This old Merc was bought off ebay in 2004 - I'd been pondering about buying a cheapo old Merc estate ever since selling my venerable old 760 Volvo estate in '03.
The need for a load lugger was especially relevant now that I'd found some interesting local auction houses, and the need to be able to haul bulky lumps of old iron and similar junk from these
auctions was becoming greater.
Two months along and I've mixed opinions on this Merc. Its a capable old barge, though only being a 2.3 4 pot its a big gutless when loaded up, or towing a trailer. However despite being
an auto its is fairly economical to run, which is nice. However the quality isn't what you'd expect from a Merc, and everywhere I read about comparisons between this model, the W124, and the
earlier W123, suggests that earlier cars are far better made (dads W126 S Class also bears out that later cars are less well finished overall). Saying that, and bearing in mind a 220k+ mileage, it
drives and handles very well, burning a little oil and using some water nonetheless!
Plan is to keep this til its next MOT and see what happens then!!!
Update November 2004 Well it passed its MOT with flying colours, but a desire to get a towcar with a little more grunt (it struggled a bit when towing back this little Ford pickup) meant that
it was replaced later in the year with a similar, but bigger engined, 300TE.
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