How much is my '88560sl worth?

[cmp21]

I need to sell my 1988 560 sl. With 2 young kids I need something with a (real) backseat. I hate it when my wife is right! I bought it from my father 2 years ago. He owned it for the previous 15 years. It only has 44,000 miles and is mechanically sound...but does need some cosmetic improvements. It needs a new soft top (quarter sized hole in old one), the dahboard is cracked, and the paint job can use a little touch up. Other than that...car looks and runs great. It is white with a navy blue interior. I am sad to have to sell a car that has been in my family since 1990...but this car is just not practical for me at this time. Does anyone have any idea what it is worth?

[Alkraut]

The market is still a bit soft on these cars, yet the 560SL is still showing more price demand than the 380SL. Your low mileage is a plus. If you have a good set of maintenance records, they will definately add to the value. Body condition is also key. Rust free, minimal or no damage repair is also an adder. If the Carfax is real good that also is a plus.

Assuming it is mechanically sound and a test drive shows no negative issues the "private party"value is probably in the range of $12,000 to $14,000, maybe higher, depending on your location and demand.

If you put the new top on and had cosmetic paint work/detailing done prior to sale, that would increase the value, as most people want to see a nice clean vehicle from a cosmetic point of view.

See this link for general reference:
http://www.oursl.com/NewsLetter/NL0703/SLMarket2.htm

[Roncallo]

Originally Posted by cmp21

I need to sell my 1988 560 sl. With 2 young kids I need something with a (real) backseat. I hate it when my wife is right! I bought it from my father 2 years ago. He owned it for the previous 15 years. It only has 44,000 miles and is mechanically sound...but does need some cosmetic improvements. It needs a new soft top (quarter sized hole in old one), the dahboard is cracked, and the paint job can use a little touch up. Other than that...car looks and runs great. It is white with a navy blue interior. I am sad to have to sell a car that has been in my family since 1990...but this car is just not practical for me at this time. Does anyone have any idea what it is worth?

Its worth getting a second car, maybe even a station wagon. Something you can leave out of the garage and kids can get sick in.

John Roncallo

[Strife]

Plus's would be the one-family, two owner history; Minuses would be the blue interior (out) and the dash crack (typical of blue, cheap to fix "ok", very expensive to repair "right"). The top condition would scare a lot of people away instantly away unless they knew for sure what a replacement would cost - you might want to find out what it would cost in your area.

[MTUpower]

I dont know where you live- but very few 107's are selling for 12-14K right now. There are multiple examples with less than 100K miles in perfect condition and here in south florida and they are having a hard time selling above 11K. The paint job on older MB is a very very nice paint job- and if your paint is bad you'll have to spend at least 4k to get it done right. A new soft top is not a big deal- but it will turn off buyers alot more than the cost. Cracked dash? Bad paint? Bad soft top? 7-8K at most.

[Roncallo]

Originally Posted by MTUpower

I dont know where you live- but very few 107's are selling for 12-14K right now. There are multiple examples with less than 100K miles in perfect condition and here in south florida and they are having a hard time selling above 11K. The paint job on older MB is a very very nice paint job- and if your paint is bad you'll have to spend at least 4k to get it done right. A new soft top is not a big deal- but it will turn off buyers alot more than the cost. Cracked dash? Bad paint? Bad soft top? 7-8K at most.

I think 44K miles may be low enough to bring in $12,000 if the car looks like a 44K mile car. You might be surprized what a good detailer can do with bad paint. The top abbolutly should be replaced before putting this car on the market. But a new topa and detail will cost about $2000. The prices of the 107 seem to go up and down with the price of fuel. Premium is approaching $3.00 a gal here in CT so the 107's are at a low again. There may actually come a time where a 380SL will out sell a 560SL.

John Roncallo

[MTUpower]

Originally Posted by Roncallo

I think 44K miles may be low enough to bring in $12,000 if the car looks like a 44K mile car. You might be surprized what a good detailer can do with bad paint. The top abbolutly should be replaced before putting this car on the market. But a new topa and detail will cost about $2000. The prices of the 107 seem to go up and down with the price of fuel. Premium is approaching $3.00 a gal here in CT so the 107's are at a low again. There may actually come a time where a 380SL will out sell a 560SL.

John Roncallo

I agree- with the bold being key. Even in SEFL a 44K car that looks like a 44K car could bring 12K.

[page62]

Pricing for these cars car vary wildly by region. Where are you located?

[ctaylor738]

All this IMO.

This is an interesting situation, because a 44K 560 is potentially a $20K car. But to get that you need everything to be original and perfect. You can't get there because of the dash cracks. So the trick is to get it as close as possible by doing the most cost-effective improvements.

- put a new top on it
- have a dash cap put on by someone who knows what they are doing (sand, trim, cut out the hole for the temp sensor, right adhesives, good fit around the vents, etc.)
- replace the shifter wood if it is in bad shape
- paint and clear-coat the wheels if there are any flaws like worn-off paint
- if the tires are worn or mismatched, throw a set of Kumho's on it
- have a recent oil change, coolant flush, and brake fluid flush documented "ready for summer driving"
- find the books, and put all the service records in a binder
- get it detailed, but not overly so - sort of like "this is how I keep it up"

Then find a nice setting and get at least a dozen good quality pictures with the top down, and showing the new top as well, and put it on your local Craigslist or the local MB club magazine.

If you do the above, and assuming the paint issues are minor ("patina" is a great word), you should be OK at asking $14.5 and getting something close to that, at least in the DC market.

If you want to sell it as-is, you are probably in the $9-10K range.

Your market is the buyer willing to spend over 20K for a perfect low-mileage car but smart enough to see that they can get 95% of what they want and save over $5K with your car.

[DanielG]

Originally Posted by ctaylor738

All this IMO.

- get it detailed, but not overly so - sort of like "this is how I keep it up"

That is such an interesting point, when I was selling my 86 560Sl one comment I got was "got it detailed to sell huh?" and I hadn't -- that was the way that it was kept. I don't know if the buyer believed me but it really was and for many on this forum -- detailed is standard.

Anyway, I never got an offer over 8K and it was an '86 with 52k miles in pretty nice shape (Chicago area) -- so I am not optomistic about the subject car.

[London380sl]

Originally Posted by Roncallo

. There may actually come a time where a 380SL will out sell a 560SL.

John Roncallo

Boy that statement brings smile to the faces of us 380 owners

[ericdee]

Originally Posted by Roncallo

Its worth getting a second car, maybe even a station wagon. Something you can leave out of the garage and kids can get sick in.

John Roncallo

I'm with John on this one, just park it and hold on to it.

[Roncallo]

Originally Posted by ericdee

I'm with John on this one, just park it and hold on to it.

I did not say park it. Just drive it and when you find those occasions where you have to take the kids somewhere, Take the beater.

Before I bought my first 560. I had two cars. A 1993 Ford Taurus with over 200K miles and a 1992 F150 pickup with over 150K miles. Although I kept the cars in good condition, when they get this old the failure modes become totally sudden and unexpected.

It was getting to be enough of an annoyance that my wife wanted me to get rid of the F150 and get a new smaller one. We looked into a Ford Ranger at the time with a crew seat for the kids it was $28K. I told here there was another option, we get a third car. This way when one goes down I would have plenty of time to order parts and get it fixed right. Oh and by the way the other car dident have to cost $28K, nor would it have to depriciate as fast as a Ford Ranger. At 13.5K and another 2K to bring it up to a good standard of dependability came Sadie. See below.

Of course I still hear to this day how the gas gussling 560SL more than makes up for an additional depriciation and +14.5K price tag.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=19

John Roncallo

[ctaylor738]

Here's one with 61K asking $17K. It's high but not over the top for this area.


http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/car/301291780.html

[BenzToy]

Originally Posted by DanielG

That is such an interesting point, when I was selling my 86 560Sl one comment I got was "got it detailed to sell huh?" and I hadn't -- that was the way that it was kept. I don't know if the buyer believed me but it really was and for many on this forum -- detailed is standard.

Anyway, I never got an offer over 8K and it was an '86 with 52k miles in pretty nice shape (Chicago area) -- so I am not optomistic about the subject car.

Although much wealth may be made though "lack of knowledge"

the bottom line is,
do you feel good about it.

Honesty, only true to you, is the only way to know how good you can feel. imho