I'm still a few years short of 50, or whatever is the new 40 these days, and I'm generally immune to such uncomfortable-looking stuff as Morgans and MX5s. But I was in the MB showroom with the Beestlings the other day, waiting to collect the LEC after its service. They kept us waiting quite a while, and there's only so much coffee even I can drink, so Beestling Major and I explored the showroom stock.
After trying an A and a GLA (which I'd not even heard of before - X1 competitor, I suppose) and finding them short of space and charm - I was ready to return to the sofas when I heard, "Dad, come and try this!" The boy was in the red leather right-hand seat of a black SL350; I got in next to him and now...
...I want one! Not in black, of course - Palladium Silver would be about right - but the red leather is spot-on. And the interior layout - naff silver dials apart - felt just perfect. And there's room for me. It's even (almost) sensible, if it can achieve anything like its 38mpg Combined figure. Just the thing to trundle Mrs Beest and me down to Languedoc for the summer. One day. £77,000 though - wonder what a year-old one would be.
There was an SLK (250 CDI, would you believe!) next to it, which felt like a very pale Sharon-from-Marketing imitation. Not even as nice inside as the base-model C200 I'd had for the day. Has to be the big one for me.
Now go on - laugh, point. I can take it.
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It's not a crisis dear boy, it's an opportunity.
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What part of Languedoc?-I trundle down there two or three times a year!My midlife is well past!
Last edited by: jc2 on Sun 20 Apr 14 at 14:01
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Just get an LEC with a sunroof. And a bigger engine.
;-)
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What part of Languedoc? x2?
I spend 5 months a year here (34)..... For the £77k you could find yourself a (small) village house!
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Sun 20 Apr 14 at 15:43
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>> What part of Languedoc? x2?
>>
>> I spend 5 months a year here (34)..... For the £77k you could find yourself
>> a (small) village house!
When I first went there,£77K would have bought a whole village! in Herault(34).
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Ask Autotrader and ye shall receive.
Well, a bit more than a year old...
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201402262084489
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I share your like of them WDB. But I'd always suspect one would look too much like aspiring cast members for Hart to Hart.
You'd definitely need a polo neck and a sports jacket.
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Sorry for the drift, but returning to the recent theme of cars and clothes - a comment from my wife yesterday, 'you'll have to try and dress a bit smarter now you've got a Mercedes, otherwise people will think you've nicked it'.....
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50 isn't even middle-aged these days.
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Got those! Tortoiseshell sunglasses? Not yet but it wouldn't take much. (Persol look nice.) Hair à la Bobby Ewing circa 1982? Hmm, that may take a little more effort.
Languedoc? No regular spot (Charente Maritime is our favourite for that) but we've stayed near Lodève before and took a long detour last year from Hautes Pyrénées to Clermont Ferrand just so we could cross the Millau bridge. (They'd been surveying for it when we were there before.) Could happily go there again; something very calming about having wine and olives on the doorstep.
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My neighbour is off to try one of those GLAs next week....
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Has to be the current one, Cranks. Aluminium body plus clever engine equals an extra 10 official mpg - 37 is about what I get from the diesel LEC. More room inside too - than the old one, not the LEC!
There do seem to be a few 2012-13 SL350s in the £40-50,000 range, which suggests that this is one model one really doesn't buy new. Unless one really is Robert Wagner, of course.
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Bloke I worked with ran a V8 500 followed by a V6 350. He retired and now drive an E class convertible 350 CDi.
Some of the bills he had for the SL and fixing rattles behind the dash (£1500) and an issue with the roof mechanism will make you cry.
Last edited by: gmac on Sun 20 Apr 14 at 17:56
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Pal of mine has an SL 350 in silver. I have no idea of its age because it is on private plates, but it is a lovely thing. Perfect for cruising but not for press on motoring along twisties. At least, not in my hands. I only drove it once, for a short distance, and it seemed enormous compared to my 3 series. I still prefer his Boxster S, which was on an '05 plate and now sold. A different beast altogether which brought out the devil in me.
Last edited by: legacylad on Sun 20 Apr 14 at 23:29
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I've only driven an SL round the Brooklands track, but they look more of a wafted than a driver to me, and an LEC would do the same job 90% of the time. My MLC was cured by a Boxster S!
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My MLC was cured 1.Large motorcycle and 2.Kitcar-Seven lookalike with Triumph 2-litre six.
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In my mid-life I had two E class covertibles but they were underpowered for all the weight they had to drag around - very solid and minimal scuttle shake buit only a 2.2 engine. There was a 3 litre which out of my price range. Then I had a 320 SL, on an "R" plate whch was very nice but had to go when I needed to buy a house! Then I had an assortment of tat and my late-life crisis is a 2 ltr CC03 Focus convertible which got the neighbours giggling but does the biz when then the sun and temperature are up. Reliable in a year of ownership and 35 mpg driven gently.
Last edited by: Meldrew on Mon 21 Apr 14 at 08:51
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My first MLC (mine are recurring) was in '97. Divorce, house gone, half the business gone, half of remaining half the house gone in pension settlement with ex. Went to Peru to escape reality (where I met a gorgeous American girl) then on return my long awaited R reg Elise was finally delivered. Not looked back since. Long may it continue, but the Boxster is an itch that needs constant scratching. Just a 3 year old base model would do me fine whilst I still have most of my faculties.
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Was in my friend's C63 estate today. For the love of Christ it's fast...( well, y'know, nearly 69mph was achieved on the motorway and nearly 59mph on some nsl A roads in a safe and controlled manner naturally )
;-)
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Yup. Nice snorting monster for the breaded individual. Isn't there a smaller body you can squeeze that engine into? Faux-rough paint job with areas of primer, ooh yeah...
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Quite noisy though at times. Missed fairly key elements of this lunchtime's Archers as a result unfortunately.
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>> Quite noisy though at times.
And thirsty at those same times... acceleration is addictive but only up to a point surely? I'm sure the thing can be rowed rapidly along without much noise at all.
I know it's just the cooking version but a friend's 500 is virtually inaudible.
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When I was 60 I sold the 1926 Bullnose Morris we had for 9 years, but a year later my wife expressed an interest in having another open car.
Second midlife crisis.
Looked at MGBs, MX5s, even a Spitfire.
Then found Smart Roadsters.
Had one for 7 years now-The most fun you can have with yr clothes on (unquote Woody Allen from somewhere)
Did not tell daughters, thinking when they saw it the response would be "Cool, car Dad"
Actual response-"How can you get out of it?"
Answer-Put rug on floor outside door and fall out.
I'll keep it until that is what I have to.
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If you're interested, I received an email yesterday from DSG Auto Contracts offering a C63 estate for £459 + VAT a month on a 6+23 10,000 mile pa contract :-)
And I'm sure at 59/69 mph the fuel economy would hit mid twenties to the gallon, so only half that of a 250 CDI ;-)
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Ah, well, now, then, 10,000 pa?
Might be a bit of a problem that ! I still seem to manage the wrong side of 30,000 pa...
I'm sure our now hyphenated erstwhile contributor would say it could be run on Camping Gaz or something mind which would make it feasible to nudge it up to 75mph or so...
I think in fairness the speedo may have ever so briefly registered that today as the needle passed by... I was too busy in the passenger seat involuntarily screaming to be totally accurate about the statistics.
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I collected the 59 plate A3 Sportback 1.6 Tdi toy thingy today. Keeping it a few days because Herman is having an Inspection 2 service by a friend, so gf's daughter is having to wait a while.
Ex lease job, nicely valeted with all service records.complete, plus a print out of service costs to date. They had put in half a tank of diesel, which might get it to Timbuktu. And back. An unexpected bonus on this comfortable riding SE version were heated seats and a hands free Parrot. And reversing sensors. What's the point of those then? It's doesn't have a large projecting boot for Pete's sake. And tax is only £30 a year, less than a round of drinks in some bars I know.
But. It has skinny little Michelin Primacy tyres on skinny little wheels. A skinny little steering wheel with very light steering. Not enough oomph to get past a row of artics, only 5 forward gears and the horse count only just makes it into three figures. The stop/ start is novel and build quality acceptable.
Any chance of a swap with that C63?
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Found I rather liked the stop-start in the C200 CDI loaner I had last week - and only partly because it gave some relief from the awful racket of the engine.
After a little practice it was easy to 'drive around'. I remember ST here telling a story of when one cut out on him at a junction, just when he needed it to keep going so he could maintain his position in the traffic flow, but I found I could make it do this by keeping the pressure on the brake pedal light. It would eventually stop anyway after a few seconds of this, but I would still have had time to nip into a gap at a mini-roundabout, say. Generally a pretty well implemented idea, I thought.
Will be interested in your experience (even if at one remove) with the A3. A Sportback looks like a good candidate to replace the S60 some time reasonably soon.
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My slightly derogatory remarks about the A3 Sportback were very much TIC. After 5 years, and counting, with my 330 ragtop it was like comparing apples & oranges.
The ride in SE trim is far more comfortable than that of two friends who have the S Line variants. Build quality and general cabin ambience are excellent, even more so in the 'new' A3. Not a squeak or rattle anywhere, practical, very economical, good residuals. What's not to like.
I bought mine from JCT 600 Contracts at the end of its lease period. They have a website with an ever changing list of ex lease vehicles which are on sale to the public before they are sent to auction. Overall, in the hundred miles I drove it, the car has impressed. And you can always turn off the stop/ start easily enough. I left it on.
But I would still prefer a C63, although an S4 Avant is more realistic to replace the BM.
Last edited by: legacylad on Fri 25 Apr 14 at 06:59
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>> What's not to like.
The cambelt.
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I reckon a debate on the automotive response to a midlife crisis that ends up with the relative merit of an Audi A3 is itself a symptom of incipient MLC. I had mine years ago (the MLC) and the results - SWMBO and the 6-litre XJS convertible - are still with me, I'm pleased to say.
And what's a hands free parrot? Aren't they all? I tried googling...
Last edited by: Mike Hannon on Fri 25 Apr 14 at 07:18
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The A3 doesn't strike me as much of an MLC car, Mike. What am I missing?
The Saab 900 Ruby Edition I mentioned the other day, though. Well! I showed it to Mrs Beest last weekend and she admired it too. Only 150 produced, I now know, all for the UK, and presumably diminished in numbers by now. A good one probably wouldn't depreciate now - but then nor, practically, does the S60 it would have to replace.
28 mpg, though. And probably more to insure. And the Volvo's great and a well-known quantity, even if I'm ready for something newer. Or ten years older! So, would you?
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You aren't (or wouldn't be) missing anything with an A3.
Yes, go for it. You only regret the road you didn't take...
Last edited by: Mike Hannon on Fri 25 Apr 14 at 09:42
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>>So, would you?
>>
Absolutely, Yes!
Side note... a C63 roared (and i mean ROARED!) passed me this morning. Wonderful sound.
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Midlife crisis ahoy! - Robin O'Reliant
