FS 1998 E300 Providence, RI

[shertex]

My son has put his/our 1998 E300 up for sale. He just bought a CR-V, which better suits his business needs. But also he just doesn't want to contend with Mercedes maintenance costs going forward. Too bad...I was hoping to keep the car in the extended family. Love driving that car!

Here is the Craigslist ad: https://providence.craigslist.org/cto/d/barrington-1998-mercedes-benz-e300/7019854609.html

The Basics:

1998 Mercedes-Benz E300 Diesel
Silver Exterior, Blue Leather Interior
133,000 miles
Owned since 2013

Meticulously maintained, detailed records in post below
Stage 2 Rocketchip chip tuned
Very well optioned...go to LastVIN.com and enter VIN to see data card
Rhode Island inspection valid through November 2021

Items not working: AC (leak at receiver-drier) and sunroof
Minor rust, but overall appearance is good
Interior in especially good/excellent condition

[jake12tech]

Where is it rusting at? Usual spots?

[shertex]

Originally Posted by jake12tech

Where is it rusting at? Usual spots?

Yeah....little bit on wheel wells and around trim. Left front jack point rusted away.

Twice over the last six years I have had the rust professionally repaired.

[jake12tech]

What a shame. Well, the jack points seem common. That’s $6-700 repair. The only way to stop rust is cut and weld new metal. It’s the age and salt. That’s why I quit driving mine thru winter. If it’s my only car I’ll Uber before I’ll drive thru salt.

[shertex]

Originally Posted by jake12tech

What a shame. Well, the jack points seem common. That’s $6-700 repair. The only way to stop rust is cut and weld new metal. It’s the age and salt. That’s why I quit driving mine thru winter. If it’s my only car I’ll Uber before I’ll drive thru salt.

I hear you. I drive three that I rotate. One of the CDIs is my "No Salt Car." Before me it was a Southern car so I don't think it's ever seen salt.

When I had my 92, I spent $1400 to repair all four jack points.

[MB140300SD]

Price? Photos?

[shertex]

Originally Posted by MB140300SD

Price? Photos?

See Craigslist ad.

[shertex]

Maintenance records attached.

[shertex]

I think my son would be glad to get this sold by the end of the year. Pretty sure he'd take $3500. Would be great if it could go to a forum member.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying driving it....while the CDIs relax in the driveway.

[shertex]

Surprising how little interest this has generated....really only two serious inquiries thus far: one from New York and one from Arizona!

Of course it's a terrible time of year to sell a car....might have to wait till Spring.

Nice arrangement for me, though. I get to scratch the itch of W210 driving while my son pays the insurance!

[TimFreeh]

Originally Posted by shertex

Surprising how little interest this has generated....really only two serious inquiries thus far....

Don't know if you remember but a couple of months ago I purchased an E300D from forum member Jaybob on this forum. I paid $3k for his car, it had 252K miles on the clock but it was in absolutely pristine condition and didn't have 1 atom of rust on the car anywhere. It also had immaculate service records going back almost a decade including a total re-done A/C system. The interior/exterior of the car looked like a 75K mile example to me. I was also surprised at the lack of interest and ended up buying the car for my son-in-law after 4-5 weeks of no-action on this site.

With the rust history and miles IMHO your son's car is a sub $2K example in todays market. The CDI's have depreciated to the point where someone looking for a 10-20 year old MB diesel can now entertain CDI's and the CDI is a whole lot more car than an OM606/W210.

Best of luck with your sale, not trying to rain on your parade just trying to bring some real-time market experiences.

[shertex]

Originally Posted by TimFreeh

Don't know if you remember but a couple of months ago I purchased an E300D from forum member Jaybob on this forum. I paid $3k for his car, it had 252K miles on the clock but it was in absolutely pristine condition and didn't have 1 atom of rust on the car anywhere. It also had immaculate service records going back almost a decade including a total re-done A/C system. The interior/exterior of the car looked like a 75K mile example to me. I was also surprised at the lack of interest and ended up buying the car for my son-in-law after 4-5 weeks of no-action on this site.

With the rust history and miles IMHO your son's car is a sub $2K example in todays market. The CDI's have depreciated to the point where someone looking for a 10-20 year old MB diesel can now entertain CDI's and the CDI is a whole lot more car than an OM606/W210.

Best of luck with your sale, not trying to rain on your parade just trying to bring some real-time market experiences.

I appreciate the dose of realism...thanks. I'll forward your comments to my son and see what he wants to do. But I completely agree about the W210 vs. W211 comparison.

Our initial goal was to price it at the high end of the reasonable range...by Craigslist standards, that is. This forum will have a very different reasonable range.

[shertex]

New ad linK:

https://providence.craigslist.org/cto/d/barrington-1998-mercedes-benz-e300/7038783288.html

[MB140300SD]

Has it had any accident damage? It looks like some of the doors do not match exactly, the drivers door for example. Might just be the photos. Do you think the car would make it back to OK? Do you have any photos of the rust?

[shertex]

Originally Posted by MB140300SD

Has it had any accident damage? It looks like some of the doors do not match exactly, the drivers door for example. Might just be the photos. Do you think the car would make it back to OK? Do you have any photos of the rust?

Very minor...girl backed into front corner when it was parked at about 5 mph...professionally repaired.

It's just the photos...all paint matches perfectly.

Yes, the car could be driven anywhere.

If you can PM me your cell number I can send of few pics of the underside and the rusted out jack point as well as close ups of the exterior spots (which you should be able to see in CL ad).