My uncle called and said he found me a 2000 Mercedes S430 if I was interested. He knows I have been looking for a 92-99 W140.

Anyway he found a 2000 S430 for only $8400! The catch? It has 372K miles! Highway miles he says, but 372K? Wow.

The owner says its in perfect working order, but I do not know any details like if the tranny has been rebuilt, engine maintainence, etc. I just wonder what (if anything) is about to go out? Whats the highest mileage 2000+ MB you have seen? Now I have seen some W123 and W126 diesels with over 400K, but this MB is a complex machine with a gas engine and wondering if I should run away from this car as fast as I can, despite the attractive price and seek out a nice, lower mileage W140 (1995-97).

Thanks!

With that mileage the price should be much much less unless there is proper documentation of recent major work.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Thanks Skippy.... maybe I should offer something like $7K?

Or maybe even try less than that? $6K? $4K?

Well, though the fact that the car has done 372,000 miles sounds like it would belie the fact that the W220 S-class cars starting in 2000 definately are pieces of junk compared with their earlier brethren, I would not take the chance.

Even if this was not a commercial limousine, it could be an ungodly money pit.

There are known to be of inferior build quality, and with horrendous mechanical and computer problems that can cost a mint to fix.

They generally represent the worst of the Mercedes years where terrible quality and repair problems were at their nadir, the lowest point, from 2000-2006.

I would definately run away and not look back.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Ungodly money pit is about 100% accurate. That car is used up; that's all there is to it. Which puts you in a good place because that Seller won't be able to do anything with that car except drive it until it DOES die, which leads to probably why the Seller is getting rid of it. With that many miles, he's really "in tune" with the car and he probably sees some ominous signs lately and figured off it goes.

Personally, I wouldn't even consider the idea - that car will cost a pile to keep going and you won't be able to sell it to anyone either. But if you're willing to buy a 372k mile w140, then low-ball the living hell out of him. It's your only chance at negating the costs.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

Thanks for the replies. My uncle (who has owned alot of MBs) said the same thing. Too much wear and tear, even if they are highway miles.

Guess I will be better off finding a lower mileage W140. Thanks for the advice!

I've seen much lower mileage MB's of that kind for just a little more than that. I would say 372k is a car on borrowed time. Kinda like my 420sel.

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1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

Air suspension - $7000.00
EIS - electronic Ignition Switch - $1000.00
Command Center - $5000.00
Control Arms/ball joints - don't remember..

RUNNING AWAY - PRICELESS.....

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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
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Do I miss being a service advisor ???

Hi,
The W220 is very bad.I had a 2000 S500 that I bought brand new,and I traded-it in for a 1998 S500.My 2000 S500 had an electrical problem that nobody could figure out,the dealership called in top Mercedes mechanics and they could figure it out.Turns out that the turn-signal in the mirrors kept draining the battery and also caused other electrical problems.

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1998 S500
2006 E320 CDI
1963 220S
1994 S500
1995 S500
2005 BMW 545i sport
2007 GL320 CDI
2007 ML320 CDI
1991 Toyota Previa White over Blue
2000 Lexus RX300 White over Beige
2008 Audi Q7 Black Opal over Grey
1993 Toyota T-100 Silver over Grey
2002 Chevy 2500 Express White over Grey

So what are the best years of the W140 when it comes to quality and reliability? The later the better? There's a cheap 1994 S320 near me, I wonder if I should consider it.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

For that kind of money you can easily find one with half the miles. I think I recall seeing one on Ebay with 150K miles for about $10K.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Just remember, cheap means something. You have to pay good money usually to get a good product.

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1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

I know, there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes. I don't think the one I had in mind is that cheap. Here's the ad:
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?paId=135727813&recnum=27&leadExists=true&numResultsPerPage=50&pageNumber=0&certifiedOnly=false&recNumber=&sortorder=descending&searchType=21&rowCount=&criteria=K-|E-|M-_31_|B-20000|N-N|R-50|I-1|P-PRICE%20descending|Q-descending|Z-89436&tracktype=usedcc&sortfield=YEAR,PRICE%20descending&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&cid=&dlid=&dgid=&amid=&cname=&ppFilterOn=&aff=national

But I was mainly just interested in knowing generally if there are certain years to avoid because of design defects, etc.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Go for broke... Offer the guy 3k for it, see how desperate he is. If not, see ya... (not!)

I've done ***** like that before and it's worked sometimes... (why not?)

I knew a guy who traded in his S430 shortly after getting a $7,000 estimate for a new transmission.

He went back to the W126.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!