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-   -   Are W140's as expensive to maintain as everyone makes them out to be? (http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/tech-help/106897-w140s-expensive-maintain-everyone-makes-them-out.html)

johnathan1 10-02-2008 09:36 PM
Whoa...260k miles? No thanks...

That 300SEL looks great! I'd say its worth at least $1200. You could even polish up the paint, maybe repaint the wheels, and sell it for more! I sold mine with destroyed front seats, and bad valve seals (2 quarts every 1000 miles) :O for $2000.

CWW 10-02-2008 09:44 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by 86560SEL (Post 1982265)
Thanks for your concern - normally I would never do something like this, but I am needing a car pretty fast, as I want to give my car to my mother and I need to get me something. Well, I have seen ton of photos and it looks fine and if he is driving it here, surely its a good car. OR, even if he trailers it, I hope he would not be carelessness enough to misrepresent a car he his bringing- but you never know. Even if I could see a car I was buying, that would not mean anything. I have seen and driven cars only to have something happen soon after. I bought my 85' 380SE "sight unseen" and it turned out to be a good car (I bought it off of ebay and the car was driven here over 300 miles by the seller), aside from an engine knock that developed a few thousand miles after (it was faint and certain RPMS), I still managed to put over 15K miles on it and only paid $1000 for it, sold it for $700.

Its still all up in the air with this car. He said he thinks he has someone that will deliver it to me, so at least I know I will get the car, then pay, rather than paying and not having the car in my possession - now that was scary.

FWIW, here are some photos of the car....
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../88300sel4.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../88300sel3.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...s/88300sel.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../88300sel2.jpg
Admittedly, the pics were better than what I was visualizing in my mind when you said you were buying this thing off Craig's sight-unseen.

Still, the only way to know the mechanical condition is going out to see it. I still think a $250 plane ticket (or less if you like it, since then you could just get a 1-way ticket and drive it back) is cheaper than getting it and finding out you have to dump $3k into it right off the bat.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. All in all, I still say you should pass on this one unless you can either have it inspected by a dealer (NOT the seller's mechanic, who for all you know could be his friend or cousin), or drive it in person.

86560SEL 10-02-2008 11:05 PM
Yeah, when she replied 260K, that was an immediate decision of no. :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by johnathan1 (Post 1982352)
Whoa...260k miles? No thanks...

86560SEL 10-02-2008 11:09 PM
Yeah and the rest of the car is just as nice. If he is willing to drive it up here for me to see before I buy, I am going on the hopes he would not drive a POS up here smoking and missing. I warned him that I wanted a tight car and I was aware of the issues some of these cars had. (Valve seals, head gaskets, etc).

I personally wish I could fly and see it, but my time is so limited and I cannot do that. My next day off is Sunday and I have to entertain out of town relatives Sunday-Tuesday (which is my next day off), then I am not off until Saturday, which is our family reunion where we have tons of relatives coming from Georgia, South Carolina and some from Michigan... then I am not off until the next weekend, when I have to drive my grandmother (on the other side of the family) to South Carolina to visit some relatives. So there is no way I could go down there. :(


Quote:
Originally Posted by CWW (Post 1982358)
Admittedly, the pics were better than what I was visualizing in my mind when you said you were buying this thing off Craig's sight-unseen.

Still, the only way to know the mechanical condition is going out to see it. I still think a $250 plane ticket (or less if you like it, since then you could just get a 1-way ticket and drive it back) is cheaper than getting it and finding out you have to dump $3k into it right off the bat.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. All in all, I still say you should pass on this one unless you can either have it inspected by a dealer (NOT the seller's mechanic, who for all you know could be his friend or cousin), or drive it in person.

86560SEL 10-02-2008 11:28 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnathan1 (Post 1982352)

That 300SEL looks great! I'd say its worth at least $1200.
He wants $2100. Did you mean to put $2100, or really mean $1200? :confused:;)

johnathan1 10-03-2008 01:16 AM
I thought I read $1200 for some reason... even at $2100 it still looks to be worth it...how many miles are on it?

86560SEL 10-03-2008 01:27 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnathan1 (Post 1982569)
I thought I read $1200 for some reason... even at $2100 it still looks to be worth it...how many miles are on it?
149K miles. Clean Carfax - always a southeastern car - no rust at all. Garage kept, hence the nice interior. Some wear though for a 20 year old car. ;)

Here are a couple more more photos. I really like it.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../88300sel7.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../88300sel6.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../88300sel5.jpg

CWW 10-03-2008 10:43 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by 86560SEL (Post 1982577)
149K miles. Clean Carfax - always a southeastern car - no rust at all. Garage kept, hence the nice interior. Some wear though for a 20 year old car. ;)

Here are a couple more more photos. I really like it.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../88300sel7.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../88300sel6.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../88300sel5.jpg
The rims need repainting, but my local dealer does that for $50/rim, so that's no biggie.

Interior looks good, except for the cracked center console wood trim. I know William Rau refinishes those for $350 or so. It has become impossible to find good (non-cracked) ones on eBay lately. Needs a new radio antenna, which is $100 or so. All in all, not bad!

From what I see in the photos, for <$1k it would be immaculate. However, that is assuming everything mechanical is 100% which is still a big assumption.

Hatterasguy 10-03-2008 02:22 PM
Really refinished wood costs $350? I paid that for a brand new center console piece from the dealer!

You have a lot of options on the wheels. Personaly I would get a spray gun and shoot them myself.

CWW 10-03-2008 07:17 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hatterasguy (Post 1982983)
Really refinished wood costs $350? I paid that for a brand new center console piece from the dealer!

You have a lot of options on the wheels. Personaly I would get a spray gun and shoot them myself.
You can't just buy a new piece, unfortunately, if you want it to look right.

The only way to hve the new piece match the others is to send off both the piece you want refinished and another piece from the interior (usually the ashtray), and then the refinisher color-matches it and also match the finish, so in addition to being the same color, the new piece also isn't more "shiny" than the old, etc.

If you just buy a new piece and stick it on, it will be the wrong color, the wrong finish, the grain probably won't match, and it will wind up sticking out like a sore thumb.

-Chris

Hatterasguy 10-03-2008 10:26 PM
I thought so to, and since it wasn't for my car I don't really care. But its pretty close. The biggest difference is the old stuff is 20 years old and it shows. After 20 years the finish turns kind of white and gets scratched from use. Its kind of like patching varnish on a boat it isn't perfect. MB does a good job with the grain, if you were to order a new center console, ash try, climate control, and dash all at once, it would match pretty good.

When I do my SDL, after the paint I'll do all the wood at once.

Its not like on my friends Rybovich where the grain is book ended and the draws an doors actualy disapear the joints are so tight.

CWW 10-03-2008 11:13 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hatterasguy (Post 1983392)
I thought so to, and since it wasn't for my car I don't really care. But its pretty close. The biggest difference is the old stuff is 20 years old and it shows. After 20 years the finish turns kind of white and gets scratched from use. Its kind of like patching varnish on a boat it isn't perfect. MB does a good job with the grain, if you were to order a new center console, ash try, climate control, and dash all at once, it would match pretty good.

When I do my SDL, after the paint I'll do all the wood at once.

Its not like on my friends Rybovich where the grain is book ended and the draws an doors actualy disapear the joints are so tight.
Ya well, that's what you get when you drop $1mil on a 45ft boat. Lol. A floating work of art.

My 1971 38' Roamer leaves a little to be desired compared to that. LOL. The mildew stains are book-matched, I swear! jk. (ok not really jk...lol)

86560SEL 10-04-2008 12:52 AM
Thanks. Yeah, I will eventually have the wheels redone, but not a big deal - I have never had a car with nice wheels, so its not a concern. :P

I guess I have decided to buy it... he is bringing it Sunday afternoon.

TBH, technically, I will really only have about $700 in this car. I did some trading with a old wagon I had (that I paid $700 for in the year 2000), "traded it, traded and traded" and made a good profit on a car (which I still sold at a bargain price, because I was getting offers higher than I sold it for after I sold it). ;)

Hatterasguy 10-04-2008 01:09 AM
Roamer is a good boat. I'm a HUGE Chris Craft fan, love them. Think they are one of the most underrated boats on the market.

But yes, for $1m+ actualy you do get one hell of a wood sculpture for 44ft.:D:D The saloon looks like it grew in place...whoever does the wood on those is a true artist!:cool:

I worked on boats for years, I lost count of the varnish projects that we have done.

86560SEL 10-05-2008 01:06 AM
Well, thanks for the tips... I guess I am buying this car (and passing on a W140 for now)... the owner is driving it up from central Georgia in the morning - about a 4 1/2 hour drive. Lets hope its a good one. :)


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