Mercedes 200TE W124 has been misdelivered to Mr Livered

[Mr Livered]

Right, I said I'd do a collection thread, but there's not much to say because it all went very smoothly.

 

I like this car. It's a big tank - I keep hearing it said that the W124 was the last of the over-engineered Mercs. It's a bit underpowered to be honest, but it's a decent motorway cruiser. I want to use it for trips to France: it's big enough in the back with the seats folded down for Mrs Livered and me to sleep in the back, there's plenty of space for stocking up on wine, and it seems like the perfect vehicle for those deathly-dull French motorways.

 

This morning I put my kids on the school bus...

... jumped in the Saab, went to the train station and caught a train to Bath

 

The bloke who was selling me the car picked me up from the station, we did the paperwork, then he drove me to the post office and waited outside whilst I bought a tax disc. Then I took the keys, said goodbye to the seller, filled the old girl up with petrol and made my way down a very rainy M5. I remembered from the W123 I had years ago how splendid it is to watch the world roll by through that bonnet star. Every time there's a slow car in the way, or a middle lane hog, I like to imagine it's a machine gun sight, enabling me to strafe the offending vehicle.

 

...arriving home in time (just about) to pick up my kids from the school bus.

 

Mein gott, that was a dull-as-ditchwater collection post, because it all went so smoothly. The Merc didn't miss a beat on the way home, everything seems good apart from the radio/cassette not working, and (this was the bit I was worried about) I made it home in time to pick up the mini-Livereds.

 

I will have a good look underneath, and a proper poke about, when the weather is a bit drier, and see what hidden horrors await me. At the moment, though, I'm pleased with the whole experience, which was by far the most stress-free ebay collection job I've ever done.

[chaseracer]

Oddly, my W124 collection experience was similarly pleasant and uneventful. The fun started later...!

[dollywobbler]

If you can snap a halfshaft with the feeble power of a 200, something really is wrong! Do wish I'd held out for an estate. Would have been much more useful.

 

Also, never regret a smooth journey home! When I collected the Land Rover, nothing went wrong at all. It was almost boring. I was so relieved!

[Mr Livered]

Ooo noo noo I don't regret the Germanic trouble-free efficiency of my car collection outing. It's just that I'm aware that if I'd been plugging petrol tank leaks with chewing gum and making fanbelts out of my socks on the hard shoulder it would have made for a more entertaining post

 

There's another shiter collection going on today, which could have been very entertaining but due to the involvement of a truck in delivering Vulgalor's Princess that one should go pretty smoothly too.