Thinking of trading for a 98 E300

[jake12tech]

I’ve acquired a lot of different street bikes, for various reasons, street or track. One of the guys at my work has an excellent maintained and virtually mint 1998 E300 with no CRACKS IN THE DASH... unbelievable. It’s garage kept and never once been driven in the snow and has a factory window sticker still. It has 250k. The value of the rocket I was going to trade him for his about 3000 in spring time.

Curious to see if you guys think I am coming out with this one and this seems like a fair trade or should I ask for some cash on top? I have no clue on the value of these cars these days really as I don’t buy them like I used to.

[doofus]

“rocket” as in Triumph Rocket III? that would seem unfair, and not in your favor. But maybe you were using “rocket” in a general sense (?)

[Father Of Giants]

A clean W210 is extremely rare where I live, seeing one brings me back of the early 2000's, it's like a time machine.

Mint W210's go for $4000+


Then there's this.
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/d/1999-mercedes-benz-e300/6717059583.html

[charlesm]

Best of luck. I'm at about 325,000 miles at the moment on my E300. Still, no plans to sell it!

[97 SL320]

I see lots of cars where the seller states always maintained , non smoker , garage kept , never driven in winter, oil changed with synthetic every 3,000 miles. . . . but the seller has no way to back up the claims, it's all hype.

I looked at a SL that the seller stated garaged / never driven in snow but the under hood was heavily corroded. With some prodding, the seller admitted " HE " never drove it in snow during the 1 year he owned it.

In more moneyed parts of the US, I suspect most MB are lease cars for the first 4 years and likely the next 4. " Owners " of these cars aren't going to park them in the winter, they leased them knowing they will get turned in after 4 years and another one will show up on their doorstep.

Originally Posted by jake12tech

One of the guys at my work has an excellent maintained

Is he the original owner?

Does he have all of the service records back to new?

Originally Posted by jake12tech

and virtually mint 1998 E300 with no CRACKS IN THE DASH... unbelievable.

It’s garage kept

Can he prove garage kept for it's entire life ?

Originally Posted by jake12tech

and never once been driven in the snow

Snow isn't the problem , it is the salt. If never driven in winter salt, all of the under hood aluminum should be free of corrosion / white blotches and the engine block paint should be intact with zero rust. If the car was never driven in snow, but driven on wet or dry salty roads, saying never in snow is technically correct but miss leading.

Think about this. Grandma does not drive when snow is on the roads but will drive then the snow has melted. This allows salt to collect under the car. In summer, the car isn't driven in the rain to wash off the salt, this leads to corrosion even in the middle of summer as the salt continues to pull moisture out of the air

All of the suspension paint should look intact and there should be zero signs of even the slightest rust on sharp edges.

[ROLLGUY]

My friend Dave has an awesome '99 E300 that will get sold soon (he graduated to a CDI). It is in CA, so it has no rust whatsoever. It has very nice paint, no cracks in any upholstery or dash, and everything works. 180K mi. It is probably worth about $4,000 now.......rich

[g-wizz]

ditch the bike. get the car.

[alsevi]

Wonderful car. You will love it. Trade informed - see if it starts instantly with no glow plug light or code and ask if excellent maintained included glow plugs. A glow plug problem, maintenance mistake or bad luck can be a game changer.

[dieseldiehard]

sell your bike and borrow $1500 or maybe haggle the seller down on this '99 and don't look back.
Its not close to me otherwise I might have already seen it and evaluated it. A clean W coast car is most likely rust free unlike a PA car. Of course that one you are interested in might actually be rust free - hard to say without a good look and check the spring perches if you do check it.
the '99 is a turbo - will push you back in your seat. this look like the cleanest '99 I've seen in a long time!

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/mercedes-turbodiesel-1999-e300/6724108338.html

[jake12tech]

Dieseldiehard that car is gorgeous! Wished it wasn’t so far away.

Well the guy didn’t want the bike. Took it for a ride and it scared him. Crotch rockets aren’t for everyone. I bought it outright for $2200. I’ll post some pictures later on. It will need a headliner eventually. It’s coming down underneath the visors.

Think this might be my 10th E300 turbo diesel. Probably my last, time for another w124 next that I have my eyes on.

[97 SL320]

Originally Posted by jake12tech

Well the guy didn’t want the bike. Took it for a ride and it scared him. Crotch rockets aren’t for everyone.

Our guy shouldn't be on a bike at all, . . .the throttle works both ways. . . .