[W126 Coupe] FW: MBCOUPES Digest, Vol 36, Issue 38

[Mike Taylor]

Hi John, 
That was my one lucky break, the engine rebuild, and they did a good
job.  You need a lucky break when you've spent that much on a car !
Unfortunately the garage is now closed (maybe there is a connection
between this and your question).  Unfortunately I don't live anywhere
near Hadley Wood, more Luton/Dunstable, and the rest of the prices are
inflated a lot by labour charges of up to GBP 50 per hour.
But overall I was also sort of trying to indicate what you may expect to
go wrong / have to replace over 8 years of owning a car like this.
All worth it !
Cheers,
Mike Taylor

Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:42:07 +0100 (BST)
From: John Poole <ajohnpoole at btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: [W126 Coupe] Cost of running a garage-maintained 560 SEC
To: Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists <mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com>
Message-ID: <407356.9035.qm at web86102.mail.ird.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi Mike, where did you get a full engine rebuild for ?1,100.00 ?, my
mechanic quoted ?1,400.00 just for a valve job, the rest of it all looks
a bit scary though (unless "just north of London" is code for Hadley
Wood :-)
   
  All the best, John Poole, just north-west of London, (a much poorer
area than just north of London :-) 

----- Original Message -----
  From: Mike Taylor
  To: mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com
  Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 1:13 PM
  Subject: [W126 Coupe] Cost of running a garage-maintained 560 SEC


  Everyone knows that these cars we own (a 560 SEC 1988 in my case) are
expensive to run, so I thought people might find it interesting to know
my own experience with bills.  I don't / can't work on the car myself, I
use 2 garages, one expensive but very good independent dealership, and
one cheaper 2-man outfit useful for niggling problems.  In the 8 years I
have owned the car I have kept a spreadsheet (shown below and attached)
of all bills.  
  It has just hit the ?23,000 or $47,000 dollar mark over 8 years.
Sounds shocking but does include some non-essentials (e.g. $6000 stereo)
and about $12000 completely restoring the bodywork to 'new' condition.
Anyway, if anyone is interested, since 1999 these are my bills on my 560
SEC (I hope it is still readable as it is pasted from an Excel table).
I'm sure if you work on your car yourself it is considerably less !!!
I hope this doesn't scare any potential buyers.  It would be interesting
to know anyone else's experience.  
  Best Regards,
  Mike Taylor
  p.s. I live in the UK, just north of London...for boot read trunk!

        Work Cost $ 
        ABS Sensor (nearside front) $200.22 
        6 Air Filters $496.00 
        Aircon Cooling Fan + Fitting $386.00 
        Aircon Re-Gassing - twice $348.00 
        Alarm Cobra 7928 Fitted $800.00 
        Anti-Freeze $50.00 
        2 Axle Beam Bushes $276.26 
        Axle Oil $60.00 
        2 Ball Joints $176.00 
        2 Batteries $334.00 
        Bodywork - 2 Front Wings $1,012.42 
        Bodywork - bulkhead strip $111.76 
        Bodywork - Fit 2 new Wings, Lots of Repair and Respraying
$3,857.52 
        Bodywork - Front Chrome Bumper $585.30 
        Bodywork - General Repair & Respraying $2,000.00 
        Bodywork - outside window rails $130.00 
        Bodywork - repair body, spray bumpers, skirts, mirrors, etc
$4,058.54 
        Bodywork - small repairs, scratches, wiper blades, boot $243.00 
        Boot Seal Trim - twice $200.00 
        Brake Calipers (4), Discs (4), Pads (8) + fluid $1,910.00 
        Brake Light Switch (under pedal) - twice $308.00 
        Distributor Cap & Rotor $364.84 
        Electric Aerial $260.00 
        Engine Complete Re-Bore & Re-Build $2,255.14 
        Exhaust - Complete System $2,685.50 
        6 Fanbelts $190.00 
        2 Fuel Filters $190.00 
        2 Fuel Pumps $846.96 
        Fuel Regulator $915.02 
        Geometry Check - full run out and adjust - twice $220.00 
        Heating Control Valve $595.70 
        HT Leads $250.00 
        Ignition Trigger Box $1,947.92 
        8 Injectors $500.00 
        Locking Wheelnuts - twice $100.00 
        Nozzle for screenwash $130.00 
        16 Oil Services - approx every 3000 miles $2,030.00 
        40 Spark Plugs $600.00 
        Seat Belt Kit (Driver Side) $500.00 
        Steering Box - fix leak $80.00 
        Steering Centre Drag Link $83.48 
        Steering Fluid PAS - twice $140.00 
        Steering Idler Bush $153.30 
        Stereo ! Big bad Alpine system, Magnat amps, MB Quart Spkrs
$6,330.00 
        Replacement Sump (the old one just fell off) $550.00 
        Suspension - Gas accumulators/spheres $619.06 
        Suspension Fluid & Filters - twice $190.00 
        Suspension Pipes - front to rear under car $844.00 
        Timing Chain $200.00 
        Track Rod Control Arm (nearside upper) $350.00 
        Track Rods (both outer) $350.00 
        Trans / Gearbox Oil $280.00 
        Interior Wooden Trim (damaged) $774.00 
        Full Tune-up and Adjust - twice $472.00 
        13 Tyres $3,578.00 
        Wheel Balancing  $35.92 
        Wheel centre caps $50.00 
        Wheel Tracking $202.00 
        Wiper Blades $100.00 
        Wiring Fault $78.14 
        TOTAL $47,584.00 Disclaimer: 
 
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