Out here in the West where the crazies live,you learn to observe people in order to survive. New Yorkers are a gregarious bunch compared to Californians. My point with the paycheck and job description was to actually create a "barometer". His occupation and income level combined would caution me about the car receiving proper maintenance. My first thoughts would be that he doesn't know how to or care to work on cars. If he doesn't have the income to keep an S class serviced, there may be some missed maintenance. I never intended to attack anyone's income; I'm looking at the situation from the perspective of buying an expensive car that wasn't maintained. I'm only generalizing. If the owner lays a complete maintenance history folder on the table, or is a very good DIY, there is no problem. I still would highly recommend having the car checked by a professional. I can't count the times over the years that someone would call to tell me they bought a car over the weekend. Lot's of times it worked out well for me. Those cars brought thousands of extra dollars into the shop in order to catch up on neglected repairs and maintenance.
Good luck,
Peter

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