First Car Hunt

The W126 is probably the best engineered car ever, accountants were not consulted in it's construction. That said the parts aren't cheap, and cheap examples need a lot of them. They aren't exactly easy/simple to work on either.

Most cheap W126s I've seen, at minimum, need the timing chain and guides replaced (before the old ones disintegrate and take the motor with them) and a full suspension rebuild. None of that is cheap or easy, special tools are needed. I have the factory service manual on a hard drive somewhere if you want to read about it.

In reply to Kenny_McCormic:

So does that mean that it will be expensive in the beginning when parts are old and faulty, but once I get it the faulty parts swapped out then the car should be a beast?

Toxic Turtl3-

You really need to go drive the cars. Start looking and driving the cars that you think are the ones you like. Many times, the driving experience is very different from what you expect- some better, some worse.

Getting an old car for any reason will require some passion for that particular car- just because it will REQUIRE more maintenence. And probably will have more failures. So it's a requirement that you 1) enjoy the car SO much that you want to work on it, and 2) enjoy working on it.

Everyone has different tastes and experiences- quite a few posted how much they like driving air cooled VWs, whereas the times I did, I wanted to poke my eyes out. (extreme example)

To me, all the cars you are looking at now are the same- if you can keep them running, none are that expensive to keep running. Breaking them (aka abusing them) will probably result in different costs- but even for that- there are probably web sites out there who will gladly help you fix your car yourself.

Safety is a very personal thing- what are you willing to risk. But it's easy to say that cars are very era driven- pre-70- not much crash studies, 70's- basic, the 80's saw general improvements across the lines, 90's got pretty good. But all of them are very dependant on how much rust- so a crappy rusted 91 Miata is probably not as safe as a 82 318 'vert that is in great condition.

So, drive the car- pick the one you like the best- research to find the most info you can, but be able to jump on the best deal you can find (but don't rush it).

Yes and no. That era of M-B are the kind of cars M-B built their reputation on. Tanks. But much like real tanks, they need regular and knowledgeable attention. If something breaks or starts to wear, it should be fixed quickly as if ignored it can compound the issue into other related parts and costs will mount exponentially.

I suppose the thing to remember about them is they were expensive cars when new and generally meant to maintained by well trained dealer techs. Most original buyers accepted and could afford to do that. 20-30 years later, and ownership history gets murky. And while a reasonably good DIY community has built up around these cars, you also need to ask yourself, "do I really want to spend all of my spare time and cash keeping my car running?"

In reply to ToxicTurtl3:

Ian F covered it pretty well, you'll be thousands of dollars and many weekends in to get a W126 to that point. They do tolerate abuse, but not in an economical manner. This is the sort of car where you are supposed to weigh out the wheel bearing grease.

In reply to alfadriver:

Ya that makes sense. I can absolutely hate the beetle (like u said u did) or I could absolutely love how it drives but, I won't know until I actually get behind the wheel. But until that point all I have to judge cars is the reliability, cost of repair, and looks. But I know what ur saying and how I really can't judge a car until I drive it.

And go into your test drives with an open mind and a sincere willingness to walk away if the car doesn't light your heart on fire. I say this from experience. After so much discussion and post-reading, I looked at my E30 with blinders on and ignored the fact I didn't like driving the car almost from the moment I pulled out of the seller's driveway. The next 4 years of ownership were painful and expensive, made worse by the fact I was pouring time and money into a car I didn't really like.

In reply to ToxicTurtl3:

Of the cars you like- reliabilty will be more a factor of the condition of the car you buy and how much work you can do. Not of the base car.

My Alfa (the one on the left) has been mostly dead nuts reliable. The worst was breaking the trans within a few months, it's been dead nuts reliable.

Cost is a different thing.

Lets put this in a different way- the Camry is super reliable and pretty cheap to own. Would you want that car?

By far, diving and living with a car is the MOST IMPORTANT THING.

If you end up like Ian did, and hate your "dream car", it will be a long time, and the car will get abused.

Ok! I've found the 2 cars i want to decide between. There is a 1979 Mercedes 240D that my mechanic friend has worked on before. The guy wants $3200 for it. There is also a very nice looking 1973 Super Beetle that is on Craigslist that also looks to be in very nice condition. it has 90K miles on it and the guy wants $3000 for it. The better car is probably the Mercedes but I like the VW a lot more just because I do, but I think right around 100k miles is when the engine normally gets rebuilt and I think that is costly. The Mercedes will be more reliable, but from what I've read on Grassroot and other places the VW will be easier to maintain and will probably cost less or the same to keep running. But I just don't know. I like both cars with my likes leaning towards the VW but the realism factor leaning more towards the Mercedes.

I lean towards the VW mainly because it should be a better and more affordable car to learn wrenching on. The "unknowns" of an old Beetle are less frightening, simply because there are considerably fewer.

Likewise, down the road if you decide to sell it, the Beetle will likely be easier to sell. Around here (northeast rust-belt) a $3000 Beetle that doesn't have a ton of rust would be sold in a matter of days (I saw a rusty but running car sell for $2000 in less than a week), whereas an old M-B has a more limited market.

If the VW runs good (smooth, no smoke) and doesn't have any rust, go for it. The Super has a different (strut) front end, that tends to exhibit "death wobble" if there are any loose parts or bad bushings in the front end, but the parts are cheap so it's not a big deal.

Is the 240D a manual or automatic transmission? Most consider the automatic models to be too slow to be safe in modern traffic.

In reply to Ian F:

Ok, so the car is gonna be less expensive to learn how to work on, but will the VW be the kind of car that is gonna break down all the time? If it is one of those cars like u said it will probably hold its value pretty well and i could go sell it again.

In reply to Kenny_McCormic:

The guy said that is had some light surface rust, and the 240D has is an automatic.

Something else has come up. The Mercedes guy said I can put $500 down. If I do this my parents said I would have the car, so this option gets me a car. Or I can take a shot in the dark and hope that the VW Super Beetle hasn't sold in a couple of months when I have more money. So ya idk...

Buy the Mercedes. An old benz is a great daily driver, but be prepared to laugh at the inevitable calamities you'll face.

I did it, I bought the 1978 Mercedes 240D! (or at least put a down payment on it. I wont officially own it till sept. 1st)

Oh boy. When I get back to my computer in NJ, I'll look for a reasonably good DIY forum we found when I was attempting to work on the ex's family 300SD. Start browsing eBay for a service manual.

Woohoo!

I had a diesel w126, and I didn't think it was hard to work on. Hopefully the 240D is a manual not automatic if you want to be able to drive on the freeway, they are really not very fast. I think the biggest issue with those (and VWs, probably BMWs but I haven't owned one, etc) is that there are a lot of really bad quality parts available that are also really tempting because they are cheap, but if you use them to fix stuff its more expensive in the long run because you will end up replacing them sooner than later with the more expensive part you should have used in the first place.