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  #16  
Old 05-23-2006, 01:26 AM
nobby's Avatar
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Location: Barrie, Ontario
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Regular maintenance items are in the normal price range. It gets expensive when you need the items that break once in the life of the car(hopefully) like a fuel regulator etc. Doing the work yourself or finding a Merc mechanic that doesn't charge $105 per hour is the trick to staying out of debtors prison.

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  #17  
Old 05-23-2006, 05:29 AM
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Join Date: May 2006
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Finding a mechanic in So Cal; making a deal on the car

Quote:
Originally Posted by amiette
also, what i am looking at price wise on standard maintenance in socal (i.e. oil, brakes, tuneups...)

is it as pricey as many say?

thanks, folks. if i could i would take all of you with me tomorrow... but i feel like you're all there with me already (in my 4 page checklist and questions for dealer )
You are soooooooooo lucky to live in Southern California for maintenance. There are some incredibly good techs there, (See the "Good shops" section on this site, and click the California section)

There is a shop in Tarzana, called Mr. MB, the owner used to work at Beverly Hills MB (service mgr I think) before opening this shop. He is frequented by several forum members here, (BENZ-LGB being among his best supporter, he was even given a special plaque for his fine work) and has such a good following cars are flatbedded in from Montana, Utah and Texas to be worked on, and I would go there on these recommendations, if I were you, and in fact am thinking about doing it. I understand he does not encourage work not needed, is fair, and is priced reasonably, and sometimes spots work needed that you might miss. Search key word "Enrique" There is also a good shop I like in Santa Ana, Prestige Imports; Bruce Strauss in OC by the airport is excellent also.

For an oil change, $65 to $75 is ballpark I would say; these cars need more quarts of oil than most cars.

A couple of hundred dollars for a tuneup or a brake job wouldn't hurt my feelings too much. Be sure MB brake pads are used or the squeaks will never go away; The brake rotors can not be turned, they must be replaced; but they are not an expensive part. Bosch spark plugs are good, likewise, Beru plug wires best, IMO. I am guessing, but a tuneup could cost $300 and not be out of line- others may disagree. I would guess shop labor time is around $80-90 ph by now. But you are taking care off a perhaps a lifetime car, and a long awaited dream.

Sounds like you are inclined towards a 380SL rather than a 560SL, as you would rather save gas than have the extra high performance, and newer style. That's fine. It is sounding like this will very likely be a So Cal. car, if so, you are ahead of the game, because of the good mechanics there, and lack of salted winter roads. So Cal is the car culture, people love their cars.

If you have to pay a bit more now for a car than you would like, remember that a few years from now, you probably would be able to say you have the car you always wanted, as opposed to saying you got a great deal on a car you hated. But that's just me. I paid I think, about $36,000 for the SEC when I bought it from the Mercedes dealer in Buena Park 10 years ago. That was quite a lot of money for a used car, but it was the top of the line, cost new $84,000 and was new looking at 50,000 miles. Plus I got 10 years of use out of it, plenty of fun and I still have it,and it still runs well. I have had to maintain it, and that costs, and it eats gas, too, but it has lots of life left in it, at 117,000 miles.

There is one of these 380SEC coupes, in Nebraska, with over 925,000 miles on it. It belonged to a shoe salesman, who couldn't take his samples on airplanes, and who bought the car new. That shows these things will really go a long distance.

A pre-purchase inspection by a mechanic you trust could provide you with leverage for negotiation. (These cost about $125-$200). Usually these kinds of purchases are picked to death by forum contributors, but in your case with this car, from what little we have heard, it might be a good car for you. However, as others have said, at the price he is asking, it is high so the car better be perfect in every way. I have no problem with the dealer making a fair profit in his sale, but it's up to you to get a good price for the car. I'm pretty sure being that old you can't get a guarantee, so be sure the car needs nothing and has no problems before you pull the trigger and buy it.

If you like it, make your offer and see what happens. The person who stops talking first has the advantage. IF you can't agree on the price, you can walk away. But I would leave my phone number if I did. The dealer might call you back. And if not, there are other fish in the sea. (Thank you Jacques Costeau)
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  #18  
Old 05-23-2006, 07:18 AM
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Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Have a real good look at panel fit, all doors, hood and boot lid should have equal spacing for gaps. Get down on your hands and kneees and feel behind the headlamps, they do tend to hold dirt and rust badly. Check the front chassis box sections inboard of the front wheels, they are dog leg shaped and at the lowest point there should be rubber bungs, one on each side on the underside of each member, pop them out and see what falls out, if its chunks of rust, run away! Check under all floor mats, the carpeted mats have or should have a thick rubberised looking base attached, insulation/sound deadening. Check the floor front and back for rust, same for boot and inside the soft top compartment. Inspect jacking points for any unusual bulges, doesn't hurt to take a magnet with you. Bondo/filler wont hold a magnet, even the business card type fridge magnets work well and won't scratch paint, while magnetic enough to stick to steel. Bottom line take someone with you that knows Mercs and get it inspected. One last, remove the hardtop and examine the underside nearest the rear locking pin, these tops do rust and thats where they normally start. Good luck and hope some of the info helps.

280SL Euro
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  #19  
Old 05-23-2006, 09:01 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Upstate NY
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For regular maintenance, you should find a reliable shop that works on German and other foreign cars. There is nothing special about oil changes, except that it takes more oil than a "regular" car and the oil filter is not a standard spin-on type. I would expect that you could get oil changes at a non-dealer for arount $50-70 with premium, non-synthetic oil. Spark plugs are straight forward, non-platinum Bosch plugs. Probably an hour labor plus about $4-5 a plug. Brakes are also straight forward. Expect about 1.5 hours labor plus pads for front or rear. Pads and pins/clips could cost $80-120 (front or rear) at a shop. The key is to find an honest, reliable shop. I would avoid franchise places, and the Mercedes dealer will charge high, high prices, even for regular maintenance. Get the selling dealer to do as much as the initial tune-up and fluid changes as possible.

Maybe some of the forum members can recommend So Cal shops in your area for follow on maintenance. Good Luck!
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  #20  
Old 05-23-2006, 09:34 AM
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this is very helpful. thanks for getting this info to me before my test drive.
I am unclear about the gray market status. is it desirable/undesirable? If I understand correctly, gray market means that the car was origianlly built/used in Europe and then converted to fit US specs for use here. (?)

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  #21  
Old 05-23-2006, 11:28 AM
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That's pretty much correct on gray market. The key here is a clean title. Also that the car has a history of, and will pass Cal emissions that are applicable to a 1985. A "CARFAX" report is always a handy way to get historic information, and will expose any major accidents, floods, salvage, gray market, etc. Also will give a good title history, and sometimes maintenance dates. If you are buying from a dealer, and become serious about a purchase, ask the dealer to provide you with the CARFAX on this car. Usually dealers will do this. You can run one yourself in a few minutes on the internet, but you will have to pay for it ($20 +tax). www.carfax.com

Last edited by Alkraut; 05-23-2006 at 11:33 AM.
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  #22  
Old 05-23-2006, 08:49 PM
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Aw...c'mon! Tell us what happened...
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  #23  
Old 05-23-2006, 09:41 PM
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The price is a little high and I'd negotiate, unless it was an absolute perfectly maintained and completely, entirely devoid of any rust (see below for my definition of perfectly maintained). I freely admit that if I did my homework BEFORE buying my car I could have knocked the price down 2K.

Even if the car was a garage queen rubber does deteriorate; If you intend to drive the car and leave it outside, at the very least, the trunk seal and the top seals should be replaced. Look at the hood pad (BOTH of them, front and rear, near the windshield) - if they are not missing and not ratty, this is a sign that the P.O. took care of the car, or the dealer is really smart.

ANY rust in the trunk (look under the spare) is a bad sign; the trunk seal is cheap and easy, the taillight seals are expensive and you can get them only from MB. Look at the taillights. Any cracks (even small) are bad and they are about $200 a side for the plastic alone. Little things you don't notice will add up.

The subframe mounts and motor mounts are made of rubber, get old, collapse and break, whether or not the car was babied. These are not particularly difficult to replace, but it all adds up. When I replaced my shocks and subframe/motor mounts, the car rode like a different car. 107's have had a reputation for not handling well, but I think it's pretty good for a 3700 pound car once these parts are renewed.

Dash pads, particularly if they are blue, tend to crack; original replacement is fabulously expensive, but caps are available that will pass anything but very close inspection. Still, it's 1500-2000 to fix it right, and this sort of information is negotiating ammo. Interior parts are not cheap; a wood set is $350 with careful shopping (the console always cracks) and the seat covers are expensive. Good, unworn seats are a big + (look at the edge where the driver enters at the back of the seat).

I don't mean to scare you, but you sound like you've wanted one for a long time like I did, and I was willing to work and pay to make the car "right" and I'd budget at least 1-2K if you do the work yourself and shop carefully, and 2-4K if you have work done by an indy to get the car "baselined" and stable.

These are not really difficult cars to tune up but the parts are fairly expensive. But this was a 40-50K car when new, so what do you expect.

Given the price of gas and maybe that I'm no longer a gearhead, I'd give an'84+380SL a very long look as opposed to a 560 with what I know now.
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  #24  
Old 05-23-2006, 10:40 PM
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you didnt really ask, but i would think mileage would barely break 20 on the highway and 14 around town.

my 84 500sec does barely 19 at about 65 on highway and bout 13 around town.

i drove a 380 that was for sale here. it was fast enough for me but not really fast. think of it as a grand touring car.

tom w

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