W116's are becoming more socially acceptable

[Big_Richard]

wow, thats nuts!

i'd never take some random in my car, you never know if they're going to pull out a knife or a gun etc...

[MB_Mike]

I am SO glad I revisited this post to see that you tube vid!!! Hilarious!!! I'm with Calvin and want to know how you ever found a video like that?

[oscar]

Honestly, I've got no idea how I came across that video first time round.  I linked it first time round a few years back and think I probably stumbled across it when looking up some funny "Lynx Effect" or "Axe Effect" adverts.  I tried to find it again and couldn't.  In the end I had to search the old post that had a link to the video.

wow, thats nuts!

i'd never take some random in my car, you never know if they're going to pull out a knife or a gun etc...

Yeah but with a dog that size in the front seat, no one's gonna try anything stupid.   

Last time I picked up a random was 6 or 7 years back, this fella carrying two bags of shopping, middle of summer, asked for a lift.  I felt sorry for him, thought why the hell not plus it's on my way home.  Small town of 28k people, no probs till we had an argument/discussion about how stop signs v's give way signs work.  From then on I vowed never to pick anyone else up unless they're Euro backpackers....and female.  boom chicka wow wow

[KenM]

Squiggle mate, you gotta relocate man before it's too late....

[Squiggle Dog]

Squiggle mate, you gotta relocate man before it's too late....

I'm thinking sunny, dry, and rural Southwest USA sounds good. Trying to convince my roommate that there are better places to live than here, but this is all he knows and thinks that everywhere is the same. He grew up in a house a few blocks away and never left the state until he was older, and had to stop across the state border in Portland for a work meeting or something.

I actually moved here from Utah, which is made up mostly of small towns, and people are neighborly and friendly. I moved to Tacoma because I couldn't find a job that paid much more than $5 an hour and needed a place to live.

Imagine my shock on the first week when a dude starts chasing after me on my bicycle and asks if I had any cigarettes, then when I tell him no he starts getting agitated and yells, "Don't get mad at me! Don't get mad at me!" then looks back behind him, runs into the road, trips, and falls on his face and lays in the road, blocking traffic. Then at the intersection down the road, two kids lift a homeless Vietnam veteran holding up a sign off of his wheelchair and steal it (we have beggars holding signs at nearly every intersection).

Anyway, back to W116s--it's funny how people think they are such expensive cars. People see mine and say "Dang, what do you do for a living?" They don't know how inexpensively they can be purchased. They also say, "Ugh, parts for that must cost a fortune!" Then they tell me how much they have to pay for parts for their newer domestic cars. People see these cars today and still think "money".

[Tony66_au]

My car never leaves home without a compliment from some total stranger - especially when they realise the age of the car.

On a personal level - I was a penniless student living over the back fence from the local Mercedes Agent when the 116 first arrived and I remember standing in absolute awe as they drove in and out.

I was a penniless young country doctor (well not as penniless as in 1972) in 1978 watching the farmers driving around in their 280 and 450's.

I remember being totally gobsmacked when I first rode in the then brand new 126 380 and later that year in a 500 but for some reason in my old cars I have stuck with the 116.

The 116 is now becoming old enough that the good ones are interesting again just like the 108 went from old to interesting and the 126's seem to be fading faster than the 116 did.

A W116 is probably easier to maintain than either a 108 or a 126 - even the 6.9 once you get it sorted.

Bill

Bill re the 126's mate, I have a fair few people just drop in when I have the 116's parked in the house paddock as I usually take the time to organise a tasteful arrangement lol.

And more recently Ive had 4 or 5 126 owners pull up to ask questions, see if they are for sale and talk about their cars and all of them without fail have asked in a roundabout fashion if they could have a look at the cars up close and sit in them (You cant get to the cars unless you come through the garage or brave a very very hot electric fence.)

Their impressions and comments always show an admiration for the 116, envy of the chrome and body style of  the 126 predecessor.. Mention the 6.9 which most are unaware of and you suddenly have their full attention.

I sat on one guys 300SEL and was talking about the one I had in the 90's while quietly noting the enormous differences in style, form and function as id suspect do the 126 owners who seat themselves in either of the 450's, even the guy who had his wife with him who voiced that perhaps he should sell his 126 and find a 116 as she felt "Safer" agreed that they had a certain gravitas to them that the later example did not possess.

For me its a style choice, very much down to personal taste and im now glad I didn't buy the 560SEL I nearly bought and picked up the Brown 450 instead.

Tony

[Big_Richard]

I know, shock horror, i may offend some people with what im about to say, but . . . . 

The w126 poor quality interior plastics remind me of an EA falcon. (biggest p.o.s. in recent aus history)

they seem to even offer the same grey colour scheme.

Having driven Nathans 500 before he wrecked it, EA FALCON came to mind instantly, ie, BORING, ship like handling.

If they float your boat, thats all well and good for you, but they certainly do nothing for me... 

[TJ 450]

Early W126s in particular, are at the bottom of the cycle... Few people want them, and they are being scrapped. One day though, they might become desirable, but the build quality is not quite up to the standard of the 116 I'm afraid. Due to the use of more plastics, interior parts break and are quite fragile, centre consoles delaminate among other things.

The 116 was built at a special time in the history of Mercedes-Benz.

Tim

Edit; Posted before reading MT's post.

[Casey]

And yea, running a "recycled" benz on bio makes a LOT more sense than a Prius 

Driving a Ford Edsel makes more sense than a Prius.

[Casey]

Anyway, back to W116s--it's funny how people think they are such expensive cars. People see mine and say "Dang, what do you do for a living?" They don't know how inexpensively they can be purchased. They also say, "Ugh, parts for that must cost a fortune!" Then they tell me how much they have to pay for parts for their newer domestic cars. People see these cars today and still think "money".

True.  It's funny really, because I've never driven a car for image.  I just like safety and reliability and overall sensibility.  But people make remarks to me if I mention my car like "it's not just a car, it's a Benz" (you can practically hear the capital 'B' roll off their voice).  When people hear I have five of them, their eyes nearly pop out of their heads.

Strangely, it's not helping attract any 18 to 24 year old girls who want "rides".  What part of town do I need to be in for this?

[Casey]

Today, they are the last Mercedes sedan with steel bumpers and nothing can beat that.

Not quite, don't forget the W123's.

[Casey]

Since buying my '78 280SE almost four years ago, I've seen three other ones in the Dallas, Texas, area, and I drive a lot. One blue, one silver, and one white, none of them a diesel. That's it. Not much for a metro area of probably close to a million people.

Commuting back and forth with lots of traffic destined for Washington, DC, I've seen ONE other W123 (a 300D turbo) on the road, and met the driver one day at the local junk yard as we wanted parts from the same 280CE.  I have never seen another W116 driving (and only one parked, where it hasn't moved for many months).

Sure do see a lot of Prius's though.

[Casey]

and then the film, featuring Squiggle Dawg himself 

Damn there's those girls needing rides again.  I need to find me some of these.

[WGB]

I didn't know you were into dogs Raptelan

Bill

[Mforcer]

Today, they are the last Mercedes sedan with steel bumpers and nothing can beat that.

Not quite, don't forget the W123's.

I could never forget about the W123, being just smaller W116 , but I did forget that they were being made up to 1985.

Perhaps I should have said last S-Class with steel bumpers