LUXOBARGE (sub5k) of the week/day

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

The Cork reg would give it away immediately anyway

I bought one last year that had come direct from an embassy, and the plates were still on it. All of the service history had been redacted so I never knew where it came from exactly though. I changed them for standard plates fairly swiftly, but have the old ones hanging in the shed

Did you find that you were given any preferential treatment when you drove it with the CD plates on it?

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Changed the plates on it the following day, so couldn’t possibly say! As far as I know they can still be pulled over and clamped etc

I drove one for awhile, as part of the job, but was warned that if anything, to drive in such a manner as to NOT draw attention to the car. You could not for example nip down to the supermarket and collect the shopping , or in fact ANYTHING that would "devalue" the plate. Obeying the rules of the road was mandatory. But yes, it did make a difference when dealing with the police or military. Mostly you would get waved on, and even saluted occasionally.:cool:

Hunky Monster wrote: »

This. That 3.0 diesel is bomb proof. The petrols are not.

Oh I don't know... the N52 straight six petrol is pretty good, apart from the oil leaking from valve cover gasket and oil filter gasket, an odd coil stick and the electric water pump.. and the radiator.

If a coil stick goes she'll get you home on 5 pots. Mine has 135,000 miles on it, I have it 6 years from 40,000.

All the repairs are DIY. €400 waterpump and thermostat. €160 for Nissens rad (great deal) from Micksgarage at the time.

1 balljoint, 1 control arm, 2 shocks and springs on rear at 100K. 3 PDC sensors. 2 coil sticks. You can get Windows based comprehensive diagnostics for €50.

My spreadsheet shows €3361 total costs including tyre and oil filter every 10K miles.

I look around to see what to replace it with, NOT going diesel, best I can come up with is a Cayenne E Hybrid 2015 onwards, €45K +...... so I'm keeping the E65. They don't even look that big now compared to say Mondeo, Suberb, Mazda 6, Audi A6

MPG is 36. On motorway at legal speed 40+ possible

landmarkjohn wrote: »

All the repairs are DIY. €400 waterpump and thermostat. €160 for Nissens rad (great deal) from Micksgarage at the time.

1 balljoint, 1 control arm, 2 shocks and springs on rear at 100K. 3 PDC sensors. 2 coil sticks. You can get Windows based comprehensive diagnostics for €50.

My spreadsheet shows €3361 total costs including tyre and oil filter every 10K miles.

I look around to see what to replace it with, NOT going diesel, best I can come up with is a Cayenne E Hybrid 2015 onwards, €45K +...... so I'm keeping the E65. They don't even look that big now compared to say Mondeo, Suberb, Mazda 6, Audi A6

MPG is 36. On motorway at legal speed 40+ possible

That's good going...no matter what way you look at it ! So €3361 divided by 95'000 miles give's a cost of €0.035c per mile. Most of the stuff on your list would be standard replacement for any car using Irish Roads. I have my E class ( 2010 w212) now down to €0.68 c per Klm, and that includes literally every cent spent on the car, Tax, Insurance, tyres, NCT, servicing ( I do all my own servicing) inc purchase price of €10'000. Would have dropped down to about € 0.50c / Klms by now except for the lockdown. If I were you, and under the circumstances, personally, I'd be very reluctant to change ( and even more so under the Covid-19 circumstances) Good Luck with it.:D

landmarkjohn wrote: »

I look around to see what to replace it with, NOT going diesel, best I can come up with is a Cayenne E Hybrid 2015 onwards, €45K +...... so I'm keeping the E65. They don't even look that big now compared to say Mondeo, Suberb, Mazda 6, Audi A6

Biggest problem with buying a new car is you need to learn how to fix it all over again!

astraj wrote: »

But with you stuck in the window what could go wrong

I'll just bleed on your upholstery.

It's St. Christopher you need in the car!

http://info.mcvaninc.com/meaning-of-saint-christopher-medal

Pity this is so long away from classic tax, one of the last ones registered as the W220 was for sale in September 1998.
Easier to repair, a lot less to go wrong, insurance could be done as a 2nd car, little or no depreciation.

S320, 1999, NCT 03/21, €5,000

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mercedes-s320-w140-long-nct/23991968

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mercedes-benz-s350-2005-pristine-example/24880557



This is expensive, but seriously nice. 1 owner S350 with 60k miles.

If you were in the market for an S this would surely be the one to have if you could justify the price

traco wrote: »

That's a W140 but you are right they are a great bus. A 500 would be a lovely long term keeper

Do ya still have the S280 W220?

Having sellers remorse lately!

I Was VB wrote: »

Do ya still have the S280 W220?

Having sellers remorse lately!

I do. It's s in lock up at the moment. Have an exhaust leak that it failed the next for so need to sort that. It flew through everything else on the test but lockdown has stalled everything. It's SORN at the moment and the insurance was renewed and transferred to the S600 for the next few months.



I'll get the 280 through the test but I don't know what to do with it. Space is problem as it's usage. I know it's real first world problems but trying to schedule the fleet usage with the road tax is a right pain.


I've done a few jobs to to Boxster so it will be on the road from June 01. Thinking then the S600 from Sep - Nov. Maybe the S280 from Dec- Feb. The 600 again for Mar-May. Just not sure how the insurers would look at swapping the policy between the two barges for months at a time??

Case in point Eric:

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mercedes-cl500/24908911



Well spec'd (with all important ventilated seats), nice plate, nice bit of tax

1 previous owner and an original Irish car. I like the look of this

Edit: 10,000 posts!

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Case in point Eric:

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/mercedes-cl500/24908911



Well spec'd (with all important ventilated seats), nice plate, nice bit of tax

1 previous owner and an original Irish car. I like the look of this

The €1000 for 6 months tax is shocking :eek:.... makes the €1800 for 12 months seem reasonable:D

CoBo55 wrote: »

It looks lovely, shame there's no test on it, it would probably pass but I really wouldn't like to take the chance. How much would that have cost back in 2007?

€163,385 before options.

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Are those seats a bit rough looking?

I think the windscreen was dirty & it's casting a shadow on the drivers seat