Based on what I have seen in the resale market...140 cars will not be a great value when you look at current resale...especially in the S320 and S600 interations......
this issue seemed to get worse when the new S-class car was introduced.Although I think the same issue applies to the 126 body car
I have looked at the 140 coupes and even with their rarity I have been amazed at what you can buy a 98-99 S600 coupe for...a good example can be had with 50K miles or less for under 30 grand...talk about a car that stickered for $135,000 now going for the upper 20's....do the math on that one



Warren
1992 300Sd 175K
Columbus Ohio

I wanted to change a comment I made earlier about the car becoming rare/collectable because of maintenance or lack thereof. My thinking was flawed, if this were true all new MB's would be collectables in 12 years.

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Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

I think more like 7-8 years would be the case if the repair/maintenance cost versus the value of the car is the sole reason...then there are many listers in this forum that are upside down as they have put more money in the vehicle that its current market value



Warren
1992 300SD 175K
Columbus Ohio

i think many of you are too busy looking at the wrong end of the telescope. the term 'collectible' is as subjective as it is misleading. i would be using the term 'desireable' instead.
i'm an indy dealer. i can tell you this much about dealer auctions, whenever an older, clean, reasonable miles S-body Benz comes in the lane its a dealer feeding frenzy. based on 'book value', the older S-Class bring more proportionally than the newer series of MB's. i have seen dealers consistently pay 2-3 times book value on these older cars. why? well, there's still a lot of folks who can't shell out $40-80K to get world-class engineering.

and, there's no real mystery to it. as one poster said, some of this is due to wanting when you could'nt afford it. as many MB's were very advanced for their time, they still make excellent road cars even now. the S-class will always be a grand automobile no matter what and the long body runs help to blur the line of model-year. this, and more, add up to a 'mystique-value-quotient' that adds desire for the brand.

as a matter of fact, just today i bought an '85 500SE. i've always thought these cars had some wonderfully subtle styling features and they were leaner looking than the U.S. version cars. when i put it on my lot at $4-5K, there'll be a lot of prospects who will only be able to comparison-shop that price with a Taurus at 100K miles. what would you rather have?

wow....it's obvious by the number and intensity of posts to my original thread , that there is a true dicotomy when it comes to the 140. Strangely enough I embrace both sides of the issue: I believe it was a way over-engineered car with it's share of flaws, very expensive to own and maintain....but, by the same token I think it is a phenominal automobile with attributes beyond ANY other car made. It will never become a collectors car per se (particularly in the sedan incarnations), but it will always impress. Someone had mentioned in a previous post that the 600 was a virtual limo. The same can be said for the 500SEL but with a slightlly smaller engine...these are not your typical 4 door sedans!
BTW...when I first obtained my 500 I too thought that the power (inside) rear-view mirror was simply WAY over-indulgence and was totally unneccesary. But, there is reason behind the madness: It's the only way that mirror position could be retained in driver memory. As for the "antennae" defining the rear corners.....wouldn't it be a shame to bump a $100,000+ car into something backing up because you (or an occasional driver, such as a valet parker?) wasn't sure exactly where the corner was? As far as "just something else to go wrong"....if it goes bad and you didn't like it to begin with then don't fix it....it's not like it's a critical componant.
I had been considering selling my 500, and even had two inquiries when it was in the shop for rear suspension work, but I simply don't think I can part with it.....warts and all.

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1996 SL320 97K miles
1996 C220 130k miles
1992 500SEL 170k miles <---sold
1986 300E 216k miles <---sold

Hmmm... didn't 140's become a more "reliable" (for lack of a better term) after a particular year. Was it '95? Seems to me there were some changes made, but I don't recall.

post 96 ones were supposed to be better.

my 148,000 mile CL isn't perfect (re-spray identified by body shop, stone chips - badly fixed, squeeking door card / dash interface, parking sensors dodgy, extreme heat erratic idle after long journey / long trafic jam)
- but compared to my GF's vauxhall / opel / GM astra (2 litre 16V 4 cyl 200 bhp 750 kg iconic boy racer car) 1990 110,000 mile car with completely shot wings (8 hours of swearing and welding by me) it isn't in bad condition imho...

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C140 420 CL
W114 280CE pimpmobile
W114 250/8 Hillclimber with M110 and bike carbs - got any hot cams?

Yeah, I got a better term for you; After 1994, they weren't quite as big of a heap, but they were still heaps.

Gilly

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Click here to see the items I have up for auction at EBay

Click here to see a photo album of my '62 Sprite Project Moneypit (Now Sold)

I don't find that those are really that useful...better than nothing for such a large car...yes.....but not really that useful in a tight situation...

the newer park distance controls(..ie..parktronic) are much better at this ...maybe thats why they stopped with the antennas after 96(?) and some of the later models indeed have the new park distance control

As for realiability there is no doubt the latter ones were better...actually if you have an early one with updated parts, its a lot better and actually pretty realiable
The first couple of years of ownership of my car were a nightmare..the car spent a lot of time at the MB for repairs that were thankfully done under warranty and I think I got most of the updates that MB had done on the car and its related repair parts at the time
The last three years I have had only problems that you would associate with any benz that is 12 years old and has 175K miles


Warren
1992 300Sd 175K
Columbus Ohio

Hehe, I'll stick with the 126s for a while.

I second that emotion......

Gilly

__________________
Click here to see the items I have up for auction at EBay

Click here to see a photo album of my '62 Sprite Project Moneypit (Now Sold)

Completely different cars...like night and day
Once you get accustomed to the 140....all the gadgets included its hard to go back
Having owned both 126 and 140 cars I can tell you there is a big difference



Warren
1992 300SD 175K
Columbus Ohio

.......And having worked on both the 126 and 140 cars, I totally agree there is no comparison (keep the 126 Ted!)

Gilly

__________________
Click here to see the items I have up for auction at EBay

Click here to see a photo album of my '62 Sprite Project Moneypit (Now Sold)

Gilly....my, you have what appears to be a disproportionate distaste for this particular model....care to elaborate exactly why? My first guess is that you had one that cost you a small fortune....am I correct?

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1996 SL320 97K miles
1996 C220 130k miles
1992 500SEL 170k miles <---sold
1986 300E 216k miles <---sold

do you expect anything that expensive to be cheap to fix?

if financial outlay is the primary concern you would probably be looking at another make period...don't you think?

where is the line between what you are willing to deal with because you like it much more(and will pay more for it) and what you call just a utility piece where the least expensive article gets the nod...just because of price?

and btw the tech that has done 90% of the work on my car has never complained about working on the vehicle...seems to know the vehicle inside and out along with its faults and strengths..never heard him express any difficulty

Warren
1992 300SD 175K
Columbus Ohio