[W126 Coupe] A different perspective

[Richard Hogarth]

Yeah! SAAB Sonnets and Volvo P1800s. 
What a noisy rough ride- But fun as hell!
-RPH
 
From: mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com [mailto:mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com]
On Behalf Of toelsner at comcast.net
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 12:48 PM
To: mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com
Subject: [W126 Coupe] A different perspective
 
Hi Everybody,
I would like to present a different perspective on a topic raised a few
weeks ago. A person was trying to decide if he should repair his existing
560SEC or buy another one for $5k with less mileage. The consensus was
either sell his and buy the other one or buy and keep both. 
 
My '90 560SEC has 177k of HARD miles on it. It is my daily driver and I have
driven it to places and on job sites that would make you cringe (me too on
reflection and I should have told my former employer where to go). It had
finally gotten to the point where I could no longer hold off on getting my
valve guides & seals done and repairing a broken sunroof rail. So I bit the
bullet and drove the car almost 3 hours to a shop somebody on this site
recommended in the LA area. They test drove the car and this is what they
came up with in addition to the valves and sunroof: leaking radiator, 1 fuel
pump leaking, idler control arm bushing (cause of my front end creak) and
gas door vacuum element (what fun when running on empty and your gas door
solenoid won't fully engage). The total cost for all this, including tax, is
around $5,300. I also had to rent a car for 3 weeks (just my luck the
afternoon before I brought it in a Jag was towed in needing the heads done
so I lost a few d ays). fyi...Alternator was replaced 2 months ago and the
timing belt and tensioner have around 30k on them.
 
Now, should I have bagged the car and bought another one that might have all
the maintenance records etc. or am I better off making the repairs to a car
that once the repairs are made I know what I have got. I still need to
figure out why the AC belt keeps shredding but once this is done, all I have
left is some body work and a new paint job and some leather repair. Frankly,
I think the wiser choice is to go with what I have and know. Comments?
 
I know this is a MB site, but if there are any fans of the old Volvo P1800
out there, the new C30 is awesome..not available in the US yet. I drove a
Turbo Diesel 5 speed (all nomenclature and digital readouts were in
Swedish)..great pickup, solid suspension and this thing was getting 62mpg
hwy driving. It didn't meet CA emissions so Volvo won't sell it in the US
yet. Gas version should be out first. I'm 6'2" 245 pounds and the seat felt
good with enough legroom.
 
Tom Oelsner
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