But, the hood and left fender were badly damaged by hurricane debris. It did not get flood damaged. Unrelated, the timing chain jumped several months later and the car is in need of major engine overhaul.

I was visiting my indy mechanic on a completely unrelated issue and he asked how my 300e is serving me. I complemented his efforts (flawless work) and mentioned that I'd like another w124, 300e sometime next year.

The mechanic then mentioned the 420 SEL in his garage and the owner (one-owner vehicle) has decided he doesn't want to spend $3k to repair the engine and is abandoning it. The indy doesn't know the owner other than he has already bought a new replacement M-B. The mechanic is thinking about buying the 420 from the owner and fixing it for sale and asked if I were interested.

He said that if he had a fairly good idea that I'd be interested that he'd undertake the engine repair on the hope, but not expectation that I would buy it next year. He said he'd sell it for minimum of $8k or so, depending on how much work was required.

What do you folks think of the car (opinion of the 420 SEL);

What do you think of his offer;

Should I respond favorably or should I be totally non-committal?

Botnst