Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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1987 Quantum SaloonLaters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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Nov 17, 2021 12:29:10 GMT
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Over the last few years a few hobby cars have come and gone. Most were bought blind and delivered & non lived up to my hopes sadly. In late Jan early Feb of this year I wasn't really looking for anything new for the garage & was totally running out of motivation for the project I had in the garage due to the ever growing list of issues. At that point whilst browsing eBay one night I noticed a red car in amongst the items you may be interested in on the left side of the screen. I clicked it and was met with a ok looking red quantum saloon. I had a quantum 2+2 convertible for many years that I bought back in 2003 as a damaged wreck & spent 6 months repairing it and rebuilding it using a very run down XR2 I bought for peanuts for some missing parts for the quantum Once on the road the 2+2 was used every summer for 7 years till the rear seat area started to get a little small for the growing children. It sat in the garage unused for 3 or 4 years & was eventually sold to a school friend as he always liked the car. Within a few months of selling the 2+2 I knew I had made the wrong choice but sadly it was gone and no chance of getting it back. Of all my fun cars the 2+2 was by far the most enjoyable. It wasn't the quickest but handled far better than it ever should have and could be hustled along nicely & really is one of the cars I should never have sold. The quantum saloon styling is not for everyone and yes from certain angles the rear is a little awkward but the front styling being similar to the 2+2 is pretty much spot on for me. It was for sale with a very short MOT, that ran out the day before it was delivered to me, plus had a few running issues and hadn't been used much in the last few years but the previous owners had spent some money with a lot of new parts. It was for sale on the south coast and couldn't be further away if it tried so collection or viewing the car before purchase wasn't a option so it was another to be bought blind. At least this time I knew there would be no rust issues with the body being a glass fiber monocoque. In the photos it was clear the gelcoat was in need of a little tlc but the interior looked tidy and once running the engine didn't sound too bad. Within a few hours of seeing the photos and video walkround of the car a price was agreed with the seller and I became a quantum owner again. I remembered from my last quantum that there were not a lot of the saloons made, they made 215 but how many are left after 30 years is unknown as of now, with it being a full 4/5 seater it probably suits my needs if everyone was wanting to come in the car & made a lot of sense. I arranged for a guy to collect the car for me via shiply website. He was delivering a car from scotland to the south coast so when he had off loaded his delivery he was going to collect the quantum for me and then drive up to his home which is about 30 miles from me where he would leave the car on the transporter overnight and deliver the quantum to me the following morning. I was very nervous that morning to see the car in the flesh for the first time and hoped it wasn't like the others I had bought blind and a case of cars really can look a 100 times better in photos than real life. It arrived and I was over the moon. Yes the gelcoat requires a wet sand and machine polish as its is a little patchy and faded in places, more on that later. After going round the car there were a couple of issues I wasn't aware of but overall nothing that put me off and I was really pleased with it. Only change I have made since it arrived was to remove the horrible wheels it was fitted with & treated it to a new set of wheels. New wheels fitted in the photo.
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Last Edit: Dec 5, 2021 11:22:23 GMT by Laters: spelling
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Anyone used Metals4u?Laters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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Used them a fair bit here. As already said not always the cheapest but their buying options & reliability offset that for me.
One of my orders did arrive short a couple of pieces, quite large pieces at that, but was resolved quickly with a single phone call & the missing steel box sections arrived in a couple of days.
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Last Edit: Aug 5, 2021 17:19:10 GMT by Laters
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Jun 30, 2021 14:08:02 GMT
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Ran my Mercedes 1987 C250td on veg oil for a good few years. Worked fine for most of the year but did have to go back to diluting the veg oil with diesel during the colder months. No issues what so ever apart from constantly craving chips after driving the car due to the exhaust odor. Did change the fuel filter more frequently just to be on the safe side. They were pretty much the only downsides.
I bought the car with really low mileage and took it to over 120,000 miles. Bloke who bought it from me is still using it everyday & it now has nearer 200,000 miles on it now.
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Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Trickle Chargers Laters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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Jun 26, 2021 18:36:42 GMT
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I have a small solar panel charger sat on the dash of the other halves 106 as it only gets used odd days & sometimes not for months on end, it normally does less than 1000miles a year as most of the time she just takes the family Honda. I'm usually the one who takes the 106 out for a drive just to give it some use. She really likes the car & wont sell it but so much of the time she is moving things about that would be a squeeze in the 106 hence taking the honda. The battery would without much doubt be on the way to struggling to turn the car over before I got it but after sitting it on the dash the battery has been kept useable & haven't had to charge the batter since the solar panel charger was bought. It was only a fairly cheap one from eBay too.
I do also have a small Chinese pulse charger which gets left on my weekend/summer car for extended periods over the winter or while the car is laid up. Again another cheap eBay purchase but it does seem to work and has few modes but most of the time its just on maintenance charge & it seems to do its job. I did consider getting a better one but as the cheap ones work will use them till they don't.
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Last Edit: Jun 26, 2021 18:39:56 GMT by Laters
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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I will admit I have just spent far too long watching the Smyth videos over on youtube. My other half likes the new beetles & have looked at a few that she has found locally on faceache/pigbay.
Would probably have bought one for her if the ones we looked at hadn't had weird automatic gearbox issues that put me off or were next step up from the scrap yard needing far too much work to be viable. She needs a automatic so a manual wasn't a option. The ones we went to look at were cheap as chips but just had a look today the prices seem to have firmed up somewhat. There is still the odd cheapish beetle but not in the number I remember not that long back nor are the prices as cheap.
Really fancy doing one of the Smyth ute conversions on one as I find them surprisingly appealing.
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Last Edit: Jun 9, 2021 19:02:28 GMT by Laters
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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I have ended up with a SPA Design Shift Light but no wiring or instructions. Had a search on the internet and came across the spatechnique.co.uk/ website & there is a technical section with instructions for older models so thought it was going to be easy to get it working. No such luck. The instructions for the older models are on spatechnique.co.uk/pages/older-product-documents so downloaded the instructions for the shift light but instructions refer to 8 pins on the wiring where the unit only has 7 pins. I have emailed to ask but not got a reply as of yet. Has anyone used one and possibly got the instructions? I have removed the screws & had a quick look to see if there was a possible clue inside or if the PCB was screen printed or marked but no such luck this time. Bought a 7 pin DIN plug which fits nicely just need to find out the wiring. No massive loss if it cant be found or doesn't work but would use it with the new project if it can be got working.
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Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Impact wrench - how much NM.Laters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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May 24, 2021 17:42:02 GMT
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In all the occasions where I have used the dewalt I have snapped one wheel bolt. All the other tight stuff its undone. Saying that the bolts I use it on are usually driveshaft nuts or are on the larger side. I had already tried with the normal extending wheel nut bar and my biggest breaker bar to undo the wheel bolts before trying the impact gun. Who knows what they tightened the wheel bolts up with but all are getting replaced as there was no need to be as tight as they were.
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Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Impact wrench - how much NM.Laters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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May 24, 2021 15:37:17 GMT
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I was tired of struggling with breaker bars or cheaper impact guns. A driveshaft nut on the Honda beat every tool thrown at it till I borrowed a Dewalt 899. First thing I did after it undid the nut was go and order my own. Had it a while now and its never failed on anything I have needed to use it on. I have owned a few other cheaper impact wrenches but the dewalt 899 is better by miles.
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Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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May 11, 2021 15:08:24 GMT
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I don't always get a lot of time to visit the forum but the recent Retro Rides Roundups have been good as some of the subject matter I might have overlooked which ended up being quite a interesting read.
The fact files also added a little extra to the roundup as can be read from within the email.
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Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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New wheels look so much better. Lowered just the right amount too. Good work.
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Last Edit: May 3, 2021 13:07:49 GMT by Laters
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Apr 24, 2021 19:48:33 GMT
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Nice looking car Dan & a clean example of a W210. Had a look at a few W210/S210 a few years back to use as the everyday car & couldn't find a rust free example back then. Got to be one of the better colours for the w210 as it really shows off the body shape.
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Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Jan 13, 2021 19:58:35 GMT
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That brings back some memories. Just seeing that chassis setup has the memory of the smell of nitro coming back :-) . Had more than a few Kyosho cars over the years. Bit gutted I let some of them go seeing what some of them sell for these days.
I used to have a massive love hate relationship with nitro powered models. Superb when you have them tuned in the sweet spot but getting the sweet spot on a cheaper used engine wasn't always easy. Must admit once I had advanced to a quality engine brand things really improved.
What body have you got planned for it?
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Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Cheap amplifiers on eBay. Laters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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Nov 19, 2020 23:25:41 GMT
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A few of my thoughts and findings of cheaper Chinese in car audio equipment. Firstly some of the cheaper Chinese car audio gear is much better than others. Even if it looks the same that doesn't mean it is.
A lot of the internal amps are quite poor. Not only from the prospective of they are nowhere near the output that is claimed but they are also quite poor quality adding quite a bit of noise and distortion. Sadly a lot of the cheaper unbranded headunits also suffer from the same issue.
There is the odd diamond in the rough but some of them are really quite dire.
I did a lot of research into the cheap no mech slimline headunits that are sold all over the place for a silly low price. Currently have couple here. One is fitted to my other halfs 106. Despite good quality speakers it manages to sound very wooly and in my opinion has quite poor sound quality especially at anything above quarter volume. Its a shame about the sound quality issue as it functions really well especially given the price.
I have looked at the cheaper end amps to compare to the now ancient amp I have in my car but haven't done anything as yet given the poor sound quality of some of the units I have helped people with.
I am not going to mention even the slimline headunits have a circuit board that looks tiny in the small case. Some of the Chinese android based headunits are really customizable and offer a lot of features for the money but the internal amps do let a lot of them down. On some of them even the pre outs are not the best audio quality either which is a shame. There are some great sounding ones but they tend to be in the higher price range and are nearly the cost of a branded unit.
I have been involved in the install and repair of car audio electronics since the 80's & yes some of the cheaper stuff is ok but I would much prefer to buy a lower end branded product than a unknown. You could end up buying a diamond in the rough or it could just end up being a total pain & sound poor.
Sorry if some of the above is slightly off topic but I thought some of it was valid.
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Last Edit: Nov 19, 2020 23:26:54 GMT by Laters
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Oct 25, 2020 18:02:57 GMT
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I fitted a pair of Moog lower arms to our 106 from ECP about 4 years ago with no issues.
Wanted a pair of lower arms and lower ball joints for our Honda. Went to Honda who were happy to supply the lower arms, for silly money that is, but would only sell the lower ball joint as part of a assembly which would make a already expensive job stupid. Got some Moog lower ball joints from ecp & fitted them, quite why Honda UK wont sell just the ball joint is beyond me. As the lower arms from ECP were also a silly price for brand I didn't know got some cheapo ones online. They looked the same but the taper where the ball joint fits was all wrong allowing the ball joint too far through. They got sent back & got a refund. ECP had a offer on which made the Moog lower arms for the Honda the same price I paid for the cheapo ones. So far so good but will see how they go.
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Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Insurance advice please Laters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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Oct 24, 2020 20:05:42 GMT
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Car insurance can be a right pain you have my sympathy Dan. I had a load of issues with one of the specialist insurers when I had my last kit car. Renewal time had come again & I did the searching around. The specialist insurer gave me a quote that was half what I was paying so went though the car spec and everything again just to be sure. Yep all was good so paid & thought that was that.
Few weeks later they wanted copies of this and that along with a sheet that listed any modifications. thought wanting a list of mods was a bit weird after going through it all twice already.
A week later gets a letter saying they wanted almost the premium again or they would stop the insurance. Thats just what they did and wanted to withhold 75% of the premium despite them knowing the spec when the policy was taken out. Eventually they refunded me but wasn't quick or easy.
My only experience with Lancaster insurance was when I got a quote off them for my car. It was renewal time and thought I would see if I could get it cheaper as Lancaster insurance were doing a load of sponsoring etc at the time.
The quote they came back with was a bit more expensive than current insurer, footman james, but wouldn't give me the same level of cover plus no salvage/buyback options if worst should happen. Told Lancaster insurance at the time of the quote no thanks and the reasons why.
Despite that they continued to ring, send text messages & emails for a good week or two after. I decided to give them a miss after that as told them everytime they rang no thanks and the reasons.
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Last Edit: Feb 9, 2021 18:56:29 GMT by Laters
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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What's on your radar?Laters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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For me there have always been a short list of cars that are high on my list. Most I have owned one or more at some point. I have always liked the Scimitar GTE & after owning a few know they all tend to have their issues and are a marmite car with people either loving them or hating them but have had pretty much every different model of scimitar now so wont be getting another. Another that I have owned a few of are the W202 C class Mercedes. Owned a C200, C280 and a C250td. Would love another at some point as I think they are a highly underrated car & in a lot of ways more Mercedes than any of the C classes that have followed. I always wanted a XR2 in my younger days but could just never afford the insurance costs when the cars were new/current. Did manage to buy a XR2 before the prices started to go skyward but it wasn't a great example & rust soon got the better of it. I would have another but with the prices thats unlikely. Would still love a Peugeot 309 GTI as a weekend plaything. Back in the day bought a 309 diesel as a daily runaround as was doing quite high mileage. Fitted it with Koni uprated suspension & lowered the rear torsion bars. Made for quite a fun but economical car. Wasn't that quick but once upto speed could be hustled along at a surprising rate. I moved jobs and wasn't doing anywhere near the same mileage so the diesel economy wasnt that important. Bought a 309GTI locally that had quite tired suspension. Swapped the Koni's from the diesel 309 to the GTI & it transformed the car. Why I sold the 309GTI I will never know. Didn't need the money at the time and had the space to keep it too. Would love another but way prices are going can't see that happening.
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Last Edit: Jul 30, 2022 12:17:26 GMT by Laters
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Mercdans W202 mercedesLaters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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Oct 21, 2020 20:37:40 GMT
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I will get another W202 C class at some point without much doubt but need to get the current car sorted & done first so I don't have so many projects on the go at once.
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Last Edit: Feb 9, 2021 18:57:49 GMT by Laters
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Mercdans W202 mercedesLaters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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Oct 21, 2020 19:13:34 GMT
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I really do need to stop looking as there is the white one above which I really like & there is this one. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-C280-Saloon/114431898473?hash=item1aa4ac3369:g:OtIAAOSwVOBfcL~JIf that mileage is correct that has to be one of the lower mileage W202 left & it would be a shame to use it with that low a mileage. Silly money though. I really miss my C class & as much as our current car is a really good car there is something about the merc W202's.
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Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Mercdans W202 mercedesLaters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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Oct 21, 2020 18:24:21 GMT
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Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 123
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Mercdans W202 mercedesLaters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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Glad you bought that W202 Dan as every time I came on here I was looking at it. if it hadn't been down the other end of the country...
Another nice looking Merc.
I really wish I hadn't sold my W202 c250td. By far one of my better cars. The C220 and C200 (both w202) were good cars but the c250td was the better by far.
Tetleysmooth I sold a W202 to buy a CRV, very similar to yours and the same colour, as a in-between car while I decided what I really wanted. Six years later the CRV is still here as it just does everything so well. Pretty much perfect family duty hack about. Only downside to the CRV is its drinking around town is a little heavy but other than that another good car.
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Last Edit: Oct 19, 2020 9:16:40 GMT by Laters
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
Garage Queen, 1987 Quantum Saloon
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