How much does my Convertable worth?

[meran]

I have a 1970 280 SE convertible, low grill in showroom condition. Took me 3 years to get it to perfect shape. It has a new mercedes Indium Gray(dark Cooper) with beige interior. Like to advertise it for sale. I have seen $50,000 to $180,000 on ebay. Like to see what I should advertise the car for. Any ideas?

[Tomguy]

Depends on a LOT of stuff, but mainly how thorough the restoration was, and the model.

Is it a 250SE, 280SE, 280SL, 280SE, or 280SE 3.5? Is it manual or automatic? Is the color of the exterior and interior original (IE: Matches the data plate)?

[meran]

It is a 280SE W111 body with 6 cylender engine. Auto, fact. Ac Not original color , but removed all old paint to metal. all MBZ parts. all new interior, roof.

[cth350]

best way to find a good client at that price range? Join the SL Market Letter and subscribe there. It's like 65$ for a year's subscription. Lots of high end cars present as well as price surveys. -CTH

[Blue 72 250]

post pictures for us to evaluate

[Q45Denver]

Originally Posted by meran

I have a 1970 280 SE convertible, low grill in showroom condition. Took me 3 years to get it to perfect shape. It has a new mercedes Indium Gray(dark Cooper) with beige interior. Like to advertise it for sale. I have seen $50,000 to $180,000 on ebay. Like to see what I should advertise the car for. Any ideas?

You would do best to list this car on eBay. Attracts a much wider audience and overseas buyers. The weak dollar make these especially attractive. For whatever reason an verifiable original 3.5 convertible will sell for much more than the 6. Was it professionally restored? If so, how much do you have in it?

[alabbasi]

i'll trade you 10 of my cars for it :-)

[Dee8go]

I'd love to see a picture(s) of it before you sell it. Good luck.

[Tomguy]

It's not the original color, so that'll hurt the resale value. It's only a 2.8 vs a 3.5, which have for some reason tripled in asking price the last 3-4 years.

The 2.8 Cabrio, in mint condition, is probably $60k. Yours, not the original color and having been restored, is probably a $45k car. It depends on what the market can currently bear, and what the (very rare) buyer is willing to pay.

[Gregg Bambo Jr.]

Be very careful when dealing with Ebay buyers, especially international. I had my 220 cabriolet advertised and had to deal with some professional scammers. Some were almost like the Nigerian contingent. Example: " I represent a buyer that will pay your full price plus $5000. I will send you a check for the total and you can send me a check for $5000" to cover my expenses for arranging shipping and representation!!!

[deanyel]

eBay buyers? eBay buyers are harmless. The worst they can do is screw up your auction and not follow through on the sale. eBay sellers are the killer. Misrepresented car, no title, no car - the list is endless. The whole ponzi scheme is rigged to benefit the seller. But to the original question - Americans aren't buying these cars at these prices. It's going to Europe either directly or through an American broker.

[cphilip]

Originally Posted by deanyel

eBay buyers? eBay buyers are harmless. The worst they can do is screw up your auction and not follow through on the sale. eBay sellers are the killer. Misrepresented car, no title, no car - the list is endless. The whole ponzi scheme is rigged to benefit the seller. But to the original question - Americans aren't buying these cars at these prices. It's going to Europe either directly or through an American broker.

Amen. I was the Victim of a seller that misrepresented the car. And the only negative out of almost 200 transactions on eBay came from him. He neg'd me while I was on the long drive back after rejecting the car. Trying to protect himself.

Misrepresented the car as a low mileage car and factory paint job and listed all things working. Get there to find odometer not working, poor respray, lots of things not working including all locks and AC not working among other things. The guy didn't have the smarts to fix the odometer to cover his lies.

Luckily I was close enough not to pay a deposit and could get down there the next day or I wouldn't even have bid. However far enough away and timing left me not to be able to look at it before auction ended. So I asked all the right questions in email so I had them in writing. He keeps wanting me to call him. I finally do AFTER I have all the attestations in writing. I get there, point out all the things wrong and he gets mad. He says make an offer. I do but its not near enough for him and he gets madder. I get invited to leave so I do. Bad experience. This guy sells them after he "restores" them but they are hardly restored. And I am sure he has taken a few people before. But not many has he sold on eBay. But... All I could do was return the negative.

He claimed I had cost him money. I was the one that drove 260 miles for nothing and wasted both my time and my wifes time. And he can always relist it. I am out my fuel and time. I was going to just do a mutual withdrawal but he decides to jump on a negative while I am traveling back. So I neg'd him a good one when I got back. A negative for him about misrepresentation will hurt him more than me. I have a good record otherwise and now he has 2 negatives on eBay and one for misrepresentation. Unfortunately eBay feedback did not allow me the room to describe the depth of wrong this car and seller really had. Or it would be the end of his selling. It might be enough to hurt him and I hope so. The guy is flashing over the restorations and then bullying people into buying when they point out the flaws.

But he is out nothing. He resold the car I am certain. And put little into it.

[deanyel]

Pretty common story I think. I know a trucker who says he often sees jaws drop when he delivers eBay cars to buyers - and this after they have paid both for the car and the shipping. I think there is a common misperception on eBay that winning buyers must do their due dilligence before bidding, and thereby entering into the contract. In fact the listing and any other representations made by the seller are a part of that contract. If those representations are false, and the buyer relied upon them, the seller has committed what's known as fraud in the inducement. This renders the contract voidable by the buyer, regardless of when the misstatement is uncovered. Of course this only works before you've paid, because whoever has the money is in control given the difficulty of litigation. You did it right - hope you at least enjoyed the ride. It feels to me like eBay is headed towards a class action lawsuit of some sort on their mismanagement / lack of management of the feedback system.

[Baltobenz]

After attempting to buy a 280se 4.5 in Florida off of ebay I've vowed never to bid on a car before I've seen it. Even then, my jaw has dropped upon actually seeing some of the cars. Some people are unrealistic, others are just shameless.
But this is about selling meran's convertible. Ebay is good for access to the European market but it also depends on the seller's feedback rating. If meran is new to ebay, the car may not get bid up as high as it would with an established seller. It's worth a shot, just set a reserve price you're comfortable with.