Look into a good warranty...

Warranty on a 1995 German V12? :D

So far, not one poster who is speaking from first hand experience. Just doom and gloom. With a 1995, I'd be worried about the main wiring harnesses and the throttle actuator wiring. If they don't look good, no experienced shop will do any electrical diagnostics until they are replaced. It will probably need suspension accumulators if it hasn't been done and sat for a while. Make sure the climate control is working perfectly, as the dual zone valves and evaporator could eat your lunch. Make sure all the vacuum stuff works and holds so it doesn't burn up the pump, but that's a cheap hobby motor fix. Shop your parts and know when used a used bit will do... really shouldn't be horrible if you start with a nice, sorted example.

If the car does become needy, I'm sure handle Chris can 2-3k a year to keep it up. Compared to boats that's cheap, and unlike nice boats the cost of entry is low. They are fantastic cars to drive... Chairman of the board, king of the hill, A number 1, top of the heap.

There have been a few threads with people who bought basket case V12s haven't ran well in years due to electrical problems. They post for a while, can't figure anything out because of the problems compounded by other problems, and disappear. Most V12 owners wouldn't bother themselves with forums. They are very rare, so not a lot of first hand experience... just the standard lines.

I sold one of my good friends a 1997 SL600, and have kept it up for him at the shop. Normal maintenance, 1 coil, and soft top front latches (2) rebuilt. Less than a grand spent in maintenance over the last 2 years, and he drives it alot.

This car has been pretty good to him over the last 13 years and 40k miles or so he did put on it.

I helped my friend maintain an S320 awhile back, a W140 isn't terrible. I thought it was a better car than my W126 in many ways.

Its cheaper than my boat to own, and if it starts to suck I'll sell it. Now that I'm going to have a garage soon and I have a late model reliable vehicle I wouldn't mind having a toy to mess with.

$2k-$3k a year, probably drive it 10k a year is fine, that's reasonable. Heck a new A8 would be like $1,400 a month to lease, or a 2010 S550 would be $60k. So I'm way ahead with this car. I just want something nice to get away from the dirty truck full of blueprints when I go out at night. Also sometimes my truck is full of tools or junk for a dump run, so I have to unload it, go out, and reload it. Total PITA. Now I can just keep the truck loaded up for the next day.

You could save the cost of the car by not getting a truck load of tools ripped off just once.... In fact, it could probably be expensed by the company as 'theft-prevention'...:cool:

My big generator costs $2k alone! That will fix a lot of car problems!:D

Can you get little flip-down turn signal lights and install .30 cal machine-guns?

How much does a Class III license cost?

Thanks, didn’t realize it was that old.

Wasn’t there another member here who had a v12 of that era and sold it after being scalded by repair costs a few times?

No biggie, car is often an objectification of achievement. I've had similar debates wrt a G wagon several times.

If it’s something you (the OP) want, go for it. At worst it will be expensive. At best it will satiate your ego, for a while...

I was talking to a W140 S600 owner at a German car show a few summers back. I made a joke/comment about maintenance and he said that he did much of his own work and that it wasn't too bad. He didn't think I was very funny either - guy had no sense of humor...

Expensive parts are expensive parts. No way around that. Also, if you don't put gobs of miles and can use it as second car - maybe tolerable. However, they do need to be driven! Something big will go wrong and it will cost you. So don't complain!!

My S600 all the sudden became pricey to own once the warranty expired. Duh. :rolleyes: No one (I mean no one) offered an extended warranty for that beast. I looked every where.

You S600 was a 220 chassis, right?

Yes a 2003. ABC suspension=$$

ABC + wiring harness= $10k These will fail. I know that my ABC on my 55 will eventually fail long before the car gets to 40k milage.

Never knew 220's had wiring harness issues.

This is why I wouldn't own a late model high end car out of warranty.

A 2014 S class is like a spaceship compared to this W140.

So are you buying it?

AFAIk, I don't want to do anything with it until the weather breaks. Currently its sitting in a garage and I won't have my garage built for it until late summer. Since it has never been outside in a winter, well I'd like to keep it that way. Plus it requires some going threw to be a daily driver and I don't feel like working on a car now that winter has settled in.

I'm thinking around March/April when the weather breaks, I'll get interested bring it over to my house and go threw it. The car is right next door to me BTW.

But who knows I may get antsy sooner.