(DISCLAIMER: Feel free to delete this thread or move it to the whinge bin or whatever, if it does not fit in here, since my goal in life ain't to ruin this forum! 
)
So, for the first time ever, I did what I thought would never happen, I bought a car from this side of the millennium bug.
Not that I have anything against them, but I didn't see it coming. Until I was offered a 2001 C180 estate for 8000 SEK (circa £625), when getting a working car for this price, it didn't make any sense to run the W123 as a daily anymore, especially since I started feeling a bit sad about seeing it rust and fall apart when driving on salted roads in the wintertime, damaging trim pieces when trying to open frozen doors, getting the paint chipped by sand and stones, and also, I've been using it too much in my work too. It feels like the wear and tear on my own car, caused when I drive it for my own sake, is somewhat easier to swallow than the same thing when I have to use my own car because the company car is away somewhere else, but enough of this rant now, I'm sure that I don't have to excuse myself on this forum.
Now, I've been checking the car and it is not as rotten as I thought it was.
I have to buy new front wings for it, which you can get extremely cheap in germany, while the doors, arches and tailgate probably only need some sandblasting.
A DIY respray under the beltline and on tailgate+wings is no big deal either, maybe 1 litre of paint + 1 litre of clear, and a week of work.
Of course, I only see this as a repair that may extend the life of this car a couple of years, nothing to restore it to factory condition or something that would last forever.
Here's a picture BTW
Yes, maybe as boring as a car can get. 1,8 litre N/A, plastic steering wheel and harvest gold paint.
So, I've been thinking a lot about what to do with this car.
Of course, the only sane thing to do would be a rust repair and then never touch any of the cosmetic stuff, and just drive it for a couple of years until it falls apart, and then send it into the crusher.
On the other hand, I really feel like a soccer mom when driving around in it now.
...and then, it is the fact that I've always been trying to put a personal touch on all of my dailies, so it would feel weird not to do it...
...but this car is not worth many pennies and it would be a waste of money to spend too much on it...
...and will a beige C-class wagon ever be any fun at all? Maybe not.....
Just such a thing as one of the turn signals in the mirrors. It is broken. It is ugly on the early cars and I could swap it for the later model crystal clear unit, but then I would have to change the left blinker too even though it is completely OK as it is now, and would insanity start there? It is really hard to decide where to start and where to stop now....
What do you think you would do in my case? Not that I will follow other peoples opinions strictly, but it is always interesting to hear....
)So, for the first time ever, I did what I thought would never happen, I bought a car from this side of the millennium bug.
Not that I have anything against them, but I didn't see it coming. Until I was offered a 2001 C180 estate for 8000 SEK (circa £625), when getting a working car for this price, it didn't make any sense to run the W123 as a daily anymore, especially since I started feeling a bit sad about seeing it rust and fall apart when driving on salted roads in the wintertime, damaging trim pieces when trying to open frozen doors, getting the paint chipped by sand and stones, and also, I've been using it too much in my work too. It feels like the wear and tear on my own car, caused when I drive it for my own sake, is somewhat easier to swallow than the same thing when I have to use my own car because the company car is away somewhere else, but enough of this rant now, I'm sure that I don't have to excuse myself on this forum.
Now, I've been checking the car and it is not as rotten as I thought it was.
I have to buy new front wings for it, which you can get extremely cheap in germany, while the doors, arches and tailgate probably only need some sandblasting.
A DIY respray under the beltline and on tailgate+wings is no big deal either, maybe 1 litre of paint + 1 litre of clear, and a week of work.
Of course, I only see this as a repair that may extend the life of this car a couple of years, nothing to restore it to factory condition or something that would last forever.
Here's a picture BTW
Yes, maybe as boring as a car can get. 1,8 litre N/A, plastic steering wheel and harvest gold paint.
So, I've been thinking a lot about what to do with this car.
Of course, the only sane thing to do would be a rust repair and then never touch any of the cosmetic stuff, and just drive it for a couple of years until it falls apart, and then send it into the crusher.
On the other hand, I really feel like a soccer mom when driving around in it now.
...and then, it is the fact that I've always been trying to put a personal touch on all of my dailies, so it would feel weird not to do it...
...but this car is not worth many pennies and it would be a waste of money to spend too much on it...
...and will a beige C-class wagon ever be any fun at all? Maybe not.....
Just such a thing as one of the turn signals in the mirrors. It is broken. It is ugly on the early cars and I could swap it for the later model crystal clear unit, but then I would have to change the left blinker too even though it is completely OK as it is now, and would insanity start there? It is really hard to decide where to start and where to stop now....
What do you think you would do in my case? Not that I will follow other peoples opinions strictly, but it is always interesting to hear....
)
