Contrary to popular belief price has nothing to do with the quality of the car. I saw my 1999 S320 listed on the internet at a local BMW dealership for $5400 under book value. I went to see the car fully expecting the car to be in average to rough condition and have mechanical issues. Much to my surprise the car was in perfect condition mechanically and cosmetically with full books and records. I test drove the car and bought it. The dealer's lot was full of used cars including five 220 body S class cars that had been traded in. The dealer was able to eliminate a car taking up space on their lot for a price higher than a wholesaler would have paid for the car. A win win situation for both of us. They could have asked a higher price if they wanted to but they were looking to get rid of the car quickly.

When buying any used car its imperative that you evaluate the car based on the car itself. Price is not always a true indicator of condition or value. Condition is also a very subjective thing. While one person may think nothing about some minor interior issues another person might be very uncomfortable with it.

It is somewhat unreasonable to expect a cosmetically perfect car thats over 20 years old. I consider my 24 year old 300SD to be in great shape but its no where near the car that was delivered to the original owner 24 years ago. Even though my SD is in great shape I would never use the terms that the seller used to describe my car as they are misleading. The only way to use those terms on a 20 year old car is to have had a very expensive restoration done to the car. The entire price you paid for your ebay car would not even cover 1/2 of just the parts for an interior restoration.

Not to say such a car does not exist at that price. There are a lot of old ladys that are selling their recently deceased husbands beloved Mercedes and have no idea of its value or just want rid of it. A car like that would be snapped up in a hearbeat by the ebay vultures and fetch top dollar.

I've got a rust free TD so not necessarily true. It did have a very tiny rusty spot near the back window of the cargo area but we took the window out, cut out the affected area and welded a new piece of steel back in. That was the only spot on the whole car. Wasn't really an issue because it was repaired before it got to be.

If you pay with paypal you can file with them and, in most cases, get your money back so long as the item was totally misrepresented in the listing which yours was. "As is" doesn't apply to paypal. The listing HAS to be accurate. You will not recoup shipping costs. Too late for you to do so now since you sold it. Might want to check with members here before you hastily sell!

I recently bought a truck from a dealer on ebay. Very honest dealer and a great experience. Should anyone want his sellers ID, pm me. He does get an occasional MBZ but will only buy clean ones. And no, I have no affiliation with him whatsoever other than a superior ebay experience.

The feedback system on ebay sucks. Retaliation is rampant. But I would leave the guy a neg anyway. Ebay can and will remove it from your feedback because it will be obvious retaliation. You have to warn others of whom they're possibly dealing with. What good is the feedback if you don't use it honestly. You can monitor the length of time that has passed since the transaction and leave a neg right at the 90 day mark. That way the seller might not notice until its too late to retaliate.

Cheers,

Bill