Thoughts about this W116? Is there any profit to be made?

[tdoublenastywitit]

FIRSTLY, IF THIS SHOULD BE IN THR CRAIGSLIST ALERT THREAD, PLEASE DELETE

https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/d/1979-mercedes-benz-300sd/6479259186.html

1979 300sd w116, w/ 181k miles. I think the paint in a dark brown/purplish color, unfortunately (in my opinion) not black. From all the pictures and the milage the car seems to be in a well kept condition. It also located in the most wealthy neighborhood of the Seattle area, so I would imagine keeping up with maintenance and etc would have always been no problem financially and most likely up to date always. (Obviously this is a stereotypical assumption)


OK so what I'm wondering is your thoughts on the car firstly. Is this a good deal? What should I be looking for on the test drive? What fails? And how much does it cost to fix the common failures on this car? (I know about the acc2 servo, so no need to mention that) Also, I believe this is Mercedes first try at the om617 turbo diesel, does it have its issues? Power? Reliability? How does it compare to the 1985 617 turbo??


And lastly, if I was able to talk the seller down to $2000 would there still be room for me to make atleast $1000 profit when I flip the car to another buyer. And just to make this question a little easier and for the sake of simplicity, let's just say nothing was wrong with car and I wouldn't have to put any $ into it. So can this car in good running condition & no rust be sold for $3000, $3500, $4000? More? Less? Let's say with in a Month of my posting date.

I don't care what hagerty says, that means absolutely nothing in the real world. I want to know you're guys experience on what the real market value for this car is.


Please, if you think me buying a car just to fix it up and sell it for a profit is unethical or a waste of a Mercedes or whatever it is that gets you blood boiling please hold you tongue and goto another thread.

This is the only way which I can afford to be active in my love for Mercedes and my hobby of working on them and learning about them. I buy them, drive them for a few months, Fix them, drive again for a while, fix them again, and then sell them and that's just what I do, please understand.

[Junkman]

That car looks to be in good shape and the seller didn't really address shortcomings. I'd buy it to drive because it looks like a really good starting point. I wouldn't spend a lot of time trying to flip it.

I never sell a car without completing the title and keeping a copy and a signed note where the buyer accepted ownership and responsibility for the car. It's a matter of selling the car, having it cause damage and not having proof of the sale. That stance will/may cause you to incur tax or other costs as a buyer which would further erode your profit. Pay your money (or not) and take your chances. Mess around and the car will be gone to someone that wants it.

[dkr]

It's nice looking. It kind of sounded like it needed a transmission. If that were local, I would have a hard time not wanting to buy it.

Dkr.

[SonnyMorrow]

I personally believe it would be hard to sell a USA w116 purely based on the fact that the bumpers are so ugly to most people. I also have to agree, and I wouldn't buy one unless it had European bumpers and headlights. That being said, I think the price is right if the car reflects those pictures. I honestly think you could make a profit if you low ball the guy a bit. You might be stuck with selling it for a while but if its in good condition, someone will buy it.

[HarvAMG]

You need to pull the front drivers side carpet up and check for water or wetness. These love to leak behind the fuse box and rust the floors under the carpet.

Also this car sounds like it needs a transmission. Which isn't uncommon. Why would he be selling for $2500 when he thinks it is worth $7200?

[chrisgt]

I've bought and sold a bunch of cars, I've had cars that I never registered because I was buying them to flip and in my experience it's a lot harder to make money on older cars like that. You'll sell it eventually, no doubt about that, but there are fewer people looking for these cars and as such it takes longer to find the price you're after.

That said, if your goal is to drive it for a while, put some work into it and flip it, you probably won't lose money. Unless the climate control spaghetti mess breaks... I'm sure you could sell it for $3k, but it won't be over night, you might take a couple weeks finding a buyer. His price honestly seems fair to me, but maybe I'm used to every car in the northeast being a rusty pile of garbage, I paid more for a rust-free wagon. Still, $2500 for a turn-key w116, hard to go wrong.

[Squiggle Dog]

You're killing me! I used to live in the Seattle area and was searching hard for a dark brown W116 300SD for years. I posted ads on this site and browsed eBay and every state's craigslist ads. I couldn't find one with a sunroof (under $6,000), so I finally bought a piece of junk one from Oregon that needed everything, but it used to be Walnut Brown, so when I repaint it, it will be the original color.

I would have bought that car in a heartbeat. In fact, it would almost be worth me buying it now and adding the accessories from my current car to it because then I could avoid having to pay for bodywork and paint on mine.

I think this one is Walnut Brown, as I don't think it's Manganese Brown Metallic. Walnut Brown seems to be a 1980-only color from my experience, and almost no 1980 W116s have sunroofs because they were only available in small quantities that year.

[Squiggle Dog]

Also, I think that car is a 1980. The reason I say that, is that I don't think the EGR valve was installed until the 1980 model year. Walnut Brown is supposed to have been available on the W116 starting 1980. My 300SD was built on 02/1980 and has a lower serial number than this car (mine is 21268, and this one is 24392).

[jake12tech]

I don't think you're going to make any money off of that car unless you got it for $1000. It's worth $2500 on a good day. Personally, people buy these cars to keep them and they're by no means a car that people regularly flip. You put more into them than they're worth to get them maintained and then you drive them til they rot, get into an accident or die a slow death.

This car may be clean, but I'm about 80% sure you'd put at least $600 into it right off the bat of things it needs. It's almost 40 years old.

[Squiggle Dog]

I just looked up the VIN, and it's Manganese Brown Metallic, not Walnut Brown. Never mind, you can have it!

[tdoublenastywitit]

I think the guy is saying that he put a new (rebuilt) transmission in it... But I'll call and see if it actually is in need of a tranny. Because if it is... That's an absolute no go

[tdoublenastywitit]

And ya I think I agree with everyone that I'll most likely just break even after driving it and putting some bucks into it.

But a w116 is something I've never had. And matter if fact a turbo 617 I've never had either. It might be a good place to start on learning to fix up a turbo model, because I know this is the simpliest 617.

In Seattle every other w116 has a 5500 to 8500 asking price... But they never ever seem to sell. Haha I wish these people would understand that hagerty does NOT mean market value

[Squiggle Dog]

I've used my 1980 W116 300SD as my only car for the past 7 years and it's been great. It's extremely comfortable, has great acceleration, and a very tight turning radius. I have never driven a more comfortable car.

With that said, I've rebuilt or replaced almost everything on the car except for the engine. I've done a lot of repairs and maintenance, but have also never hesitated to drive it across multiple states and used it to commute 2 hours a day.

The automatic climate control is a huge hassle on these cars. I haven't ever had working air conditioning in mine, and only had a working heater and defroster some of the time. I am going to install a manual climate control from a Euro spec car.

I also converted the sunroof and windows to manual so they would be more reliable. I haven't understood why these are so shunned compared to other models.

[sixto]

Listing’s gone. Did someone here buy it?

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

[tdoublenastywitit]

Originally Posted by sixto

Listing’s gone. Did someone here buy it?

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon

Nope, well not me at least. He didn't answer or reply when I called and texted yesterday. Maybe he already had a buyer lined up