New Member and hopefully soon a new 108 Owner eager for advice....

[nonextant]

Hi,
I am currently considering buying a 1969 208SEL. There is quite a bit of good and bad about the car.

The Bad:
Hole in rear Window
Electric Window Switches Missing
Windows do not want to stay up
Small Dent on rear quarter panel
Windshield wipers inop
White Steam from Exhaust
Ignition Switch, well, pretty jacked up. Can start with a screwdriver
Needs new battery
Needs paint
Missing chrome strip on Drivers side rear
cracked leather
small hole in Front Left Turn signal
Needs tuneup

The Good:
Only rust is a few dime sized spots behind the wheels on the fenders and some surface rust on the boot lid, but no rust in the floorboards, trunk, engine compartment, doors or anywhere else I could think to look or shove my hand in.
Engine runs very quietly, no knocking, tapping, clicking, etc.
Handles like new, no play in steering or suspension
Brakes work as they should
All lights and turn signals in good working order
All Gauges appear to work
Ran at Idle for over an hour and temp stayed just under halfway up the gauge
Oil pressure gauge well within norm.
New Tires all around
Seats worn but firm with no sagging or wear in.
All wood present (faded and worn but no splits or chipping. seemed a good candidate for wood restoration as described on the forums.

My impression was that someone had adjusted all the throttle linkages as the nuts were not tightened down and could be freely turned by hand.
Engine was a bit down on power and not idling quite as smoothly as it should (throttle linkage adjustment? need new plugs/Points/wires?)
I didn't notice any of the white steam at start up and It was also about 23 degrees F out. (don't know if that had any effect)
holding my hand to the exhaust I could feel a strong, slightly irregular "beat" from about 6 inches or so, with a fuelish smell to it.


The previous owner says he bought it to restore, but didn't have time and it has been sitting in the garage for over a year.
The seller will sell me the car for $700.

I want to get myself a project now that I'm back from Iraq. I don't want to do a full up restore on the vehicle, but I would like to have myself a nice daily driver when I'm done.

I would greatly appreciate any comments or thoughts from any of the members of the group before I decide to buy.

Thanks you so much for your time,

Mark Beazley

[JMela]

Hey Mark, welcome back. I'd pass on this and find a cleaner car. There's a lot of cars out there under the $2k mark. Rust is the real enemy with these cars and if there's some, there's always more. A lot of good info in the archives here on the 108's.

"There's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes" a poorer but wise man once said.

[noel.brownell]

I have seen some really clean W108 that need small things done for around $2500-$4000 and the 108 is fairly rare at bone yards so parts arent exactly easy to find. I would spend a little more money and just hang tight for a few more weeks and the deal of a life time will pop up. Happy Hunting.