Post
by petefarrell360 » 06 Jan 2007 01:15 pm
As with anything, things do go wrong, or wear, etc, but luckily for the 300, you can often do it yourself, and fairly cheaply. Once you've done most service items on your car, you know it better, know it's been done, and when it will need doing again. Only as you get to know a car will you find out what it's really like, and how it's been cared for in the past. As problems start presenting themselves, if you do them all you know it'll be ok in the future and that that part has now been replaced, and slowly it'll reduce the amount of things likely to go wrong! You could pick another more expensive car up that goes wrong instantly and in a big way, some things are down to luck.
It's like my van, when I bought that, someone had clearly not serviced or maintained it that well. I've spent a fair bit of time, and quite a bit of money on parts and consumables, but after a good service, and sorting the problems it's now still a cost effective but reliable vehicle. As Foggy pointed out in one post, filling the fuel tank each time is often more than a 300 is worth in a bad condition! Insuring a car, it's a lot of money with very little physical return if you don't need to claim, servicing etc makes sense!
With regards to the rotten chassis rails, how bad are they? A good welder can sort those for you. It won't be pennies if it's done properly, but if you intend keeping the car and need another MOT, it's worthwhile.
Trust us, once you've found the previous neglect and bodges, sorted them, the problems will slow down and you'll have a cheap, but reliable car!
Pete
G reg 360 GLT, G reg 340 GL Variomatic, plus many more..........