Seing as a few people have owned mercs, what is..

W210s hardly hold their money well, though - because of their reputation.

That one is still quite expensive for a decade old car and will still continue to depreciate.

At the end of 3 or 4 years, the difference in selling price will be negligible - especially if you work it out per mile travelled.

There's also the fact that a 10 year old car will naturally need more maintenance than something half the age as rubbery bits perish.

But it's still a W210, and I wouldn't touch one with yours.

ing one of these

Yes, but real world figures tend to differ... that, and diesel is that much dearer now I doubt in reality you'd be saving enough to justify the extra cost of the Merc over the Saab (forgetting all the issues that currently has), bearing in mind the bad reputation they have.

Oh, and my mates dad had a T plate E300 about two years ago... smooth ride, lots of poke, lovely place to be bar the fact the injectors etc went on it and it started to smoke big style. Cost him loads to repair.

He's since seen sense and replaced it with a Mk4 Golf GT TDI 150.

I know I'm probably starting to sound like a scratched record, but in your situation I would be applying the old IT mantra, KISS, as in 'Keep It Simple Stupid', to any potential car purchase plans.

Ok... well whilst you'd get a Merc, with all its rot issues and complicated by comparison mechanicals to potentially go wrong, you could get a pretty recent KA for around what you want to spend.

One local place is knocking out brand new ones for =A35995 on the road... last year they had a few bog basic pre-registered ones for =A34995.

You'd fit in one, they've f*ck all to go wrong, they're reliable (and cheap to fix when they're not), they're dirt cheap to insure and it would come with a warranty. Above all they're an entertaining drive.

Another local independent has a tidy KA Sport in metallic blue that's done just 29k IIRC for =A33295 on a 53 plate... so that's something that's 11 years newer, has done piss all miles really, looks the part, and should go reasonably well.

And before you go off on some tangent about how you're commuting distance and so need a bigger car, I happily managed to do a commute of 140 miles a day including the M25 at peak times in the KA we had, in late 2006 - never broke down or fell to bits, and averaged 45mpg, (42mpg with Fester Si alloys in place), on a mix of heavily congested A roads and motorway.

If I got one now, it would cost me about =A3170 fully comp vs =A3480ish on the Passat. A Merc of the magnitude would almost certainly be that bit dearer.

Not as much as there would be as buying something like the above.

I've seen SE spec Passats TDIs a bit older than mine with under 100k miles under them on forecourts (so you'd get some form of warranty with it), for under =A34k as well - you'd more chance of less grief with one of those than one of those Mercs, it wouldn't rot from under you and it should still be worth a reasonable amount when you've finished with it.

Does it *have* to be an auto?

-- JackH

How much was the 9000 again? If I was you I'd get it banged on eBay now, mentioning the resistor pack heater thing issue, and then people would think you were been honest so you could just forget to mention the rest of the problems it's going to have soon. You might get a couple of hundred quid for it.

I think you'd be best listening to JackH - just get something common and cheap to run. Even the Ka is a reasonable idea, although not available in Auto. I think the 'common' and 'cheap to run' have to be the priorities, preferably from a middle of the road brand like Ford, where parts are cheap.

Probably still going at that age, unlike the Alfa which probably rots completely. Why don't you use Parkers web site and look up the details yourself - or use Google if you're allowed full access.

I pretty much agree with everything Jack says here.

Much as we like to think of ourselves as individuals and always making a slightly interesting choice, the real world sometimes causes us to think otherwise.

My own personal illustration of this is the "thousands of taxi drivers can't be wrong" one relating to diesel Octavias.

Yes they're dull, but these guys drive them because they're sturdy, cheap to fix if they ever go wrong and they generally don't anyway. Add in cheap running costs and rugged simplicity and you're already most of the way there.

Hate to say it, but that's also why people buy Diesel Passats.

And Golfs.

And 3 Series BMs.

And Focii

And Mondeos.

I'm just as likely to try and be individual as I can too, but can do without something that's too complicated to run or fix. That's why a gassed up ragtop MKIII Golf masquerading as a MKIV becuase of the headlights is as fancy as I can go.

It's good fun when the sun's out, it's cheap to run because of the gas, but most importantly, come repair time, it's just a Golf - hello eurocarparts.

None of the above applies to an older Merc which the great unwashed will by and large avoid. That's because not being car lovers like us they just want a motor that won't TTUTA when it comes to getting them fixed. You can do without that if your current sentiments to the 9000 are anything to go by.

One last point. A 30 grand car that has depreciate to 3 or 4 grand is still a 30 grand car come repair time. If you can afford a 3 grand car (much like me may I add) then buying an old 30 grand car is never going to make much sense.

All of the above are why much as I have always wanted one, I won't ever have a Passat W8.

I'll shut up now.

if you really want to save money just buy something small....I like my big cars too, but a merc is basically a sideways step..

basically (i snipped a bit to much i think) but your gonna save money by buying an old merc which may have problems too, cost about the same in fuel once you take into account the price of diesel and with a tiny bit of saving on insurance groups.

don't do it!

i had an MR2 Turbo but after my insurance hike of £700 quid i saved money by buying an overpriced BM with some VERY expensive problems! and a saving of

1p a mile or so probably. to really save you need some silly and boring like a fiesta or something, no point saving a few pennies it has to be a lot cheaper and repair costs have to be cheap too.

i've learnt this myself after the BM and when it's all paid off i'm probably going to hang onto it till i've got a couple of grand or so and buy an old shape focus or similar with a smallish engine and then save for a nice-ish bike and i've worked out if i get an ok bike and a cheap runabout i could still save loads than i do now with the BM but it has to be done by saving and no loans!

yup so so so so true!

agreed, took me years to realise this

Jesus, at that rate the insurance would be paying me to drive a Ka then.

The 2000 Octavia was =A3300 FC, the Celsior was =A3485, the Saab is =A3325

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

I've had a look locally, and if I do take a loan, I would taking on one of their ex Taxis too.

=A3900 + =A3600 that the headgasket, back brakes, service and top mount=20 cost. Oh and the Alarm (which should now be fixed thanks to a test by=20 the manufacturer/importer tech and the insertion of a 50p resistor).

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

I don't find mine dull. :-S

I didn't buy it for cheap running costs either - if that had been the criteria I'd have kept the newer, lower mileage, in some respects comfier to live with on longer journeys, Fabia TDI I had before this.

Cost me 'eek' amount to get it traded in against the Passat as well, which underlines the point even more.

No, it was the fact I didn't want to keep feeling disappointed with my lot every time I looked out at what was parked out on my drive in proportion to how much it was costing me a month.

That, and I wanted more poke and toys for my bucks.

In a funny way I miss the Fabia - it was ultra reliable, better condition than the Passat and the three pot engine sounded far more sexy than you'd expect a sawn off TDI lump to be.

It just wasn't something I wanted to keep paying loads of money each month for, whereas the Passat is something I'm happy with, and so I don't resent paying for it.

-- JackH

Isn't it the bulkhead, wings, /and/ front crossmember?

Shocking really. I like Mercs, and they always *feel* well built, but they were terrible, if the reputation is to be believed.

Any idea how they got it /so/ wrong?

Rust where you can see it, and more rust where you can't.

Tim..

You *MUST* get it up on a lift and _remove_ the under tray under the gearbox, not just the one under the engine, and inspect the cross member and lower edge of the bulkhead carefully, even if the front wings are perfect.

Tim..

Accountants

ISTR it's environmentally friendly paints that were the biggest issue.