My take on really good car for long trips would be an S series benz. I drove to Colorado and back this past July 4th week. Covered 1250 miles in 22 hours, all in one sitting. No sore butt, cold air and other than having to stay awake, not too tired after the trip. Got back home to Seattle in 18.79 hours, same route. This was in the 2002 S430.
The #1 boy got his 92 300SE back in shape, so it is road worthy. That thing has ICE cold air. A major surprise to me in how quickly nipples become glass cutters in that thing. Comfortable seats that would be great for long trips as well. For a 20 year old car, the passengers must have been tiny chinese dames, as there is no wear on the leather and seats are pretty close to factory plumpness and spring. YMMV, but the benz seems to hold up well if treated relatively well. Quality between the w140 and the w220 is noticeable. Far less oriental cheapness in the older model. Both cars came in well under $20k. Both would be a really nice #2 condition at sale. clay 2002 s430 - Victor, a Stately & well tailored chap 1974 450sl - Frosch - Two tone green 1972 220D - Gump - She was green, simple and ran 1995 E300D - Gave her life to save me against a Dame in a SUV POS 1987 SDL - Beware Nigerian Scammers On Aug 31, 2013, at 12:07 PM, Gerry Archer wrote: > Okay, you convinced me. What's the best riding, best seated car for long > trips that can be bought for around $25K or less? > Also, which company has the most reasonably priced parts? Coldest air > conditioning? > Also, what's a SanGauge? Internet turns up nothing related to car repair. > Gerry > > From: "Curt Raymond" <curtlud...@yahoo.com> > I think that argument (which goes back a long time) is a waste of breath. > I've got a 2003 Ranger - zero electronics failures. My '96 Dodge Dakota had > the oil pressure sender fail, cheap easy fix. My '88 GMC - zero electronics > failures. My wife's '91 Ford Tempo used to have ignition controller failures > every 25,000 miles or so. It was a simple fix, you were supposed to buy a > special tool but I modified an 8mm socket to fit. I think the controller was > $25 or $30... > > Everybody says "you can't work on cars anymore" which is ever so much bunk. > Sure you need a SanGauge or VAG-COM but its really just a special wrench. > > > -Curt > > > Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 17:22:11 -0400 > From: "Gerry Archer" <arche...@embarqmail.com> > To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Subject: [MBZ] New car expensive parts. was: my kinda car > Message-ID: <4358D89CC73B456293E2FF9CE93C0BF4@PC466116028214> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; > reply-type=original > > What's the aftermarket parts situation on Japanese cars, Gary? Which model > has the largest "installed base"? Camry? Accord? Civic? ???? > One disturbing factor about new and initially less troublesome cars is the > cost of the electronic modules that seem to run everything; engine, > transmission, etc., etc. If cheaper aftermarket modules were available for > when the car gets a few years older, I'd probably buy a new, trouble free > car primarily for the purpose of making out-of-county trips. These old > Mercedes are great locally, but a breakdown on a long trip could get very > expensive with days in a motel. > Gerry > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.2242 / Virus Database: 3222/6125 - Release Date: 08/30/13 > > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
