Damn vehicle heard you and now it's going to get even.

You know I was very careful not to mention the word selling around her for fear of this! But maybe they can sense these things? What a b%)&& though I just bought her a new vac pump! These things can act like girl friends sometimes!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Hattie, When was the last service done on your tranny? Have you had it worked on before? Are the clutches slipping? Gotta remember most chevy's, fords, chrysler's and Japaneese vehicles would just won't go when the clutches burn up.

I just changed the fluid a few thousand miles ago, I know the front seal is leaking and the rear seal was dripping a little too.

It slips slightly when it is warm but MB trans can slip a long time. (hopefully!)

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Hattie, I was talking to a friend the other day he was telling me that his transmission in his chevy started slipping and a couple of days later just went out sitting in rush hour traffic here in Austin. Transmissions on MB's seem to be somewhat tolerant of problems. Course that doesn't mean they won't go out. I'm fortunate that my father has a Transmission and Automotive Shop. So, I'm able to work on my car easily. Your repairs seem to be in line with mine. I'm just trying to deal with what's necessary first. Getting my Heater ready for the Winter is my next project. I think along with the Climate Control and most likey the Heater coil. I've got my worked cut out for me. I'm not sure the total dollars on this project yet, expensive that I do know. I bought my Car off of E-Bay for $7k with 130K miles. I lucked out with the car. If I had to do it all over again I would have personally gone and looked at the car with my eyes . It was repainted, although the paint job was done really well. I wonder what I would do if I didn't have this car. I guess I wouldn't have anything to do with my spare time. It's time consuming, but worth it, i'm sure.

Hattie,

Just buy a cheap beater car that you don't care about and Keep the SDL. You love the car and this way you could take your time fixing it. You mentioned doing this a while back. Next time somebody illegally parks in the garage, you can just push them out of the way (just kidding). After you get something else you can take your time and acquire a lot of good quality used parts and take your time replacing things you need.

Plus a lot of the other advice you have is good. You don't need perfection. Make a list, fix the critical safety issues and keep your ears and eyes open for the big stuff. A dented door is not a critical thing. I would not even think about the body until you are sure your mechanical issues are resolved.

I think you said you just had your car aligned and it is still pulling? Take it back to the shop. If they are good, and interested in your future business, they should check it for free.

Keep the faith. We all want you to be a healthy and happy contributor to our forum, not some CAMRY Forum.

__________________
Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles

And, if you sell the car now, Alan wins the race.

Shush! I wasn't gonna tell him that until AFTER he sold it! :p

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Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles

Come on, you know your not going to sell the SDL...you love it to much. After all those hours you spend, you practically know that car inside out. Besides, you can't chicken out of a race

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2002 G500 74K
1998 E300 200K and rising
1995 S600 73k


"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering
if they've made a difference. The Marines don't
have that problem."-Ronald Reagan

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them
what to do and they will surprise you with their
ingenuity."-General George S. Patton

I almost forgot I can't sell it until I beat Alan! :p

My game plan so far is to get another Japanese car, I don't have a spare $2k around now but next spring I will start looking. With these cars if you don't need them everyday repairs can be much much cheaper because you can play with it and think about it for awhile. I will probably get like a Civic or Corolla something dirt cheap to run and let the crazy drivers of New Haven smash up. Also in a year or two I would like to change schools so I can live on campus and I really don't want to put my SDL threw that! My Uncle goes to dealer auctions all of the time and finds some awsome deals I bet I can get a lot of Honda for my money!

Another aspect to this is if my SDL is totaled I am screwed out of a lot of money. I may need to look into a classic car agreed value policy for it.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

If you sold it before I had a chance to beat you fair and square, it would eat at you for the rest of your life. Come, remember what is important in life

__________________
Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles

Yeah I couldn't give up the sweet taste of victory when my odo rolls over 250k!

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Hey you two, I'm still in this fight too. I'm just not doing very well since the odometer stuck turning 220,000 Sat. nite. May try to pull the cluster and fix it tonight. Bought some super glue.....

my .02 --
don't buy a beater, then you will start to work on that.. !

don't sell the sdl.
a wise man said to me here here once "nothing will cost you more than to get rid of a car you love"

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

I mean a beater I can run for nothing like my Camry I should have kept. I can buy a Civic/Saturn with 100k on it and just do basic crap then dump it at 150k.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200