thinking of purchasing a 71' 300 SEL. any thoughts? Interior/body look great, engines sounds good but didn't get a chance to look under the hood.

what can I expect for maintenance/repairs? The current owner gave me the name of his mechanic but wanted to get some info before I start digging deeper!

any info would help

[This message has been edited by tahoe80 (edited 11-09-2000).]

I owned a '71 300SE L 3.5 sedan. It was a beautiful tobacco brown car with cognac leather and burlwood interior. I repainted it te same color and made into a national MBCA concours winner before selling it to MBNA (credit card company).

I loved the air suspension, power, handling, and roomy interior. I didn't much care for the squeaky noise in the rear end that I could neither diagnose nor eradicate. The car had a Crane breakerless ignition (excellent!) but I had to replace a lot of other parts, such as the shocks, all 4 air bags, and numerous other mechanical items.

What sort of price is the owner asking? Does he or she have any records? I'll be happy to help if you have any questions.

Andrew

quote:

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Originally posted by tahoe80:
thinking of purchasing a 71' 300 SEL. any thoughts? Interior/body look great, engines sounds good but didn't get a chance to look under the hood.

what can I expect for maintenance/repairs? The current owner gave me the name of his mechanic but wanted to get some info before I start digging deeper!

any info would help

[This message has been edited by tahoe80 (edited 11-09-2000).]

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1983 300 TD (his)
1969 280SE 3.5 coupe (his)
1985 300 CD (hers)

Thanks for your message. He is asking $5,000. Since the first post, we had a diagnostic done at AAA (not being Mercedes-Benz people yet, didn't know who to take it to) and they told us to have a few things looked at by a trained Mercedes-Benz mechanic, like the king-pin, power steering box, rear axle, etc. Then, we talked to the current mechanic, who didn't think the car needed those repairs and we talked to another mechanic in the area. We probably will take the car in next week for another look - it is such a beautiful car and my girlfriend really wants it, but we are concerned about high maintenance costs.

Make sure the car has a thorough examination for rust. The W108/109 bodies are prone to rust.

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William Berks
1980 450SLC
1971 300SEL 6.3