1986 560 SEL Seattle/Vancouver

[The_Professor]

Hi:

I just bought this car about a couple of months ago, right after getting back from China, and now I have just been sent overseas for yet another two years! Sheesh!!!!

I will have some pics taken in a couple of days, but for now, here are the specs:

All black exterior, with tinted rear windows. It also has the "gold package" which is gold plated exterior trim (hood ornament, washer jets, rear trunk star, rear trunk 560 sel emblem). Grey leather interior. It looks really sharp and gets lots of looks.

Odometer reads about 89,000 miles, but no guarantee about that (I have not carfaxed it). From an appearance point of view, it looks very new, but I am simply unsure and I have no records. The guy I bought it off of was a corporate lawyer I know well whose wife was supposed to use it - but they lived in a downtown condo and the car was too big for running around shopping in the downtown core. He owned it for about 4 years and the car sat in the underground parking for month after month after month. Before that, for a number of years it was a private limousine-for-hire that was used very rarely (essentially a private car for senior execs coming into Vancouver). I know both of the prior owners. The car was originally from California, but came to the west coast of Canada just over a decade ago. There are no snowy winters here, and there is also no damaging sun - cars last a very long time here because the climate is mild, year round. Dash cracks and clear coat issues are very rare here and rust is indicative of a car from somewhere else.

The car is in very good condition, and I had it checked out by two independent mechanics and they gave it relative thumbs up (more later in this post).

Everything works, except the rear interior dome light (it is not the bulb & I can't figure out what it might be). There is not a speck of rust on the car and the paint has a very good shine. The interior is in GREAT condition, but the seats could probably use a rebuild to make them perfect (probably not a major item). The driver's seat sags a bit cause the limo guy was pretty big. The leather is clean, conditioned, etc. The driver's seat has a rubbed marking from the seat belt (common). There are brand new floor mats (genuine, original Mercedes), a premium Sony am/fm/tape/cd with a 10 CD stacker (in trunk).

The car drives very strong, easy start, smooth running, and so on. The rear accumulators were just replaced last week (with a complete system flush, etc), the battery the week before, and new tires the week before that. All fluids, etc, done. One mechanic said it has a new alternator, new water pump, new fuel pumps, new hoses and a major tune-up (new wires, etc). The dash light which shows a burnt out bulb comes on when you turn the lights on - so I had every single bulb, inside and out, replaced with genuine mercedes bulbs (over a hundred bucks for that!) - and it still comes on, so it might be that the headlight bulbs need changing.

The windshield is original, without cracks or chips (usually a sign of higher mileage is a replacement).

Here is what I was going to do this month to make it a super cool car:

Timing Chain (unknown history, so I was going to be safe and my mechanic said he'd do it all for about $500 CDN)
Valve adjustment (again, unknown history, but apparently it is a recommended maintenance item)
Change both of the plastic air intake hoses that go from the front of the car to the air cleaner (both are cracked - apparently very common and about $10 each on ebay, but no one local has them in stock and all the recycle yards have cracked hoses too)
New belts (I'd get them doen with the chain)
New motor mounts (one mechanic said to do them cause it is an easy thing - the other said not yet needed)

It is a good car that burns no oil - have put 2,200 miles on it since buying it and the oil is clean and right up there. The only concern I have with this car is that it sat around for a long time for the past few years - previously, it had light limo use, but was washed/waxed at least once a week, and well maintained (I know the guy & he is a nut for perfection). Anyway, I've finished almost all of the fluids, etc.

I am going to let it go for about $4,500 Canadian (obo), which is about $3,750 US (obo). I can deliver it to the Northwest. Given that the car started in the US, I would guess that it can be easily imported back, but I haven't checked.

It is a very good buy, in my view ... and I have owned many different cars over the years.

I will get those pics as soon as possible. In the interim, feel free to email me at:

jr_thwaites@hotmail.com

The car is in the Vancouver, BC area so locals can pop by any time.

Any questions, email me.