Could this be a good sign? High price on Ebay for an SL

[1991 560 SEC]

I know of a 1988 560 SL with 1,400 miles that sold for mid 50's this year

[deanyel]

Originally Posted by meltedpanda

wonder how this one will do?

item 180749653008 on ebay

No bids at all on a minimum of $10k. This one - Mercedes-Benz : SL-Class Mercedes-Benz : SL-Class | eBay - topped out at $7500, for a very nice CA car with only 54k miles. The $12,000 price in the first post was either an aberation or Ebay shill bidding. I think the market for early 107s is going nowhere unless and until the Europeans jump in, and they are no signs of that yet.

[meltedpanda]

sadly I would agree

[rowdie]

Originally Posted by deanyel

No bids at all on a minimum of $10k. This one - Mercedes-Benz : SL-Class Mercedes-Benz : SL-Class | eBay - topped out at $7500, for a very nice CA car with only 54k miles. The $12,000 price in the first post was either an aberation or Ebay shill bidding. I think the market for early 107s is going nowhere unless and until the Europeans jump in, and they're no signs as of yet.

I would question several things on that one. No VIN is the first.

[alabbasi]

I spoke to a couple of people that used to buy Pagoda SL's and ship them back to Europe. They tell me that the R107's are getting hot in Europe. No one is interested in a US spec car with the big bumpers but people are starting to buy up the Euro cars.

This is a bad economy and I've seen some really nice cars fail to sell for not a lot of money. As the economy gets better, these cars will increase in value.

At least this is what I'm hoping, even though I have no intention right now of selling my 500SL.

[jplinville]

My 560sl is always for sale...for the right price, that is.

[deanyel]

Originally Posted by alabbasi

I spoke to a couple of people that used to buy Pagoda SL's and ship them back to Europe. They tell me that the R107's are getting hot in Europe. No one is interested in a US spec car with the big bumpers but people are starting to buy up the Euro cars.

This is a bad economy and I've seen some really nice cars fail to sell for not a lot of money. As the economy gets better, these cars will increase in value.

At least this is what I'm hoping, even though I have no intention right now of selling my 500SL.

The flow of 113s to Europe is still very strong, virtually all nice cars go to European buyers. Americans just aren't interested. 107s are still just a trickle, very few going to Europe. Prices are stronger there, but they've got to be really stronger to cover all the shipping and import duties, and it's just not happening. Bumper conversions would be another issue.

PS - I was pushing Ray S's spectacular, low miles 107 280SL 5 speed for $12k to several German collectors and got no interest.

[Will_w202]

Will be interesting to see how the 129s fare. I'm hoping they're more like the 113s and not the 107s!

[JimFreeh]

Originally Posted by Will_w202

Will be interesting to see how the 129s fare. I'm hoping they're more like the 113s and not the 107s!

R129s seem to be suffering the same fate as the W140s.

The complexity and cost of parts are keeping the do it yourselfers out of the market.

I've got a friend who has decided to sell his 92 500SL. Car is in fair shape, needs a bunch of deferred maintenance, though. He's not getting any bites at all on the car, even though he's willing to take $2700 for it. Problem is, you can buy a nice one for 5-6k, and you can't make his as nice as one of those without putting 5-6k into it.....

Jim

[Will_w202]

Originally Posted by JimFreeh

R129s seem to be suffering the same fate as the W140s.

The complexity and cost of parts are keeping the do it yourselfers out of the market.

I've got a friend who has decided to sell his 92 500SL. Car is in fair shape, needs a bunch of deferred maintenance, though. He's not getting any bites at all on the car, even though he's willing to take $2700 for it. Problem is, you can buy a nice one for 5-6k, and you can't make his as nice as one of those without putting 5-6k into it.....

Jim

So what I'm hoping is that the nice ones will be worth money, and the average/rough ones will essentially be worthless. Mine is a 2-owner/all records car with original paint, and about as good as you will find. Also, the market for a vintage Benz convertible cannot be compared to sedans. The sedans are just never worth anything. I mean, look at the 6.9s.

[deanyel]

Originally Posted by JimFreeh

R129s seem to be suffering the same fate as the W140s.

The complexity and cost of parts are keeping the do it yourselfers out of the market.

I've got a friend who has decided to sell his 92 500SL. Car is in fair shape, needs a bunch of deferred maintenance, though. He's not getting any bites at all on the car, even though he's willing to take $2700 for it. Problem is, you can buy a nice one for 5-6k, and you can't make his as nice as one of those without putting 5-6k into it.....

Seems to me like the cost, complexity, etc. are limiting the market to DIYer, and there's aren't enough of us. Whatever it is it's a supply / demand problem - too many cars and not enough buyers. I don't think you really get a NICE 129 for $5-6k but you may get a decent one for that, that probably needs some work soon. A bad market like this is the time to buy the very best you can find and take care of it, because those are going to be the survivor cars, the only ones with a real chance of future appreciation.

[alabbasi]

Originally Posted by Will_w202

So what I'm hoping is that the nice ones will be worth money, and the average/rough ones will essentially be worthless. Mine is a 2-owner/all records car with original paint, and about as good as you will find. Also, the market for a vintage Benz convertible cannot be compared to sedans. The sedans are just never worth anything. I mean, look at the 6.9s.

Yep, sedans are almost always worthless. But I suspect that the R129 still has some depreciation left in it before they go up in value. It's still too modern and not rare.

Maybe in a decade or two.