the right choice...

15,000?? These cars are excellent and worth the money, but you can find much cheaper ones for less money, plus they haven't been rotting away in a dark garage their whole life... even if you get a moderate example and it needs suspension work it will cost you much less than the sum of 15K, and your wife won't be "miffed" that you spent so much on a 20 year old car (that's their perspective, im not knocking these 20 year old cars :o )

dash?
 

in 2 of the shots you can see a dash carpet. then in the closeup it is not there. i would never pay 15k if it is not in perfect condition, and with that i mean the dash better have no cracks underneath.

weird

Update
 

Another forum member has contacted me he is in negations with the seller. I have of course agreed to let him have his shot at it without us competing against each other. It just might be a forum member’s new ride soon.
Dave S

Another marriage saved!!!!

Thanks
 

PagodaLover's thank you for the smile that brought.
Dave

Kitchen remodle
 

The kitchen remodel includes things like removal of 2 structural walls, French doors where the dining room window was. Granite slab counters amost 260 square feet of tile floor. An Island where the wall used to be separating the kitchen from the dining room all new everything plus about 3k in water damage.

While we are not trying to keep up with the neighbors the new neighbors dropped 60k on there kitchen dining room remodel it is just a way better layout than the original house. Tearing down structural walls when you have 16-foot ceilings is outrageous. The wife gets 50K and all the windows in the house have to be replaced with dual pane windows.
I vote we buy the car and eat out at a nice restaurant for the next 10 years. She says fine no remodel I can live in the car so I wonder who wins this one oh well she has waited a long time to fix up the place a bit she is more than worth it. I may still be able to pull a rabbit out of my hat in the $9,500 range the car is worth in my book.
Dave S

the car's front bumper looks a little lipped, otherwise it looks schpankity
not worth 15k to me though
wife and kitchen come first in my opinion, especially after 8 years of saving

For me it'd be the car, I'd cook in the garage on a campstove! :D :D

(you can see where my priorities are.... ;) )

I'll live in a 600sq foot house with a 45,000 sq foot garage. :D (kidding)

Easier to beg forgiveness than to get permission. :D

The better investment would be the house but then again you can't drive the house very far.

If you get it, can I have a ride in it when I am in the bay area? :D

Forget the Car
 

If i was pinced for money, I would invest it wisely...put it in the kitchen...cars come and go...I have a Aston-Martin Vanquish I'll sell you with only 3000 miles on it? If you are going to jump...then jump in on the deep end..

Only 3k miles and you want to sell it already? :eek:

Oh man in the photos thats a real beauty.....wish mine looked that good...

A very nice looking vehicle...
 

The price is WAY overpriced. No way could (or should) it be worth 15K. Probably to my way of thinking about half of that. But maybe I'm just cheap....

youre not cheap youre rational.

these cars are quickly becoming "boutique" cars. like the 2000 pt cruiser and 98-2000 new beetles.

decent cars, stupid investments. there are too many of them left for them to be worth much. the money you would spend to purchase it and on top of that, rustproof it and blah blah blah it could be spent elsewhere so much better.

i thought this was a serious "i need transportation, but our kitchen is falling in thread" i never realized it was an "we're spoiled and fighting over what we're spending grammaws joint christmas gift money on" thread.

Save the marriage!
 

Get the kitchen started and keep the peace at home. You both will enjoy the home improvement.

Save up $1,500 and get yourself another 1979 from Craigslist. It won't be as shiny, but it will be the same MB. If it is worthy to drive over Highway 17 with pedal to spare, then it is a good ride.

--Hugh

$15,000 for a 26 year old SD?! You have CASH for it!?

That's a bit over the top, get yourself a nice 1500-3500 300D or 81-85 SD. The wife won't kill you and you can still get a clean 'D for $3500.

I have to tell you
 

I was selling some land in St Augustine...World golf Village..the money I needed for the land was sizeable...Now the guy, that wanted the turf makes alot of money..but alos spends alot of money...He has to have the land...but he tries to qualify for a loan...but his ratios are off..So to lower the income-to-debt ratio..he has to dump the car from the equation.

He is a great guy..but out there and is loving every minute of it! He pawns the piece of dung on me in the deal.... thus eliminating the Aston_Martin trouble...It has 12 cylinders...and 19" tires and he claims it is the fastest production car...what a smoker! Well, I dont like it and I have a gentlemens agreement with him to hold the sorry thing for him till he gets past this transaction....But if he doesnt come thru....I am hiring a car-broker for the automobile and getting rid of it that way....he will be surprised to find out that I curbed the lowest part of the front spoiler...opps! Sorry I swear the spoiler is only slightly higher than the pavement...Oh well! Let's talk Mercedes Diesels...now these are the funs ones...I like the tinkering around bit with the older ones...sort of like a jigsaw puzzle that you never finish.......One final note...

Just a thought, but you are wanting to replace an old car that before it died, probably you were content with, now it's gone and you want something from the other end of the spectrum......why not just find a nice older one, say an 87, or 90 to 93 300d for $3 or $5 grand and drive it until the new kitchen is paid for, a marriage saved, and by that time you may be able to afford a new one, or at least a real nice one!

But, if you want a divorce, go for it now!