I'm thinking about buying a '94 E500 from a small dealer in Richardson, TX. I'd like to know if anyone has dealt with LA Motorcars, I believe the owner is Lance Adams. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

For anyone living in the Richardson, TX area, I'd be grateful if you could drop by the dealer and take a quick peek at the car. An impartial assessment of the overall condition would be really helpful.

LA Motorcars
346 South Central Expressway
Richardson, TX 75080
Phone (972) 235-3900
Fax (972) 235-4191
http://www.lamotorcars.com/

Here's a link to the car on AutoTrader.com:
http://www.autotrader.com/findacar/vdetail.jtmpl?car_id=61193392&dealer_id=1060838&max_price=&start_year=1990&end_year=1995&address=92009&make=MB&model=E500&distance=&car_year=1994&ac_afflt=none&borschtid=16056047932132335327

Again, any feedback greatly appreciated!
Glen

__________________
Glen Tokuhara
Beauty & the Beast and the wagon that could!

Which exit is this? Beltline used to be the same exit as main so I assume it's along there somewhere. Is it on the West or East side of 75?

I have a crazy buisy day tomorrow, but I'll do my best to go buy and look at it for you. My office is in the USDATA building just North of Campbell, so it's not too far.

Have a great day,

Thanks Larry! I have no idea where it is exactly...I live in California. It was originally bought in Texas and the owner immediately moved to Oklahoma where it lived most of it's life. I've spoken with Lance and I realize the car isn't showroom perfect, but he describes it as very nice. The asking price sounds reasonable...I just want to make sure it isn't a rust bucket.

Thanks again and please don't rearrange your schedule to fit me in!

Glen

Larry -

According to the map, it's on the southbound service
drive south of Beltline. No more than a mile from
your office.

I'd volunteer to go inspect it as well, but there is
no slack in my day.

- Jim

Jim,
Thanks for looking into it. Hopefully Larry will find time in his busy day...thanks again.

Glen

I got by this afternoon, but was pressed for time. I don't see the car as a rust bucket, but it is certainly not a ten either.

The car had a light coat of dust, but it still appeared not to have a good gleam on the paint. It for sure had no wax on it.

The leather has begun to crack, not bad, but it appears that it has never seen any treatment of any kind. This kind of goes along with the rest of the car. Although I don't believe that it has ever had any body damage, it has not seen kid glove care.

The oil was not clean, certainly not freshly changed. The brake fluid was brown as well. His response was that it just had it's 75,000 mile service and was clear. If they did indeed flush it, they did a really lousy job.

I asked about the records, he didn't offer to show them to me, he just said that there was receipts for all service. It could be that the car has seen the minimum amount of preventive maintenance service. The car just strikes me as a car that was given reasonable care for an average car, but not what you would expect for an E500.

Don't get me wrong, this car is not a rag. But it has not seen the care that a car of this stature deserves.

I expect that a good three step polish and wax job, begin treating the leather if you're willing to put up with the minor cracking that has started, and expect to do a few things, and this car will make a nine.

I listened to the engine and it sounded okay from what I could tell.

If I were taking the car home myself, I would plan on, at the minimum, plan on an immediate oil and filter change, ATF fluid and filter change and a THOROUGH brake fluid flush. Given that the car has probably not seen really thorough care, I would inspect the brakes immediately and plan on pads.

There was one thing that bothered me a little. On the casting ribs of the water pump there were two brown stains as if maybe the car had overheated or somehow gotten coolant sitting there until it evaporated away. This is only suspicion, nothing more.

It's very difficult to be on the same frequency regarding car condition unless you know the other party. What I may see as a clean car, someone else may see as a rag, or visa versa.

I know I rambled here, but I'm just trying to dump as much information here as I can.

Also, as I said, I couldn't get under the car, but I did look in the spare tire well and in the lower trunk sides and saw no signs of rust. I don't think rust is an issue, but I wouldn't want to bet on that until I could crawl under the car.

If the car had spent it's life on a dirt road, I think I would be able to tell. I saw no signs of that, and a dirt road would be the only way you could rust a car in Oklahoma. There is rarely, if ever, salt used on the roads there.

Also, he said that there was an extended warranty on the car, I don't know if it is an MB transferrable warranty or what, but of course, that's something that you can probably explore over the phone.

And, of course, I could not check out the transmission, how it drives, A/C, etc.

Oh yeah, my impression of the guy was that he was your average used car dealer. The only difference is that he deals with what many would call exotic cars. IMHO, if he were really putting top quality stuff in his showroom, I would expect it to have fresh fluids in it, and kept dusted at the very least.

Good luck,

[Edited by LarryBible on 02-26-2001 at 07:56 PM]

Larry,
THANK YOU for taking the time out of your busy day to look at this car. He's asking $33K and will probably take less. The condition of the car as you describe it makes sense as to why 'he' has it and not an authorized MB dealer. It sounds like it needs alot of preventive and routine maintenance. On the leather issue, was the cracking evident on just the driver's seat or elsewhere as well?
I'll have to think about this but even after everything you saw and described, I'm still interested. I wouldn't expect anything near a '10' at this price point, but if a little elbow grease and some serious maintenance would bring this car up to par, then maybe it's still a good deal.

Anyway, thanks again!
Glen

Glen,

I only noticed the drivers seat being cracked, but remember, this was a very quick look at the car.

Also, he told me he would take $31K for the car. The layer of dust gave me the idea that the car had been setting there for awhile. Also, he had to search for the key. If the car had been moved recently, I would expect the key to be close at hand.

If I had $31K and a little time and energy to put into a toy, I would definitely consider purchasing this car. But, again, remember, you have no way of knowing my scale of car judgement. We all have different ideas of what a nice car is.

Good luck,

Glen:
Closer to home, there is a dark green '92 500E at an MB dealership in Anaheim Hills with 90+k miles for $33k, not Starmarked, and a Starmarked, 59k miles silver 500E at MB Laguna Niguel. They are asking $46k for the silver one, but it has been there a couple of months and would probably bargain since it must cost them at least 500 a month to have it on their finance\insurance\maintenance schedules. Good luck on your search.

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

Hi John,
One of my requirements is a black interior...I think the green one has tan interior, right? I've seen the one at Laguna Niguel on AutoTrader.com...in the ad it says it's white, not my preference, and my budget doesn't really allow me to spend that much and still have a money cushion for any needed maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. I suppose the Starmark would cover me for repairs...but my color preferences are Brilliant Silver or Black Pearl.

Thanks for looking!
Glen

Glen:
Yep, the ad says white, and the web site ad says it is a "500E 6 cylinder White" while the photo of the 500E on their lot is of a silver one! 6 cylinders? 2 don't work? If you are interested, I can verify color - they are only 5 miles from my house. Also, when my friend was looking at a black 500E at this dealership, they dropped $5k off the price as soon as they found out he could afford it, and were down $8k before he left the lot the first time. Let me know - go to their web site at http://www.mbzdirect.com to see the photo. Regards,

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

John,
Did your friend end up buying it? Was it the Black Pearl one they had about 4 months ago with the AMG wheels? I think they were asking $45K...so they were willing to drop down to $37K just like that? Wow. If you have the time, I guess I'd be interested in knowing if the current car is Silver or White. I didn't bother calling them because I thought it was white...but I've noticed that the price has fluctuated a bit. For a while it was $46K, then it dropped to $44K and now it's back up. If it's Silver, I'll try to get up there this weekend and take a look...thanks!

Glen

Glen:

It is Brilliant Silver with a black interior. I didn't open the hood, but I assume it wasn't a 6 !

The one my friend was looking at was about 6 months ago, Pearl black with grey interior, and they started at $40k. The sales person at the MB place mis-read and stereotyped his wife and told her the 500E was limited production, therefore all the car and engine parts would be expensive to buy, and she could only expect about 10mpg, so why didn't she look at this nice luxurious S class instead. Turned her off on the car and the marque. Bought an 850 instead. She could have shown him the videotape of her 50th birthday where everyone bought her lap time behind the wheel of a Winston cup car and she turned several laps at 160.

Funny story: when she walked up to the Winston cup car she put her helmet on the roof, hooked a leg over, grabbed the roof, put the other leg in the car, and slid into the seat. When the instructor, with his southern accent, asked her how she knew to get into a car like that, she replied: "Sugah, if you were a girl born in Georgia, you had to learn to get in a car that way at 16 if you wanted to date anyone! I didn't know cars HAD doors until my 3rd boyfriend".

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

Thanks John. I sent them an email for more information and hopefully, I can get up there this weekend to take a look. I'm sure the car looks pretty nice, what was your impression of the overall condition?

Thanks,
Glen

I just took a real quick look to verify colors as it was raining pretty hard. It looked very nice, and that dealership seems to aim at just the top end pre-owned market. $46k seems high, but I guess if it is perfect with all the records and has essentially a 40k bumper to bumper warranty, and they come down 5 or 6 k-bucks it is probably worth it. I would probably demand a new wireing harness and radiator, and a power steering overhaul just for drill if they weren't going to bargain down much from that price.

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E