LPG Bargemobile

Heh.

Doki, I've found you the ideal thing.

Insurance is dirt cheap though.

nice!

I would say it's gonna be more than a bit thirsty....

I don't actually like em.

how about

Accompanied by the sound of a chisel on slate Tim S Kemp, managed to produce the following words of wisdom

Actually, no. That's rather nice.

In a Harry Enfield 'considerably richer than yow' small West Midlands Businessman kind of a way ;-)

Only when they need them.

Or even if it doesn't :)

Servicing is about =A3600 a year. Cambelt is 65k miles, so about every two= =20 years for you. Suspension balljoints can wear and you are looking at=20 about =A31k for top/bottom both sides. Engines, gearboxes, diff are bullet= =20 proof though, and all fitting are fantastic quality.

When things break, they break proper, but only once in the car's life. Not like a Merc or Beemer where they randomly fall off. or a froglet=20 where they are designed as flatpack.

Shop arround dealers for work too, some are approved repairers and can=20 be a lot cheaper than repair and sales.

Proper servicing means very little will go wrong.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

Heh, possibly. Still, he can afford it :-)

Aye. But I've known people who're happy with Merc, Jag and BMW running costs get a Lexus and vow never again because of the stupid parts prices. Even if it is only the occasional big chunk of cash, it's still a big chunk of cash at once, and in my case, on a car that's not worth a huge amount.

I'll say it again.... W124 E300TD. YKIMS.

Proper Merc, cheap as chips if they need parts and the same engine as the W210 got. Not too big, either - around the same size as my B6.

Honestly, although the W124 E300TD is a great car, the 320-24 on gas is a much more enjoyable and cheaper to run option.

You can get a very nice W124 320-24 for around £1500. Make sure you get leather because the cloth in them is foul, check all the gubbins work - they normally do - make sure the water pump is quiet, the front suspension and steering bushes are all a-ok, the gearbox and diff are quiet and smooth and you should be fine.

Actually, thinking about it, the C250 Turbodiesel does quite well. Build quality is nowhere near as good as a W124 but the steering setup is much better.

I know someone who has a W124 rotting away. Nice they are. Something that has occured to me Re XJ8s and Mercs however is ground clearance. I occasionally have to drive on farm tracks and the like and don't want something that'll ground every 2 minutes like an XJ will.

Accompanied by the sound of a chisel on slate Doki, managed to produce the following words of wisdom

W124s shouldn't. They're tough as old boots anyway.

Also for W124 you could order india or africa market springs and spring pads to raise the ride height. Never ceases to amaze me when I go to the Gambia the number of W124 and W201 with huge mileage, scant servicing but reliable running!

Not only that, you can also order "East London" market springs which lower them by approximately a foot.

:-p

... and make sure that the seats aren't too soft/have collapsed. A lot of them do that after a while.

That'll be the 400lb Greek chipshop owners...