most the cars (that still run) are from Florida? Arizona? No rust states. they can't all be from florida. what gives.

just an observation.

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

Every sleazeball running every kind of scam known to mankind seems to end up in Florida. Since Florida has a reputation for having no-rust cars, the sheisters bring cars from all over the east coast down here and advertise them as "Florida cars." Most of those cars have not spent their entire lives here.

One dealer in particular that we discussed here before is Mercedesshowroom in Ft. Lauderdale. I went there last weekend and can now report that they are the real deal. They're horribly expensive, but the cars are almost all genuine, low mileage, one or two owner Florida cars.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

I'm in Arizona and have two '82 300Ds, one came from Mississippi via Texas and is relatively rust free and the other is from California and is totally rust free (No Natalie, not inexpensive rust. Free from rust! Thought I better clarify before you jump on this...). If I sold either, I wouldn't have the guts to call them AZ cars, though. If a potential buyer noted my location, however, thats up to him or her.

I personally don't see the value of a car being an Arizona, California or Florida car. At the risk of stepping on someone's toes, every state has locations where the climate can raise bloody hell with the body sheetmetal. Some coastal regions in Florida and California have sufficient salt air to cause problems and the cars from there need to be protected well and washed often. My summer digs in Alpine AZ gets a lot of snow with salt on the roads and the heat in the Tucson area (where we winter) destroys plastic, vinyl and rubber pretty damn fast.

I would place a lot more value on a good inspection of a used car rather than where the seller claims it has been.

Cheers,
Wes

Wes has a good point. Living near Tampa, let's not forget that this is the lightning capital of the U.S., if not the world. Meaning there is a LOT if rain around here. Many of these "precious" Florida cars have spend a lot of time going floorboard deep through local floods in the area. Not to mention the salt water and tropical storms.

Jenni, Click your 'user cp' button at the top of the page...

a bunch of private messages. nice feature

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

Yes, leathermang prefers to flirt in private.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

Actually I was going into the alldata deal... and the possibility that her car has the tsb regarding the updated frame on the rear glass... which might need to be anticipated in a rear glass seal replacement...
but in general.. when flirting... I do prefer it to be in private....

You guys can talk all you want about each climate and its toll on cars but no climate is worse than Michigan.

The good part about it is that when replacing brake lines or fuel lines, you don't need any tools. Serious biz. Just pull the rusted pieces of junk off.

I have bought mid-80's MB's from:

GA, KT, TX, VA, IN, MI, MI & MI.

You're welcome to crawl under all 8 and compare.

Don

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DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

There are no doubt several reasons for Benzes to migrate to Florida as they age. What I've observed, however, is that a disproportionate number of Benzes on eBay are on the east coast, not just Florida. That has caused me to wonder about the relative sale of Benzes by region within the US of A.
There are billions (at least) of Toyotas, Hondas, and Subarus here in the Pacific Northwest, but not so many Benzes. However, having said that, here on the Olympic Peninsula, in the state of Washington, the 123's appear to be breeding like rabbits. I've an eye for the 123's (and own two), and it seems like one or two "new" ones show up every few days.


Phil

'84 Euro 300D
'85 300D

You can't trust the condition of even Florida cars. I live in Central Florida for a reason. No threat of hurricane damage but also no sea humidity. Many cars that find homes in the palaces near the coast such as Miami, Lauderdale, Sarasota. are exposed to sea air - basically high humidity and at night that air is wafted with salt compounds. If you ever visit one of those condo's by the shore, look at the aluminum windows or railings. They are corroded and pitted in only two or three years' time. Same with any metal object like cars. Unless you can doc the car is from the middle of the state, shy away

On top of that you may be buying "Daddy's car" I saw "Junior " drive through the surf at Daytone Beach in years past. What fun they had spraying salt water out the wheel wells! Think about that!

My -62 190sl spent most of it's life in west Texas (El Paso). Hot, dry high desert. Still have the original floorpans (unibody), trunk etc. All of the suspension rubber and ponton bushings are original. If the rubber is not in direct sunlight it may look a little rough on the outside but does not deteriorate as it would in extremes (snow, salt etc). Drive it about every day. Guys in the club from the North East spend huge money and time rebuilding the unibody and exterior. A carfax check on most recent vehicles will show where the booger was tagged every year.

Cars that relocate to Florida can indeed be rustbuckets. My family had an old Bobcat (a badge engineered Pinto and a miserable little car) that spent three winters in Buffalo, NY and the rest on the West Coast of Florida. There was virtually no body left after 6-7 years. What little rust protection there was on the car disappeared in those first few winters and the salt air took care of the rest. An inspection is pretty much always necessary.

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LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold

Irg,

It didn't take much to get a Bobcat to rust...


It is a pleasure to work on my southern Benzes, (relative to Michigan born cars). Two from Texas (ML320, 190D), one from Georgia (190E), and two from California (240D, 300SDL). Clean, no rust. Bolts actually turn and don't break off.

Jen,

I did notice that during a trip to Charleston, MB's are as thick as flies. I've never seen so many. I'll never buy a car from up north again.

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Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

In my experience most of the w123's don't rust from the outside in due to snow and/or salt. My car was a veritable chunk of swiss cheese when I purchased it but you couldn't detect any of it from the outside!

Rather, it seemed to me that the drains were not maintained, allowing water to pool and then to rust.

I purchased this car mostly because of the receipts for the car dating all the way back to 75k, but apparently nobody stayed on top of the drains.

Only after I had the car for a year did I realize the incredible amount of rust under the battery tray, and throughout the floorpan.