This document governs membership of and participation in classicmercforum.com.au. Registration of an account constitutes acknowledgement of the policy as last revised. Amendments are applied at the administrator's discretion and dated inline. Where this document conflicts with any club's own rules, club rules apply within club subforums and this document applies elsewhere.
§1. Membership eligibility
§1.1 Membership is open to enthusiasts of passenger vehicles manufactured by Daimler-Benz AG, Mercedes-Benz AG, or their successor entities between 1955 and 2000 inclusive. Vehicles outside this range may be discussed where they have attained recognised classic status under §7.
§1.2 Registration is reviewed manually by the administrator. Approval is typically 1 to 2 weeks. Members may read the public forum prior to approval. Members may not post until approved.
§1.3 (Added 2014-04-02) Following correspondence dated 14-03-2021 from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, members may not transact, advertise, or solicit transactions in respect of any vehicle, part, or service through any subforum or private message. The Buy / Sell / Swap archive remains accessible for historical reference only. See §10.
§1.4 The administrator reserves the right to decline a registration without statement of reason. Declined registrations may appeal in writing to admin@classicmercforum.com.au; replies are not guaranteed.
§2. Account behaviour and conduct
§2.1 One account per natural person. Multiple accounts are not permitted. Accounts identified as duplicates are merged at the administrator's discretion; the older account is retained.
§2.2 The username submitted at registration is permanent. Username changes are not granted except in cases of marriage, deed poll, or matters of operational security. Requests citing personal preference are declined.
§2.3 Members shall conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the dignity of the marque. The administrator is the sole arbiter of what constitutes the dignity of the marque.
§2.4 (Amended 2017-06) Disagreement between members regarding mechanical specifications, restoration philosophy, or vehicle valuation does not constitute misconduct. Personal abuse arising from such disagreement does constitute misconduct.
§2.5 Use of the forum to advance commercial interests outside the scope of §1.3 is at the administrator's discretion. Workshops and parts suppliers who post in a technical capacity are not in breach of this clause. Workshops and parts suppliers who post solely to solicit business are.
§3. Posting rules
§3.1 (Original wording, Uncle_Steve, 2008, preserved under §9.4) New members shall introduce themselves in the Introductions subforum prior to posting elsewhere. One post. One photograph. The photograph shall depict the member's vehicle. Members who post elsewhere first are gently redirected.
§3.2 Posts shall remain on topic to the relevant subforum. Off-topic posts may be moved at the administrator's discretion. Members shall not contest moves.
§3.3 Posts in club subforums are restricted to members authenticated for that club. Club authentication is a separate process to general membership and is performed manually by the administrator. See §6.
§3.4 (Amended 2019-08) Cross-posting of the same content to multiple subforums is permitted only in cases of forum-wide relevance, at the administrator's sole discretion. Members are encouraged to PM the administrator before cross-posting. Members are not encouraged to expect a reply within seven days.
§3.5 [redacted 2018-11. No further information is provided in this document.]
§3.6 Third-party personal information posted in error (telephone numbers, residential addresses, registration plates of vehicles not owned by the poster, names of family members) shall be redacted by the administrator on notification. Members are encouraged to re-read their own posts before submission. Members are also encouraged to not have two browser tabs open at 2am.
§4. Mercedes-Benz vehicles only
§4.1 Following the 2011 incident at the Mosman meet, vehicles not manufactured by Daimler-Benz AG, Mercedes-Benz AG, or successor entities shall not be discussed in technical subforums. The 2011 incident is not the subject of further documentation within this policy.
§4.2 Holden, Ford, Toyota, Honda, BMW, and Audi vehicles are not the subject of this forum. References in passing (e.g. "I traded my Commodore for the W126") are permitted. Substantive discussion is not.
§4.3 Diesel-engined Mercedes-Benz vehicles are Mercedes-Benz vehicles for the purposes of this policy. Members who maintain that diesel-engined Mercedes-Benz vehicles are not Mercedes-Benz vehicles are encouraged to reflect on this position.
§4.4 (Amended 2018-04) Restored vehicles built on a genuine Mercedes-Benz chassis with non-Mercedes-Benz coachwork (e.g. the Pinin Farina 230SL re-bodies) may be discussed in the Coachbuilt subforum only. Kit cars built on non-Mercedes-Benz chassis with Mercedes-Benz-styled coachwork are not permitted regardless of quality of execution.
§4.5 AMG-built and AMG-modified Mercedes-Benz vehicles are Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Brabus and similar tuner-built vehicles are permitted for discussion. Members are reminded that "AMG-styled" badging applied to non-AMG vehicles does not retroactively render those vehicles AMG. See the 2014-02 incident.
§5. Photographs
§5.1 One photograph per introductory post. Photographs shall depict the member's vehicle in full, in a state of which the member is not ashamed. Photographs taken at the petrol station are encouraged.
§5.2 Photographs uploaded to the forum shall not depict members' family members, partners, or third parties without their explicit consent. The administrator's interpretation of "consent" is conservative.
§5.3 The Photographs subforum is permanently locked. Photographs may be embedded in technical, club, and introduction posts in accordance with §5.1 and §5.2.
§5.4 (Added 2020-09) Photographs of accidents or accident damage involving members' own vehicles are permitted in the Insurance and Restoration subforums. Photographs of accidents involving other parties' vehicles are not permitted. Photographs of accidents involving other parties' vehicles where the other party is known personally to the poster are emphatically not permitted.
§6. Club authentication
§6.1 Access to a club subforum requires prior admission to the club itself. Each club operates its own admission process. The forum administrator does not admit members to clubs.
§6.2 (Added 2018-07) Authentication of forum accounts to club subforums is confirmed by the relevant club secretary. The member must be known to that club and listed on its current roster. The administrator marks forum access after confirmation.
§6.3 (Added 2019-03) Members who resign from a club following authentication shall have their club subforum access revoked at the next monthly audit. Members who rejoin may request re-authentication via the process at §6.2.
§6.4 Clubs using their own secretary process (MCDA, ACHMLA, ESLCCMC, WWHMCC, WSCMCC) operate authentication via email to the club secretary, who notifies the administrator by separate email. Timing depends on secretary response. Do not chase Lefteris before the club has confirmed you.
§6.5 classicmercforum.com.au is not affiliated with the Mercedes-Benz Club of NSW Inc. Membership of MBC NSW Inc. does not constitute authentication for any club subforum on this website. This clause has been challenged in PM seven times. The clause has not changed.
§7. Vehicle eligibility and classic status
§7.1 Mercedes-Benz vehicles manufactured prior to 31 December 1984 are accepted as classic without further qualification.
§7.2 (Amended 2021-09) Mercedes-Benz vehicles manufactured 1985-2000 inclusive, of the following chassis - W124, W126 (late production, see footnote), W201, R129, W463 (pre-facelift), and C140 - are accepted as classic subject to a 30-day cooling-off period on classic-status debate threads. The administrator may reduce the cooling-off period to 7 days where a thread is otherwise productive.
§7.3 W210 vehicles have been the subject of ongoing classic-status discussion. This discussion is not currently open. (See §7.2.)
§7.4 (Added 2018-04) Mercedes-Benz vehicles manufactured 2001 onwards are not accepted as classic for the purposes of this forum, notwithstanding the position of any state-level Historic Vehicle Scheme on the matter. The administrator is aware that the position of certain HVS bodies differs. The position of this forum has not changed.
§7.5 Where a member's vehicle is registered under a Historic Vehicle Scheme and that vehicle does not meet the classic-status threshold of this forum, the member is welcome on the forum. The vehicle is not the subject of classic-status threads.
§9. The Steve memorial protocol
§9.1 Posts authored by the late Uncle_Steve shall not be edited or deleted by any party including the administrator. This applies in perpetuity.
§9.2 Quotations of Uncle_Steve's posts in subsequent threads shall be preserved in their original wording. Members quoting Uncle_Steve are reminded that the original is the original.
§9.3 The memorial thread in the M.A.L.A.K.A.S. subforum is sticky in perpetuity. The memorial thread is locked to new replies on the date of each anniversary plus seven days, and reopened thereafter for ongoing remembrance.
§9.4 §3.1 of this policy was authored by Uncle_Steve in 2008. It is preserved in his original wording under §9.1. References elsewhere in the policy to "the administrator" in §3.1 refer to the role, not the person; Uncle_Steve held the role until 2014.
§9.5 Members wishing to share photographs of Uncle_Steve at meets, gatherings, or in the workshop are welcome to do so in the memorial thread. Permission was given by his family in 2019.
§10. Buy / Sell / Swap restrictions
§10.1 (Amended 2021-03-15 following ASIC correspondence) Discussion of the sale, advertisement, or solicitation of sale of any vehicle, part, or service is prohibited in all subforums other than the Buy / Sell / Swap archive. The Buy / Sell / Swap archive is closed to new posts.
§10.2 Posts in the Buy / Sell / Swap archive predating the closure date (14-03-2021) remain visible for reference purposes only. No transaction shall be initiated, completed, or settled on the basis of any post within the archive. Members contacting other members via the archive shall be subject to §10.3.
§10.3 Members may not solicit, propose, negotiate, or complete trades of vehicles or parts via private message. Members reported for the same shall have their account suspended pending administrative review. Review timing depends on administrator availability.
§10.4 "I have a spare and I'm not asking for money for it" does not constitute a trade and is not in breach of §10.3, provided no money or other consideration is exchanged. Members are reminded that the regulator does not necessarily agree with this interpretation. The administrator notes the position for the record.
§10.5 (Added 2021-03) Members are reminded that the 2021 ASIC matter concerned representations made in respect of a single 1979 450SLC and the conduct of one member who is no longer with us (in the sense of no longer being a member; he is in good health, in Queensland). It is not necessary to revisit the 2021 ASIC matter on the forum.
§11. Moderation and escalation
§11.1 The administrator (
Lefteris_IT) is the senior moderator. There are no other moderators. There have been no other moderators since 2017. The administrator is not actively recruiting other moderators at the present time.
§11.2 (Amended 2018-07) Material relating to or associated with the user "user_gimpboi" is subject to moderation discretion. Discussion of, references to, quotation of, parody of, or visual reproduction of material associated with this user is moderated under this clause. No further information is provided in this document. Members who were active in 2018 are aware. Members who were not, are not required to be.
§11.3 Moderation actions may be appealed via private message to the administrator. Appeals are reviewed in batches when the administrator has time. Members are not to follow up appeals via additional private messages, posts in unrelated subforums, or messages sent through club channels.
§11.4 (Amended 2021-03-15 following ASIC correspondence) Posts in the Buy / Sell / Swap archive may not be edited by any party including the original poster. Members shall not solicit edits to their own archived posts. Members shall not solicit edits to other members' archived posts. The archive is the archive.
§11.5 (Added 2019-09) In the event that the administrator is unavailable for an extended period, moderation matters shall wait. Members are encouraged to consider whether a moderation matter is genuinely urgent before submitting it during business hours.
§11.6 Disciplinary correspondence not addressed by the above shall be resolved between the affected member and the administrator. Where multiple members are affected, the administrator may convene a discussion at the next M.A.L.A.K.A.S. meet or in a private admin thread. The discussion is not minuted.
§12. Site infrastructure
§12.1 The forum is hosted on a privately maintained local server administered by
Con_K. Uptime is best-effort and may be affected by residential-grade power, ISP maintenance, and unpaid favours from people who know computers.
§12.2 Email originating from admin@classicmercforum.com.au may be received slowly. Bigpond, Optusnet, and certain Gmail rule-sets have flagged this domain at various times since 2014. Members are advised to check their spam folder before reporting non-delivery.
§12.3 In the event that the server is offline, members shall wait. The server will return when the administrator is able to attend to it. Members are not to phone unrelated workplaces, family businesses, or friends of moderators regarding site outages.
§12.4 Backups are performed manually to an external drive kept in a fireproof safe. The frequency of backups is "fortnightly when I remember." Members are advised to retain local copies of any post they would be unhappy to lose.
§12.5 (Added 2020-11) The forum is not for sale. The domain classicmercforum.com.au is not for sale. The administrator does not respond to acquisition enquiries.