Since I've decided to pass on the 420SEL, I'm traveling a few hours away on Friday to look at a 1995 E320 wagon. It has 149,000, with the current owner only contributing 10,000 over his 3 years of ownership. The previous owner was apparently a female bank executive who traveled in it extensively, and did replace the wiring harness along with decent maintenance. As far as the current owner knows, the evaporator and head gasket are original to the car. The only known issue by the owner is non-functional head light wipers which he thought not worth fixing, but has had some non-scheduled maintenance work done over the years.

The seller was initially asking $5,000, but explained that he is very motivated to sell, and was planning on dropping the price $1,000 due to lack of interest. He claims to be a professional photographer whose business has slowed down considerably and needs cash.

The car looks to be in, and the seller attests to, excellent condition inside and out, but there is always a drawback.

Since the car has heated seats, Its likely to have the lovely ASR system. At least you know what to do with a bad head gasket or evaporator, but from what I've read, following fault codes in these electronic systems can be expensive or exhausting for a DIY. Is ASR really that bad, by the way?

So, here I go again... Is this car a good deal at 3-4k?

__________________
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!!!