Which Automotive Cockroach? Volvo 200 series or Mercedes W123?

Which Automotive Cockroach? Volvo 200 series or Mercedes W123?

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    53
Shawnw

Shawnw

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Richmond, BC
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07 Accent Hatch
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I say automotive cockroach because it seems like the only cars that just wont die are the Mercedes W123 and the Volvo 200 series.

Which would you prefer?

Both come as Coupe, Sedan and Wagon.

Both seem to be owned by two very different groups. Enthusiasts who fix and polish and pamper; and dirty smelly hippies who neglect and mistreat.

Neither is particularily quick (usually).

Both are "safe".

Neither is traditionally good looking.

And most important (to me at least), both are readily available in large quantities for not much money.


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Definitely the Mercedes. It can be easily spiffed up to look good in more than just a hippie-ish way, and it was available with a diesel here, which I'm not sure the Volvo was in any appreciable quantities.
 
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I rest my case.
 
I'm sorry, but the Volvo 200 isn't anywhere near as reliable as the W123.
 
I am a dirty, stinky hippie and love the lolvobricks.

Get a black wagon. They look kinda like hearses. Epic win.
 
Merc easily. While I adore the brick Volvo and have wanted one since a child, the brown W123 300TD our neighbours used to own gained more of my affection. It is, after all, the Mercedes Benz of automobiles.
 
I'd probably take the Mercedes Wagon.

Unkillable you say? I killed a 240 wagon good and dead! (well, it wasn't me, but I witnessed it happen and tryed to stop it)
 
I dare say a barebones 80s W124 is as bulletproof as a W123, but because it's a younger model, you might actually get more longevity for a very similar amount of cash. There's also an ample supply of used W124s with rudimentary options, at least in my country. The automatic diesel ones go 600tkm, easy, and a lot of the used ones have covered 300 or 400.
 
Aston Martin said:
B18-B20 engines are bulletproof...
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Not over here, they aren't. Plenty of dead ones in junkyards; mostly due to inadequate cooling systems, IIRC. Note that the Africans don't seem to want them at all.

And even if they were, the rest of the car rots away around them, especially the (not cheap to repair) electrics. Put it to you this way - when Jaguar switched from Lucas door lock solenoids to Volvo/Kiekert door lock motors, the same used in the 240, the price went UP and the reliability went DOWN. Don't get me started on their fail failtomatics that are full of fail - so much fail that they're a fail icon.

Not good.
 
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Not surprisingly, I would take the Volvo anyday. The Mercedes is something that I associate with the wrong crowd - watch the TG episode from Albania and you'll know what I mean.
 
bone said:
what the hell is that? never seen it before, i guess it's pretty rare? looks awesome! (although a bit like a cadillac)
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It's a 262 Bertone Coupe. My dad had one and it was a proper turd.

Oh, and i choose the W123, i love those cars.
 
Even if I'm not the biggest fan of Volvos, I still think it's pretty odd to say the 200-series is unrealiable. They seem to disappear only because at the end (of a very neglecting ownership) they're worth less than tank full of gasoline, but they're still going. Slowly, but going. I've personal experiences only from 700-series, but I guess they share quite a lot of technology? Of course the cooling problems might be a different story in hot Texas than Finland...

Anyway, C123 please.
 
Lastsoul said:
Even if I'm not the biggest fan of Volvos, I still think it's pretty odd to say the 200-series is unrealiable. They seem to disappear only because at the end (of a very neglecting ownership) they're worth less than tank full of gasoline, but they're still going. Slowly, but going. I've personal experiences only from 700-series, but I guess they share quite a lot of technology? Of course the cooling problems might be a different story in hot Texas than Finland...

Anyway, C123 please.
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In the 200-series (around here atleast), the engine outlives the body 99 times out of 100. The redblock B21-B23 are tough engines... unless you are careless with the oil. This was once a B230FT out of a 745 Turbo.

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Yeah, shitty oil is always bad, but especially so in turbo charged cars. That must have been pretty loud way to go :D
 
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