The $499 Cabriolet
 

Paid 2K for a 1993 115,000 Cabrio. Running. Top would not operate, converted to manual up/down, see a previous post.

Tried to auction my 92 300TE wagon, no takers in three tries at local auction ($200 is not a real offer). With regret, it went to the boneyard for $450. Needed tranny (no reverse for two years) and HG (oil in coolant and a quart a week leak). It lives on as others are parting her out, it is strange to see something you once treasured being recycled.

On the Cabrio put used bumper on the front and new head lights (from a 95). That afternoon, hit in rear end by a minivan on I-95 at maybe 2 mph. Holiday traffic had a 20 mile crawl going on. Made this little crack.

One Tuesday, his Allstate insurance looked at the vehicle and said the whole bumper would have to be replaced, because of the age and brittle nature of the plastic. If it were 5 years newer they would patch and paint existing bumper. They cut me a check for $1051.08; offered a free rental car during repairs.

Sooo.. $2000 - $450 - $1051 = $499 in the vehicle. And a little JB Weld, a very tiny hole drilled to stop the crack spread, and a bumper snicker over it will look just fine.

I do want to point out to owners that (a) repairs are high dollar, and (b) don't ever let someone "tap" your bumper and says it looks ok and drive off.

And if you are wondering if SWMBO has been advised of the new check....

That's a shame. For me, unless the Cabrio was a rust bucket or had been in a serious accident, I would be wrecking out another car for components to keep the Cab on the road. But that's just me.

I'm keeping the Cab as my daily driver. It was the 300TE that was retired. The Cab has so far not revealed any deep secrets of expensive parts. But I suspect I will be learning a lot about replacing bushings and ball joints. And there is some rust, it lived in Rochester NY for part of its life.

Larry, you misread his post. He sent the TE to the boneyard and is driving the cabriolet. The pic is the crack in the bumper.

Yes, I did, as usual, quickly perused and got it JassAck backwards. Kudo's for keeping the Cabriolet on the road.:o

Bumper sticker
 

Be sure the sticker is from well-known MMA school, to avoid people cutting the top.

this happened to me with a 1988 260e once... parking lot...front bumper... guy actually left a note..... 1300 check...

a little glue, paint, and bondo...

I had paid 1200 for the car... it did have 200k on it at the time....