250SL - sell with bad auto tranny or fix?

[vrsmith]

Dealer convinced me to get a trade-in quote for my 1967 250sl
even though he and I knew it has a slipping automatic trans.
They offered $4000 since it needs a $4000 rebuild. I'm wondering
about fixing it myself first or letting it go on ebay with full
disclosure. Opinions appreciated.

[powerpig]

Is it just the transmission that needs work? What about the rest of the car?

[Medmech]

I know its easy to say but I'd fix it, its too unique to sell for $4000.

[vrsmith]

The car is really strong. I started taking photos to show details. I did
find a bit of rust so I am going to check that more fully. The current
photos are here:
http://photobucket.com/willerton

[Mistress]

$4000.00 are you crazy- post this question on the SL side. That is a classic auto, don't sell it fix it.

[Medmech]

I would kick the dealer in the nutz, how difficult would it be to get the car to the US?

[nh500sl]

That car is worth more then $4,000. What do you want to trade it for?

[POS]

Seriously, you could sell it for more than $4000 even with the bad tranny. You have to be 100% that the tranny needs to be rebuilt before going another step. In your case, I'd get two opinions - one from my MB mechanic and one from an unrelated, but very good, tranny shop. You may find the tranny needs something other than a rebuild - besides, it's just slipping right now; it's not locked and unusable.

Once you're 100% on the tranny rebuild, then you can still get $8000 rather easily with the slipping tranny. DON'T TRADE IT IN - THE DEALER IS SCREWING YOU. I can't say it any more plainly than that.

[iwrock]

How much you looking to get for it?

[Larry Delor]

I'll give you $5000 for it, in small unmarked bills if you want.

[vrsmith]

I was hoping for $20000 before the transmission went.
I am talking to the tranny shop tomorrow. The urgency is off as
I traded my daily driver for a Nissan Versa today.
Thanks for the comments!

[Hatterasguy]

Fix it and sell it. Its not a 10 year old Toyota, thats a real car!

[Peter Kraft]

Originally Posted by vrsmith

Dealer convinced me to get a trade-in quote for my 1967 250sl
even though he and I knew it has a slipping automatic trans.
They offered $4000 since it needs a $4000 rebuild. I'm wondering
about fixing it myself first or letting it go on ebay with full
disclosure. Opinions appreciated.

In Germany, the car is worth a minimum of 5 times the insulting offer the shop made even with the issues it has. Here in the US, it's still worth much more than the offer they made. The price of the rebuild seems high, unless hard parts are broken(such as drums, pump(s), bands).

A band adjustment might help the slipping, simply saying the trans needs $4000 of work smacks of a shop that is greedy. Did they put a gauge on it and see if the pressure is low? A plugged filter would cause low control pressure and slipping as well.

They win both ways, if they rebuild it, they might have a few hundred in parts in it and profit at least $2500. If you sell it to them, they will flip the car and profit many thousands of dollars.

IMHO, at a minimum, it's worth $15,000 cash not trade, to a U.S. buyer as is, don't let anyone steal this classic W113 pagoda away from you for anything less.

[pj67coll]

Just the fact that it's a 250 gives it exclusivity beyond any other SL. If it were my car I'd be keeping it and fixing it up. Might dump that dealer though.

- Peter.

[Larry Delor]

OK... I can see you're going to be a tough sell....

$5000 in small unmarked bills,...and you can pick either the 300D or the E420 on top of the offer. (I need the 280SE for the trans swap - I just had it rebuilt)