Will buy a car this fall...suggestions?

Thanks for the 300E, I'll give them a call tomorrow. The others look flaky. I use cars.com and autotrader, not to fond of craigslist for things especially when they dont post pics.

Im starting to get my hopes up with the Z3, hope its still there, if not then the Lexus or 300E will be choice number two.

PS I would like to find something under 100,000 miles, would there be any benefit to buying something over 100k besides the price?
 
if you're looking for a reliable cheap transport, I would go for the toyota/lexus IS300, you'll have other times in your life to own a benz, I would stick to japanese for the first car on a limited budget, my gf just bought a JDM prelude and it needs fixing here and there but everything was like 200-300 but if someone were to buy a say 94 M.Benz E or 525, it would be in the range of 600-700 or more if you bring it back to the dealership... and if you're buying a car from the mid 90's, please be ready to spend some money fixing it up (unless you aren't that fussed about it)

Lol, I would touch it up, makes sure it looks nice and fix anything important that is mechanical but that would work if I buy something sub $10,000.

I do hope to own or lease an AMG SLK within 2-3yrs so yeah that Merc might not be in the cards now...

Well Im going to bed, got phone calls to do tomorrow morning and wish me luck, hope that Z3 is there as it is stuck in my head now.:mrgreen:

Will update you guys tomorrow evening, with pics hopefully! :)
 
Whoa I haven't factored that in my budget. Thanks andy, somehow I overlooked that point. I could afford a gas guzzler if I bought a car under 10,000 but more than that would really pinch my wallet so I guess I have to let go of the 500s.

I'm going to continue to try and be the voice of reasonableness and point out that if the fuel differential is scaring you, you should reconsider.

Let me throw out a good example. A friend of my father's was selling his wife's SL500 (a 1991) about 4 years ago. This was a pampered, one owner car with 81,000 miles on it.

But there was a little play in the steering rack, and the brake rotors weren't 100%, some other small things. It was still very drivable, but...but...to really make it decent (and I abhor vehicles I can't have 100% faith in), it was going to cost about $4,000. And that's not an inflated figure as a high school buddy of mine owns a Merc dealership -- so that was cheap labor and parts at cost!

Repair costs of a car are proportionate to it's initial cost. A big money car like an SL will have expensive and complex parts on it.

Let me try and phrasse it another way: If the car sputtered and died the day after you got it, and it cost $5,000 to repair, would that bother you? If the answer is yes...then run away, run away quickly.

I can appreciate where you are at, was there myself, and am just trying to spare you the "experience" -- not rain on your parade.

Steve
 
The fuels costs were the nail in the coffin. The little voice inside me saying, "see you can't afford it, you'll be better off looking for something else".

Fuel costs and repairs are expensive for such a car and Its something I initially thought I could handle but always knew in the end I really couldn't. That was in the back of my mind always but the SL I drove today had 45,000 miles. Wishful thinking would hope that I would be done paying it off in a year, as I planned, before any serious probs arose.

Steve thanks for the input, any words on my current 3-4 cars, namely the Lexus IS, BMW Z3 and 300E Spectre found?

Check bottom of page 4.
 
I can assure you a Japanese car will have cheaper parts/repair costs than a German car. My parents have owned three Mercedes in the past - '81 300SD, '86 560SEL and '93 400SEL. The diesel was great, the big 560 not so much (spent thousands of dollars for repairs), and the 400 was so-so. Parts are expensive, especially since some models were way over engineering. The infamous ASR light troubled the last Benz and the pneumatic/vacuum system ate the dust too.

I bet Mr. Jaguar didn't expect this lil tidbit of info :) Of course he just thinks I only know about SKEE-ONZ!11!1
 
Except you owned all the "unique"/low-volume models. The W201 190E and the W124 E-class are cheap to own and since they made millions of them, the parts are cheap. On the other hand, I wouldn't have an S-class if you *paid* me - they're Mercedes' technical flagships and they're loaded with gadgets and gear that *always* breaks.

There's currently a 93 190E sitting outside, and I used to have an 82 W123 300D Turbo. Go back to your overpriced Japanese box, boy.
 
Go back to your overpriced Japanese box, boy.

Overpriced? Hardly. I do enjoy getting 30+ mpg while your XKR gets 0 mpg. And I don't let my dad drive my car :p

I doubt my dad would wan't to drive your car.

Who the f*ck are you?

Good work helping the guy choose his car by turning his thread into a flame war. I suggest you find somewhere else to flame instead of annihilating this one.
 
Good work helping the guy choose his car by turning his thread into a flame war. I suggest you find somewhere else to flame instead of annihilating this one.

:lol: Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Justin doesn't mind, I think 8) Anyways, I would not go with a German car as your first set of wheels. Every friend I know who did has regretted it. Japanese FTW!
 
My 2 cents here, Spectre is right when it comes to the S/ SL class. I've said it before, they're the Technological flagships of Mercedes, and have a lot of untested technology in them. W124 Mercs are nice to drive if you're looking for a very comfortable car that is not very involving but not completely detached to drive. The 6 cylinder models generally put out a decent amount of power and run ver smoothly. Technology on these models is virtually bulletproof, so no real worries there, although the older 24 valve models are not as reliable as the 12 valve models.
 
Who the f*ck are you? You have 19 posts so I'm sure you don't get the joke.

I just saw the opportunity and had to take it, I haven't even seen a Scion in my life, I would've said it if your drove a rolls for christs sake :D
I probably should have added a :p at the end so you wouldn't of taken it so seriously, my bad.
And if you are talking about Spectre's dad crashing his xk, then yes I do get the joke, Just because I don't make a post a day doesn't mean I don't read the topics. ;)

@topic, everyone I've known that have owned Mercs, new and old, say that they spend alot of time in the shop, If you are buying this as a daily driver I would probably pick something a little newer/more reliable, but if you just wan't something for a lazy cruise on a weekend, and you are happy to tinker and service/fix it yourself, I'ld say go for it.
 
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Oh well, If you go for Mercedes do yourself a favor and buy one of this:

img10272835659.jpeg

(more photos of the same machine here: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/zoomcar/935924/935931/941067/)

Then go to Renntech (http://www.renntechmercedes.com/) and put it like this:

rt3.jpg

renntech2.jpg


And also get some new right side mirror (you need to go to japan or british spares or other thing like that-> right hand drive) so that the car can be symmetrical!

If you see that it's too expensive there's on the same photo other hypotheses (on the background)

A Mercedes W123 and a BMW E34 M5!

I guess that you can get some those cars there in the USA for that kind of money!!!
 
Overpriced? Hardly. I do enjoy getting 30+ mpg while your XKR gets 0 mpg. And I don't let my dad drive my car :p

No, sorry, it's overpriced. You were stupid enough to pay $14-17K or so for a rebadged Toyota bb (yes, that's the actual JDM model name, the "bb") which costs about $8-9K in Japan. Were it me, I would have paid a few more bucks and gotten a Honda Element.

Your dad probably doesn't *want* to drive your car; neither does anyone over 24 or so, I would suspect. The xB is fine when you're in college, but once you graduate, you're supposed to get a *real* car.

Finally, guess what? I'm getting another XKR AND an XJR to replace my deceased XKR. Yes, the insurance settlement will be enough to get both. Meanwhile, you'll still be puttering around in a box, with the other little kids.

Is your Scion yellow? Because that would go perfectly with your short-bus comments.
 
Or you can always do this: Buy a 500E chassis, buy a 2JZ Toyota Supra engine and put it on the 500E... Just like this (I'm gonna repost this video here so that you don't need to follow to the link where it is posted):

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPodp9DOQbQ[/YOUTUBE]
Than it would be fun! :mrgreen:
 
I would hope that nobody would butcher a 500E for that (500E's have Porsche V8s in them and are rare).

Putting it in a 300E, I can see.
 
No, sorry, it's overpriced. You were stupid enough to pay $14-17K or so for a rebadged Toyota bb (yes, that's the actual JDM model name, the "bb") which costs about $8-9K in Japan. Were it me, I would have paid a few more bucks and gotten a Honda Element.

Your dad probably doesn't *want* to drive your car; neither does anyone over 24 or so, I would suspect. The xB is fine when you're in college, but once you graduate, you're supposed to get a *real* car.

Finally, guess what? I'm getting another XKR AND an XJR to replace my deceased XKR. Yes, the insurance settlement will be enough to get both. Meanwhile, you'll still be puttering around in a box, with the other little kids.

Is your Scion yellow? Because that would go perfectly with your short-bus comments.

Are you the internet tough guy now? You need to shut the fuck up because you're becoming a real pompous ass with your snobby comments. You think you're the hot shit because you drive a Jaguar? Is that it? You think you're better than me because you can afford expensive luxury cars? It that it? I would fucking kick your ass if you said this shit to my face. I'm so sick of people like you. And for the record my dad isn't a snob like you, even though he probably makes more in a month than you do in a year. Do some fucking research on the bB/xB next time so you don't look like a total dipshit - the xB costs more because it has the larger 1.5 1NZ-FE I4 engine as standard and some other options, plus import costs, etc. It would cost me the same amount + shipping to import one over - http://www.japanesenewcars.com/prices/toyota.htm

Oh, and welcome to my Ignored Users list.
 
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Hey, you started it. One does have the right to self defense when attacked. Remember this?

Don't be such a Jaguar snob, they're not the best cars in the world, mkay?

Don't like the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

As for being a Jaguar snob, you obviously haven't read many of my posts or looked at my signature.

And as for kicking my ass, I'll probably be in Los Angeles for Thanksgiving. If you're around, I'll say the exact same thing to your face then. You can do what you like then, but I do hope your health insurance is paid up. And that you have a good lawyer afterwards.

PS - I only paid $27K for the XKR in the first place, and the rest of my cars combined cost less than your little rollerskate.
 
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Hey, you started it. One does have the right to self defense when attacked.

Attacked? Umm yeah, sure. I called you out and you made this personal. You praise Jaguar in like every single thread or make everyone feel dumb because we don't have the same taste in cars. Just knock it off, we don't care anymore.

And that you have a good lawyer afterwards.

My dad can represent me for free. ;)
 
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