Ebay 220 Coupe, what's it worth?

[1969280s]

I followed this car during its last auction and missed it. Being a Euro, how much does that effect the value? I like it.

Best,

David

[1969280s]

Sorry, below is the link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6329&viewitem=&item=290195456844&_trksid=p3907.m29

[t walgamuth]

A euro? not much difference in that era I would think. speedo in kilos, maybe.

The steering wheel with the blue in the center looks like my 190c fintail did, after I changed the center material. From the factory the center was ivory to match the wheel.

What's it worth? Dunno....maybe 30K?

Tom W

[POS]

1) Many people think that the Euro will be more complicated and harder to get parts for - those days are gone. You can get Euro parts just as easily as US parts.

2) The Euro versions usually have a different "style" than the US versions - I always prefer the Euro versions. That coupe looks fantastic as it is - I'd have bought it too!

3) How does Euro affect value? In that particular case not at all and possibly makes it worth more because of its "style". For an '80s car, generally speaking the Euros are cheaper than the US versions.

I'd say it's worth the $15,000 if the car is close-to-perfect, but they seldem are. The Seller writes "THE UNDERCARRIAGE,THIS BEING A HAWAII IS ROCK SOLID WITH NO RUST" (sic) - how an island that is surrounded by 24/7 salt air is not conducive to rust, I have no idea. Certainly, the manual tranny and sunroof make it a very cool car to own, but I'd bet the car has had a LOT of work to it over the years.

[t walgamuth]

oh, I see they're only asking 15K...so I guess it's not worth more than that!

Tom W

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Well it sounds like a bargain compared to recent $100K+ muscle-car prices, but seller's comment about 'tiny bubble - surface rust' doesn't reassure! Thumbnail of front fender appears to show a couple of significant brown spots, but I was unable to upload an enlarged veiw. Another tempting car that I wouldn't even consider without seeing it in person.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[1969280s]

Yes, there is some definable bubbling around the rockers and the fender area. He has countered my offer closer to $11k, should I bite or wait for something truly rust free (which has been next to impossible to find).

best,

David

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Typically, 'bubbling' is not minor surface rust, but indicates that it's rustiing through from inside. Unless you can go inspect that car in person and satisfy yourself that it's good enough for you to pay 11K, I say keep looking.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[cth350]

yes, that car MUST be inspected for rust carefully. (1) it's recently painted white it seems; great for hiding body work (2) the owner would rather have a buick. While that seems like a strange reason to worry, somebody who would make such a change casually isn't all that attached to the car.

As to the euroness factor, that's an issue in the lates 70s and 80s, not in the 50s, 60s cars except for a few minor differences, like lights and instruments.

-CTH

[deanyel]

220SE coupes are not worth $15k - period. There must be an exception to that rule but this car wouldn't be it - not that strong.

[t walgamuth]

I saw one of these recently from Italy. Rust free and in good mechanical fettle. I don't remember the price. I wouldn't buy any of the pre 123 cars unless they are completely rust free from a dry climate. They aren't worth enough to warrent rust repair...any of them, IMHO.


Tom W

[300SDog]

David, you can short-circuit ebay auctions by showing up to view the car before auction ends and fanning wad of cash say $10,000 in auctioneers face. Even me the cobbler thinks you'll never see 220SEb comparable to this manual windowed sunroof 4-spd coupe at 75% cosmetic/immac restored condition for less than $8-10K USD.

My chief concern would be pitted bores, fouled injector pump, dried out seals, corroded rings and petrified leaky fossil hydraulics from sittin undriven - with ridiculous low 27k miles spending most its life in estate garage at tiny little Hawaii island. Do not be nutty about rust, says me. But I'm assuming you're interested in rare pleasure of owning/driving 1960's MB for highest and best USE VALUE instead of collecting garage art.

[Mark DiSilvestro]

2 years ago, I had the chance to buy a local '63 220SE coupe for $2000. Manual floorshift & power-steering, but more rust, ratty leather & dash-wood, and wrong wheels (bundt-cakes). if I had a garage, didn't already have a rusty Fintail, and the local authorities weren't on a mission to stomp on car collectors, I probably would have bought it. I could have patched it up and made a driver out of it, but a proper restoration would have been out of the question. Still, for 2K, I would be more tolerant of flaws and defects, than at 11K to 15K.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[deanyel]

Originally Posted by 300SDog

My chief concern would be pitted bores, fouled injector pump, dried out seals, corroded rings and petrified leaky fossil hydraulics from sittin undriven - with ridiculous low 27k miles spending most its life in estate garage at tiny little Hawaii island. Do not be nutty about rust, says me. But I'm assuming you're interested in rare pleasure of owning/driving 1960's MB for highest and best USE VALUE instead of collecting garage art.

This is not a low miles car and he's not even putting any effort into claiming or supporting that it is. It's a 5 digit odometer - could be 127k, could be 227k, could be 327k, could a replacement odometer, could be a new odometer when it entered the U.S., could be rolled back, could be just about anything. But what it clearly isn't is 27k km car (about 16k miles). An amazing number of sellers of these old things will just give you the odometer reading with no support for it. The number on the odometer is meaningless.

[dmtinker]

Originally Posted by POS

The Seller writes "THE UNDERCARRIAGE,THIS BEING A HAWAII IS ROCK SOLID WITH NO RUST" (sic)

I've been to Hawaii twice and EVERYTHING was rusty. I agree, I have no clue what he's talking about.

A note about the 4 speed manual tranny, they are fun but if you plan on a long drive (more than 20 miles) they are very tiring.