Another "what car?" thread.

Yeah, I love the W126 but I do feel proper maintenance costs could be too much. Leaning towards the W124 right now.

This did pop up on the local craigslist though. http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/bnc/cto/2689135210.html Sure, its old and slow, but it looks great, seats 4 comfortably, should be good on diesel and has much less to go wrong with it. I'm waiting for a call now.
 
Oh dear god they are slow as fuck. Test it thoroughly to make sure you're okay with that.
 
rickhamilton620 said:
Slower than a 2.Slow VW?
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Slower. You'd love them.

The 240D non-turbo North American spec did 0-60 in...

21 seconds, if you got the automatic. When it was new and everything was to spec. And the stars were in the right alignment.

It was one of the slowest production cars ever sold in the US. The manual wasn't much better at 18 seconds. It is so slow it is completely unsafe and unusable for US freeways - cannot get up to speed on the onramp even vaguely fast enough.

Most today take 25 seconds or more to make the 0-60 run.
 
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Shawnw said:
Yeah, I love the W126 but I do feel proper maintenance costs could be too much. Leaning towards the W124 right now.

This did pop up on the local craigslist though. http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/bnc/cto/2689135210.html Sure, its old and slow, but it looks great, seats 4 comfortably, should be good on diesel and has much less to go wrong with it. I'm waiting for a call now.
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Keeping on picking cars we have in our family...that is my mother's W115, though ours is from 1976 and doesn't have U.S. style bumper. It also has 5 digits in the odometer, meaning no clue about km.

To sum up a W115:
1. Acceleration is wanting, compared to the 2.8L W126, but it can and will go up to 120km/h if pushed.
2. Simple mechanics, and reliable. Good engine, low fuel consumption, and with the correct fuel regulator is pretty usable still in modern traffic. A veteran car, with proper disc brakes and nice comfort.
3. Noise...this for me is one of the annoying facts. The diesel can be a bit loud sometimes, especially above 100km/h. Then again, at around 80km/h this car is a really nice cruiser.

What you should look out for:
RUST...don't buy a rotten one, unless you know how to weld. Then again, this applies to any old car...
 
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Yeah, my mom had a W123 240D. She bought it in 1979, during the second "fuel crisis". She really wished later that she had bought a 300D turbodiesel. At least that could do 0-60 in 14 seconds.

It was a tough car, though.
 
The big question is, is it slower than a 1969 VW Westfalia with a 1600cc engine? That is my benchmark of slow. My Westy was horribly slow but I never felt at risk in it, or struggled merging; I got quite good at the "I'm moving over whether you like it or not! I've run out of lane so you can either brake or move over".
 
Shawnw said:
The big question is, is it slower than a 1969 VW Westfalia with a 1600cc engine? That is my benchmark of slow. My Westy was horribly slow but I never felt at risk in it, or struggled merging; I got quite good at the "I'm moving over whether you like it or not! I've run out of lane so you can either brake or move over".
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It's about as slow, especially if it has some miles on it.
 
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