View Single Post
  #4  
Old 05-04-2006, 09:09 PM
Strife's Avatar
Strife Strife is offline
General Purpose Geek
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: KY USA
Posts: 2,238
If its an honest car and there's no rust, I don't find the price to be a very good deal, but it isn't ridiculous. I paid ~16K for a very nice 82Kmi rust-free car that had obviously been babied two years ago. I could have gotten a better price, but I still don't regret it, because I didn't have to travel to get it or have it shipped.

Be aware that you will STILL have to spend money on it if you want a nice car that will last.

The ONLY rust I found was 1" spot under the soft top cover (bad seal). No matter how a car has been babied, seals are rarely changed preventatively until AFTER there is rust, and the car is 17 years old. A full set of body seals, hood pads, etc for this car will easily cost 600 even with shopping (taillight seals, $200/pair; door seals, 150; hood pads, $120 with the glue;top seals, 150). Subframe mounts (see this site to find out if they are bad - $50. Motor mounts - $100, you do the work, otherwise quadruple the price on the frame/motor stuff). Seeing non-MB coolant in the overflow bottle would cause me to immediately deduct for radiator replacement. If the paint on the wheels is bad, $400+ tire replacement labor. No service records for tune-ups, fluid replacements, etc means you must assume that they were not done, and you will need to do this right away; $500+ (the dist cap is $100, wires 100, etc). Belts, etc. You are not far at all from a timing system overhaul (chain, tensioner, arm, upper guides) - even with your wrench, parts are not inexpensive and you can't get them all locally (but Advance Auto has surprised me).

Little things add up, ask my wallet. I would try get the price down a bit. This will leave you more to spend. Then, unlike me, keep receipts for all that you do or buy. If you want to sell it you WILL get some of that money back from a knowledgeable buyer.
__________________
86 560SL
With homebrew first gear start!
85 380SL
Daily Driver Project

http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm
Reply With Quote