LAND YACHT
WE’VE DONE A FEW LITTLE JOBS, BUT SO FAR THE LUXO BARGE HAS PROVED TO BE GREAT BANG FOR THE BUCK
HAVE YOU ever noticed that, when you buy a car, it seems to attract others of the same model? You wouldn’t have thought long-wheelbase S-class W126 Benzes were thick on the ground, but apparently they are.
This issue’s Reader Resto features one, at the other end of the sales catalogue from my base-model 300SEL – it’s a 560. I spotted it on social media, and you can see the rest of the stor y a few pages back. Now I seem to trip over them ever y where, including the local ser vo.
In any case, 18 months after spending the princely sum of $ 8000 (thanks to our resident wheeler-dealer Uncle Phil) we’re getting along famously. It was in great shape when I bought it. With a relatively recent engine top-end and transmission freshen-up, its biggest issue was lack of use. We soon fixed that with a new fuel filter and decent gallop from Melbourne to Canberra and back, via Cooma.
The three-litre si x is ultra-solid and punts the big car along okay, but you would never mistake it for being fast. A long wheelbase means it rides brilliantly, while offering ample room for four sixfooters.
What about downsides? There are surprisingly few. The tacho wasn’t working, so I dropped in on Frank at Avanti Auto Electrics in sunny Melbourne. He quickly had the cluster f lipped out and discovered the issue was in the instrument itself, rather than a power
feed. For t he time being, I’ve decided to live wit hout it. Maybe one day we’ll pull it out and get it rebuilt.
By far the most annoying issue wasn’t the fault of t he car. We were recent ly doing a road trip to Khancoban with a few mates and pulled up in Corr yong for supplies. While we were away from the Benz, some clow n decked a rear door, leav ing an annoying crease in an awkward spot above the handle. Bugger!
Since t he rest of t he it is prett y well-presented, I couldn’t let t his one go and ca lled in a mobile painter. Young Adam did the honours and started by pulling out t he dent as
"WHEN YOU SPEND $8000 ON A CAR YOU EXPECT THE BEST"
fa r as possible. Given f i l ler tends to shrink over time, he says it’s best to minimise it.
The actua l paint code for Impala Brown took a litt le searching on the web, and t hen it was out wit h t he drop sheets and spray guns. All up it was a ver y good result, costing in t he region of $ 500.
Next was the air conditioning, which was losing its charm just as summer hit – of course ! Call another mobile outf it, which confirmed the system was sea ling f ine. They recovered t he old gas, injected t he new and charged something around $150.
Next? Well t he insulation under the bonnet decided to let go on a recent t rip. It unceremoniously collapsed on top of t he engine, producing a ll sorts of interesting smells. It was too far perished to even contemplate re-insta lling,
and so muggins started the hunt for a replacement. One of our advertisers, Truf it, does a self-adhesive solution for $129. Excellent – another issue easily solved.
Fina lly, we were getting some annoying v ibration from the chassis when rolling down t he freeway. Off to t he nearest t y re shop, which charged $120 for a wheel rotation, balance and alignment. That was money well spent. The v ibes are gone and t he steering feels a touch sharper.
Fortunately t he only ot her issue we’ve addressed is a replacement muff ler, and t he costs for t hat was fa r from outrageous. Really, t he car has so far been cheap and low-stress to own. It’s a lso proven to be trust worthy on long trips and the comfort factor means it’s t he go-to solution for a long haul.
Then again, when you spend $ 8000 on a car, you expect the best…