Oh no, not another W124. Lord Sterling's Benz: Will he fix it or will he fix a Rover?

[Ghosty]

You don't deserve a single one of the things that's happened to you LS, I can't believe someone would have such a bad run.

 

Hope everything clears up for you, and bloody soon too.

[billyboy406v6]

What rotten luck you are having, damage does not look so bad from the comfort of my armchair. Should make sure the twat pays big dollars for his total twatness in a public place.Hope you can get it sorted. cheers, Bill.

[purplebargeken]

Am so sorry to hear that things are so shit for you Mo.

 

I can help not with the Merc but if I win Billys Rover I promise that you can use that as a stop gap if need be.

 

Not much in the scheme of things but not much else I can offer fella.

[scdan4]

That said, who knows? I've not yet pursued a claim as it'll cost me £250 excess whuch I simply don't have, but the chap wants to try and sort something out outside of insurance. He is insured as the insurance people were able to find his details quite quickly.

 

 

No, no, no, no, no. No.

 

Involve the insurance. Covers your back for any spurious injury claims shite later.

 

bummer about the car. I'd been looking at it every update thinking to meself "when he sells that i'll have it."

[320touring]

Sorry to hear that Mo- if you want to borrow that Puma I have for a couple of weeks so you have wheels let me know!

[Lord Sterling]

Thanks again chaps. Your all right, this is the last thing I need.

 

That looks pretty horrible. Does the door still open and close?

I'd be tempted to try a door from a breaker and live with the underlying damage.

The passenger side front door won't open. Oddly enough there are a couple of doors in the same colour on eBay at the moment, they've been on there a while so can't see them going anytime soon.

 

As I said I need to see where the land lies with this chap, I've been in a couple of accidents before. If he is offering a good sum of money in order to pay for another W124 estate in E280+ flavour or serious repairs then we'll be onto something. I will however go through the insurance if nowt is agreed. I've informed my insurers so they are ready to pounce if I decide to go ahead with a claim. I'd rather not as it seems a right palaver, unfortunately there are only 2 expensive options here; 1 - Replace W124 Estate with like for like which is difficult, or 2 - Go through insurance which will hike mine and his premiums up regardless of fault.

[Noel Tidybeard]

drivers door still works, wife not here yet- no problem keep driving the fecker til you screwed him for a replacement

 

on the plus side if/when you drive round ladypool road everyone will give you a wide berth!

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

It is just an unbelievable run of bad luck and in so many things. I hope things improve soon for you and you are not set back too much by it all.

[Parky]

I would never normally suggest this Mo but are you finding your back is a bit sore and your neck stiffer than usual? Maybe a bit headachy? I am wondering if maybe you have had an accident that wasn't your fault etc etc....?

 

If anyone deserves cash compo it is you

[Lord Sterling]

Small update today. Whilst being chauffered to Chez_Mo in a wonderful Rover P4 today with 2 great chaps (and this really did happen) I got a call from the other party's insurers. He has admitted liability, I have described the damage so the insurers are sending me to a garage on Monday to have my car assessed. If repairs are possible, I shall also have myself a courtesy car in estate form, if not then hopefully they'll pay me out for a replacement car, and I have my eye on a W140 S-class...

[JohnK]

Good news! Sounds like it will be a positive result whichever way it goes.

[skattrd]

Just a thought, but if you do get  a reasonable insurance pay out how about spending the money fixing an 800 or 2 and using one of those instead of buying another possible money pit.

[billyboy406v6]

You need another Mercedes in your life !!

[richardmorris]

When I picked my merc up from the paint shop the other week another customer of theirs wanted me to come and look at his 140. It was rude not to ( esp after he had offered money to buy my coupe, which is not for sale btw). It was a 280 I think, not a mark on it and he said 2.5. Tonne and would do 32mpg. Double glazed windows, sat nav etc. he had just had the shop replace and paint the front wings and had them fill in the arches with a sort of mastic to get rid of water traps.

[worldofceri]

Forks ache man.  I should have pushed that car off the back of a North Sea ferry when I had the chance and saved us both a load of grief!

 

 

Sounds like you'll have to go through the insurance but I reckon you'll be able to work it to your advantage if you're canny.  And if the Benz can't be repaired then plus-one to Rover 800 fixage...

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Just a thought, but if you do get  a reasonable insurance pay out how about spending the money fixing an 800 or 2 and using one of those instead of buying another possible money pit.

 

This is certainly worth considering. The idea of a W140 does worry me slightly since they can be frighteningly expensive to run. My brother had one many years ago - it was quite a needy beast and needed regular fixing.  The bills it threw up could be eye watering.

 

That said, it wasn't an old car back then so there would not have been much in the way of second hand parts availability - so running one may well be much cheaper now.

[forddeliveryboy]

Pull out the B-post with a tractor/another 124, buy a second hand door for £15, drive on.

[Inspector Morose]

It's not just the b pillar, I'm afraid. It's pushed the sill in and took the bottom of the pillar along for the ride. Repairable? Yes but worth it? Probably not, I'm afraid. Same it was a good car but with a sensible head on, it should part out for enough to make it worthwhile.

[forddeliveryboy]

Perhaps worth attaching a chain around the bottom of the pillar and giving it a pull, though? Unless there's rot in there, that is.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Good grief Mo, you really have suffered with this car

 

I would say it is fixable if you want to persevere with it. To give you some idea, my pal would be getting his Portapower kit on that and have the post back in the right position in two hours flat. Even if the sill has come round too, the damage will unfold if you push it in the right place. You would most certainly need to strip the interior out to brace the equipment on the offside B post and rear corner.

I would fit the new front door first and adjust the car until the gaps are spot on.

 

Mind you, with all the grief you've had with the thing, I'd probably accept a payout and get another one.

[chaseracer]

 

Get the insurance payout first...

 

[Burnside]

_{Hope things work out Mo with everything not much else I can say other than just stay positive mate things do get better in time.}

 

  

[Lord Sterling]

Ok, just been to the assessors. As predicted they are not looking to repair due to, as always, the cost of parts/B-pillar/trim and probably most of all labour outstrip the worth of the vehicle.

 

So, the dilemma now is where to put the thing to take it off the road for breaking/selling as it is. I'm struggling as it is for space.

 

Also, it looks as if I'm going to be negotiating with the insurers over how much they want to give me. Sigh.

[Lord Sterling]

Forks ache man. I should have pushed that car off the back of a North Sea ferry when I had the chance and saved us both a load of grief!

 

 

Sounds like you'll have to go through the insurance but I reckon you'll be able to work it to your advantage if you're canny. And if the Benz can't be repaired then plus-one to Rover 800 fixage...

Ceri, I don't regret for a second buying this car at all. I'm glad I had my time with it. It's been a great car and I've thoroughly enjoyed owning it. I only wish I had the chance to own it for much longer (forever, cus thats how I roll) I am now a Mercedes convert.

 

Now regarding Rovers, it would make much, much sense to get one of them on the road. However, I am potentially looking to buy one of my dream motors, a W140 S-class S320, failing that, an earlier 1991 300E estate is up on Autotrader for £sensible money. Yes, it means having another unknown car with potential underlying problems, but no amount of sensible choices could ever replace the joy of owning something you've always wanted.

 

One of the 800s will be shortly up for sale soon anyway. If it goes it'll leave me with 2 x Mk1s and 2 x Mk2s and only 3 cars to store.

[nebuchenezer]

Ok, just been to the assessors. As predicted they are not looking to repair due to, as always, the cost of parts/B-pillar/trim and probably most of all labour outstrip the worth of the vehicle.

 

So, the dilemma now is where to put the thing to take it off the road for breaking/selling as it is. I'm struggling as it is for space.

 

Also, it looks as if I'm going to be negotiating with the insurers over how much they want to give me. Sigh.

I expect they will offer walk away money and let you keep the car.

 

Do not take the first offer

[Lord Sterling]

Do not take the first offer

I don't intend to. Looking at equivalent E280s estates, many of them are in the market for at around £2.5k+. Mine is/was probably worth about £1.5k at the very, very least. I'm looking to get over that as to replace it with an equivalent car will cost me about £2.5k.

 

I had this a few years ago with old 827Si. Third party admitted liability, her insurers tried to offer me a derisory £250 for the Rover, I stood my ground and got £850 which is what I paid for the car and it was in near mint condition.

[Pillock]

Shit Mo, just seen this. If you need the lend of a Saab, just ask.

[vulgalour]

Mo, I am sending you the good vibes.  I don't know if they'll affect anything, but I'm sending them anyway.

[Lord Sterling]

Right, just been to pick up my courtesy car:

 

 

Vauxhall Insignia 2.0 Elite NAV CDTI A. Full Black (faux?) 'leather' interior, SatNav, auto (   ) diesel (  )

 

The Insignia (Insignifcantia/InSICKnia or whatever you want to call it) is quite a nice car to drive. Obviously being almost brand new it is very tight and seems fairly well screwed together. Vauxhall to me have always been a brand that churned out cars that did what they were asked to do, nothing more, no pretentious shite, no premium branding bollocks, just simple cars that, yes, followed style and did want to be individual, but still kept to making cars that did what they were built for.

 

I like the toys naturally, it has remote open/close tailgate which is great, but the Merc has soft-closing (which still works, even now!) the stereo is great except for the traffic updates which is annoying. Still getting used to the lights and how they function. I like taking control myself.

 

The space inside the boot is surprisingly small, smaller than the Merc. I doubt as if I could get my bed in there though I might be able to in the Merc.

 

I picked up a mate of mine from hospital (he'd been knocked off his bike this afternoon) and asked if I would buy it given the money.....

 

It's a very nice car, very nice indeed, very responsive, a great looker, not exactly spacious inside, fairly comfortable, but I honestly doubt I'd spend around £12k+ on one, particularly at the rapid depreciation rate these are at. There are similar models on Autotrader now for just under £3k for an '09 plated example in the same body type.

 

It is a very nice car and I will miss it when it eventually goes back. The question now is on the Merc, what to do with it? There has been an offer on here to repair which I am seriously considering, but the insurance runs out on it in the next couple of weeks, I honestly have no space to start breaking it and it does still drive very nicely as it did pre-accident. Hmmm...

[richardmorris]

How can it have a smaller boot than the merc? It looks like it should fit in the boot!

 

Also that interior is awful. I can see that they've tried carrying the steering wheel shape to the centre console, or vice verse, but still.

A week's courtesy hire of that is likely to be cost more than the merc!