Late 1970s 280SE value?

Today I saw a nice looking late 1970s 280SE at a local used car lot. I looked at it, and it seemed to be in decent condition. The body had a few small rust bubbles, but didn't look bad. The interior was black MB Tex with cloth, and has the manual climate control with no A/C. Had manual windows, and electric sunroof. The engine appeared to start right up, however it was burning some oil, and I could see the engine had some oil leaks on it. I didn't get a chance to drive it, but the asking price was $2500, but I think the car is maybe worth closer to $1500...

[68_Mercedes]

Blue book on it is certainly under $2,500. Keep looking, there are better deals to be had out there... or go haggle the heck out of that car lot...

[fintail]

I'd take away the "2", as you can get a sharp 116 for not a whole lot more than $2500. There's a nice 2 owner 6.9 with a little over 100K on it sitting on a lot in my town, could be had for 6K ish I bet.

I just saw this car driving around today, and some cute girl bought it , the car isn't that bad looking now either, she must have put a little bit of money into it, but it still does smoke, but not as much as it did on the car lot...

Said 280SE is up for sale again, this time it's $2495, but it's had a brake job, and looks like some of the other minor issues have been repaired. I think when I have seen it driving around town, it hasn't smoked, so the engine issues look like they have been cleared up too.

[300SDog]

And that's the 280 twincam fuel injected 6 cyl engine??

Start up smoke sounds like valve seals, not fatal. Complete head job includes guides and valves at/near $500 if you pull the cyl head yourself, otherwise double the price if you outsource the labor.

Usual killer on the 280 twincam is lobes wearing down if oil is not changed regularly and valve clearances are not kept to spec. You can inspect this visually by pulling the camshaft carrier cover.

What kinda trade will they give you on other cars listed in your signature?