'71 280S - Did I pay too much?

[RollsR]

1971 280S. I know it's a one-owner car.
[I was friends with the old lady who bought it new]. Basically, very good shape. Great interior, no rust. Paint in decent shape. I can [fairly] easily refinish wood on inside. Had to put new mufflers on; A/C hose still needs to be replaced, as do the belts, the valves need adjusting, needs an antenna, heat control knobs, nylon bushings in steering coupling, one window regulator, and transmission filter. Odometer reads 49,000; but that could mean 149,000, 249,000 or 349,000...!
Did I pay too much at $3,000?
thanks.

[ctaylor738]

I would say that you paid a fair price for what sounds like a pretty nice original car. How fair will depend on what you need to put into it to keep it on the road over the next year or so.

By way of comparison, there is a very nice 280S with <100K for sale in this area. The asking price is $6600 and it has been on the market for a couple of months with no takers.

I would recommend that you see if you can get some records from the PO to document the mileage.

Don't undertake any ambitious upgrades, though. It's hard to see how it would ever sell for more than $5K.

[cth350]

As long as "no rust" means there was NEVER any rust to the undercarrage and there still isn't any, then you did fine. Have you had the car on a lift to look at its belly?

-CTH