Wow, I did not know that prices varied so much across the US
I am hoping to find a killer deal like some of you have found, but alas they are few and far between. Some of the prices that members paid give me a general idea of what I should look for as
far as price. Of cource, the general idea is to buy the best car for the least money. I appreciate all your replys.

Wishing all of you and yours a Merry Christmas!

Deals are to be had everywhere. If you find an acceptable carr being sold by a private owner. Offer them 60-70% of what they are asking. They may balk at your offer but if you politely contact them every week or two, they will probably rationalize accepting the lower price. Let's face it, it can be a pain to sell a car. After a certain amount of time it's not worth few extra bucks to keep holding on to it.

1992 500E w/62k miles bought 1 year ago for 21k. Smokin' deal if you ask me.

__________________
Jon
'92 500E

1984 300sd with 199K miles bought 2/2001 for $1750 off ebay (love that car)
1986 560sel with 118k miles bought 11/2003 for $3750 off ebay
neither car was perfect but I love them both anyways

David

__________________
David
1986 560SEL Black and Big 118k
1984 300SD Black and Beautiful 200k
1993 600SEL Lorinser FAST!!!

Apparently.... I'm still paying for it... One part at a time..

$5500 with 140K

Probably $1200 worth of parts so far, still needs more. Sure is pretty, but I'm still hesitant to go too far from home...

__________________
89 300SEL Money Pit

92 Blown Buick Ultra Pimpmobile 220K and adding 1K per week

88 Wagoneer Slightly modified (Not for soccer moms)

04 Kia Sedona with every option... NICE

For my 1988 190e, 2.3L 8 valve car, I paid (if I recall correctly) US$6,500 for it in 1996 in Miami, Florida with 62,000 miles on it. I purchased it from the second owner of the car who had to sell it because he was moving to Colorado and needed a 4-wheel drive vehicle. The only problem that the car had when I purchased it was that one of the windows did not roll down and the owner did not know why and he was selling as is. Of course I used this premise to talk him down quite a bit on the vehicle. The fix was a $10 window switch from the junkyard. By the way, the car was never in any accident and all service records from the dealership.

Currently, the car has 151,000 miles on it and is still running. Over the years I have done the following work to maintain or repair it:

Repaired AC vacuum system - 8 months ago
New Klima Relay - 8 months ago
New rotors - 3 years ago
New shocks - 2 years ago
New Upper Front Shock Mounts - 2 years ago
New Ball Joints - 2 weeks ago
New tie rods - 1 month ago
New Control Arm Bushings - 2 weeks ago
New cat. converter - 4 years ago
New Flex Discs - 1 year ago
New Motor and Tranny Mounts - 2 months ago
New timing chain and rails - 2 months ago
New belt tensioner - 2 months ago
Rebuilt Alternator - 9 months ago
New water pump - 2 years ago

This is what I can remember off the top of my head. other than this, I have always done the oil at 3,000 KM or 3 months and the tranny fluid changed about once a year. And of course new tires, brake pads and serpintine belt when needed.

Currently, this past weekend I started, to fix the radio antenna, motor was blown and had it repaired - need to reinstall. And the sunroof. The tilt angle brackets are not working smoothly and am currently working on it (another post - "almost fixed sunroof" dated 20-Dec-2003.)

Things left to be done soon:
Rear Subframe mounts - I suspect in the near future given the milage
New O2 Sensor - since I have my doubts if the current one is functioning properly
New dash cover - mine is cracked in three places due to the extreme sun in Miami and now in Guatemala.
New Seat springs - for my comfort w/in the next year.
Euro Lights - to be done when I find a local 190e that has been dismantled.
Need to check to the vaccum lock system since it stopped operating this past friday - could be a fuse need to check it out though did not have time over the weekend.
New rear passanger window regulator. Mine is not functioning correctly - motor is ok just the hardware parts - also waiting for a local dismantled 190 to get this.

In end, I believe that this has been my best purchase of any used vehicle that I have ever owned! If I were to add up the cost of the repairs and maintanance and divide it by the years that I have owned the car, I would certainly come out at less than $50 a month! (excluding of course the purchase of the car but even to factor that in I would be in the neighborhood of $120 a month or aproximately $0.11 a mile).

Side note: I did pay, in the end after playing with some numbers and corporations, $2,500 for the import duties in 2,000 in bringing the car with me to Guatemala.

Iggy

__________________
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

2006 - Suzuki Gran Vitara (2.0 L fully equipped) Like this car so far except for trying to put on the seatbelt.
1988 - 190e - 2.3L - 172K miles (It now belongs to the exwife)
1999 - Chevy Blazer LS Fully Equiped - killed it June 2006
2001 - Honda Civic EX - 68K miles (sold June 2004)
1963 - 220S - Dual Carb 6 cyl. (sold)
1994 - Yamaha WaveRaider (fun to ride)

1991 560sel $7600 from ebay 10/2002. Been pretty good replaced most of the fuel and ignition on it and rear diff so spent an additional $2500 in parts and labour. Very happy with her.
m

__________________
Martin Ingram
Colorado Springs
2005 320 CDI
2006.5 VW Jetta TDI
1991 560SEL (179000 Sold)
1972 280SEL 4.5 ('The Lead Sled' 320000 miles when sold.)
1972 220D (225000 when sold)

1988TE - purchased with 110,000 miles for $8000 over a year and a half ago. Mechanically and exterior was mint, the interior showed a few signs of having had multiple children inside. Interior is now nearly perfect and exterior remains great - better than before, in fact, with Euro exterior lighting. Mechanically, showing a little leak at the timing chain cover, but otherwise, hums like a top.

For some reason, it is more expensive to insure than a newer 525i I owned for a couple of years, but the annual registration runs about $90.

Others previously owned -

1986 300E with 122,000. $6000. Took an additional $2000 to make it perfect. Sold to a friend for $6000 who is taking even better care than I did. Awesom car.

Owned a very good 240D as well. Bought for $2000, sold it in need of an injection pump. New owner replaced the injection pump and 5 months later it threw interior engine parts out onto the Bay Bridge.

__________________
David

His:
2003 Dodge Durango SLT
2002 BMW E39 530i Sport
1988 Mercedes 300TE
Hers:
2003 Chevrolet Suburban
1999 E430

1984 300SD with 199K mi $4200 about 5 years ago (now has 310K mi). Has been very reliable with few maintanance issues. Oh and the AC and cruse never worked under my ownership and I never bothered fixing them. Just waiting to get the 500,000km badge.

1992 400E with 135K mi $4800 bought 11/03. I figure this will have higher maint costs, but the grin factor is higher. Everything works on this one.

Paul

Bought my 92 500 SEL, with 67,000 miles, one year ago this coming January, for $17,500. I felt like I got a good deal for a car this age that was in pristine condition. Since then I've put about $1,500 into it for service and some annoying electrical problems, but the awesome ride and refinement of this car more than make up for the money spent.

Bought 1987 300E, <80k miles ) in excellent condition in/out except for few small dings, for $5000 last February. Very well equipped (auto, leather, pwr. seats, telescoping wheel, sunroof, the std. abs and dr. air bag, central locking, alarm, pwr. windows/mirror, etc.). Nothing wrong with it except one of the rear windows won't go down. Only problem I've had is the a/c went out and needs $500 fix, and the front ball joints and rear control arm bushings are worn and could use replacing. I think this was a pretty good price.

Paid 13,000 from a private party for a 1995 E420 with 39,000 miles and in perfect condition in the summer of 2002. Had to change the wiring harness a couple of months later, but at least Mercedes paid for the part. Drove 400+ miles, but it was the best ride home ever. Amazing car.

Francesco

1995 E420
1996 Lincoln Mark VIII
1976 Cadillac Seville

Hi
5'500$: that's the amount I paid for a 1992 300TE wagon with 126'000 miles two weeks ago. Condition is good with one minor dent, a few scatches and a bit of rust just below the rear light outside, and clean condition inside. First I thought it was a good price, but I had to do an initial repair to fix rear brakes, flex-disc, front shock, transmission oil etc. for $1500. Now I think it probably was not a super deal, although the car is clean and well running now. Yours, Bruno

midnightlsc,
Did they also pay for labor? How many hours is required to do this job on the wiring harness?

MapleLeaf,
Glad that your happy. They obviously didn't make any money on you.