Car, More Trouble Than Its Worth...

JoeKelly

Hey could really do with some advice,
I recently purchased a 1994 Mercedes C180 up North for £2000. Any as per usual with myself the aesthetic took precedence over Function although it seemed to be functioning fine at the time, well according to my very limited automotive knowledge. Anyway in true Murphy's law fashion problems soon arose the car began to overheat regularly and a myriad of electrical problems followed. Brought it to a Mercedes garage of whom my father was affiliated with and they assessed the problem. The cooling fan had to be replace so too did the radiator and sure enough there was some damage to the head gasket which due to financial constraints i couldn't get fixed, to which they advised just keep topping up the oil. Two month have since past and the car appears to be getting progressively worse and now it would appear that a rough cost of repair will amount to between €1500 and €2000.
Im just wondering what i should do and whether there may be a more frugal approach to repairing the car.?
Considering the cost of repair is now amounting to more than the cars worth, is it worth doing and if not what should i do with it?
I'm attached to the car still looks great but i sometimes wish i had car that just worked!

crosstownk

Get it repaired, scrap it or drive it till it stops.

Not what you want to hear but probably the only options you have.

draycottgirlz

cut your losses and run Joe,
there are plenty other C180's out there for good value these days

You based in Cork city?

congo_90

as crosstwonk said.. time to pack her up. Sorry to hear about your losses though. Had a bad car too and wasn't fun at all so I'm with ya 100% on this. I'm still driving mine but stopped till i got all the major repairs done. What sorta mileage is on this car? 15 yr old car, Me thinks she's had better days. PIck scrap for 5ton and buy a corsa or something for 4ton

Seth Brundle

did you get a (written) warranty and if so is it still valid?

crosstownk

kbannon wrote: »

did you get a (written) warranty and if so is it still valid?

On a 15 year old two grand car??????

If he did get a warranty then the dealer needs his head read and deserves to foot the bill.

JoeKelly

draycottgirlz wrote: »

cut your losses and run Joe,
there are plenty other C180's out there for good value these days

You based in Cork city?

That true however mine is moderately modified and really looks the part. Indeed in cork i am.

kbannon wrote: »

did you get a (written) warranty and if so is it still valid?

Actually i did get on he didnt offer one i asked for it and through incessant repetition he eventually conceded. But its long expired.

The Car has 183000 miles

Seth Brundle

Isn't 3 months mandatory here? There could be something similar in NI (although it is now possibly over the three months)!

draycottgirlz

JoeKelly wrote: »

That true however mine is moderately modified and really looks the part. Indeed in cork i am.


Actually i did get on he didnt offer one i asked for it and through incessant repetition he eventually conceded. But its long expired.

The Car has 183000 miles

ya but as you said yourself, looks got you into trouble.
Best get something reliable and drive on-hassle free....



Did you sell a white transit about 18months ago?

JoeKelly

draycottgirlz wrote: »

Did you sell a white transit about 18months ago?

Transit... nope

draycottgirlz

JoeKelly wrote: »

That true however mine is moderately modified and really looks the part. Indeed in cork i am.


Actually i did get on he didnt offer one i asked for it and through incessant repetition he eventually conceded. But its long expired.

The Car has 183000 miles

JoeKelly wrote: »

Transit... nope

ah different Joe Kelly from Cork then I was thinking of

JoeKelly

Alas my username was poached from an eccentric man who lived in my vicinity...i just took a liking to it.

Could i sell the car for parts? Any market out there for c180 body kit you reckon?

bluesguitar

sounds like trouble reckon you'd get 500 for scrap ya can get some lovley beemers now of the same year for around a grand better car! Just as slick!

Slig

Some good pimping there eoin:rolleyes:.

Did you try getting a quote from a non-merc garage? might be worth a shot as main dealers are usually top price.

stratos

the only advice I can offer is could you do any of the work yourself labour is the biggest cost of these jobs.

Going near a mercedes garage with a car that old is madness or even going near a garage with a roof.

try out around the countryside for garden mechanics. I hear of huge expense repairs especially timing belts on this forum. There is an old boy out near me in the sticks works in his front garden does timing belts and head gaskets for around the 100 to 150 Euro bracket.

It may take them 3 weeks and you don't get a plastic seat cover or a cup of cofee but find the right one and you have a gem.

My two cents worth.


Running older exec cars on a budget is possible but to offset running costs and expensive repairs you have to get handy with a hammer yourself. Did I say hammer :eek: ?

I hate to scrap a car that puts a smile on my face

Saab Ed

Im finding it hard to feel sorry for you here. You went up North to import sh**e when you probably could have bought the same car here for less. Someone saw you coming. Dont waste any more phone calls just drive/push/tow her to the scrap yard

Stratos has a right attitude there. That what I'd do myself. If you like the car I can't really see a reason not to repair The C-class as opposed to buy another cheap car of unknown quality.

The worst think you could do is to give away supposedly a clean shell that you just bought when there's just "small" technical problem with it. Once the headgasket is done (and makes sense to get the head reconditioned while the head is off) I can't see you having any issue putting another 100 kmiles on this car. They are hardy old yokes you know.

Henry Ford III

kbannon wrote: »

Isn't 3 months mandatory here? There could be something similar in NI (although it is now possibly over the three months)!

I've seen this mentioned before.

Is there such a thng as an automatic 3 month warranty? What ever happened to "sold as seen"?