Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Benz
This one is for the kid. She's 15 now, so I've got some time. SEC fuel efficiency would make this one rotten vehicle for me as a daily driver, but for someone who lives a couple of blocks from school, no problem.
BTW, the A/C is toast as well...
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The car is very definately Generation II euro, and Ultra rare, for several reasons:
It has:
A WDBxxx VIN # ( a US car would have a WDBCA vin # )
Euro headlights wipers and motors. (worth about $750 on resale)
Euro front and rear bumpers. (worth about $500 - $1000 on resale)
Euro tail lights. (worth about $200 on resale)
Euro speedometer
Euro running 560 engine (worth about $2000 + )
Euro Air conditioning round 2 buttons control (much simpler to fix than the far more complicated mandatory american and euro-option automatic climate control (worth about $300 even if non- op)
And believe me, there are Mercedes Benz W126 enthusiasts out there, that will pay BIG $$$ for those parts!!
So you could even get some money back if the motor seized and you parted it out..
I think I see about $3,000+ in parts right there you could easily realize if you stripped out this car and let the W126 euro enthusiasts know about it !!
Isn't that an original international license plate, I see on the back, the little round country plate visible on the rear bumper, where they sometimes get installed? (maybe MC for Monte Carlo or NL for Holland?) <------ MORE evidence it was actually driven in Europe for some years if that is what I see (it is hard to see)...
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Definately a rare euro car, so it's Engine too, will be higher compression and much more powerful in actual usable driving.
The interior probably has degraded because it is some cheesy cheap aftermarket conversion, that needs to be replaced (get Gen. II interior pieces from a junkyard. Normal W126 Mercedes interiors do NOT degrade that way, on the rear seats and arms. I have seen Euro upholstery catalogs, and this one is NOT factory done.
How someone ever managed to get this car licensed post gray market with no DOT EPA conversion of all those above things (about $10,000 job, at least) long after the gray market for 80's Mercedes Benzes was destroyed is a mystery, to me.
I see this car as a Unicorn. How on earth it ever slipped through the conversion process utterly eludes me. I believe it to be essentially a European version that flew quietly under the radar and got over here some way untouched by the DOT/EPA conversion process, not destroyed and still US plated. Amazing.
If you are VERY fortunate it may still have the Euro exhaust without cats, and if you hit the jackpot it may even have the ultra rare, even in euro verison, 300HP "ECE" version engine.
Who knows what rear end it is? The US car had the lazy 2.47 and this one may even have a 2.65, or 2.82 or other higher performing rear end. A little metal tag on the pumpkin will say what ratio it has, so put it up on the rack and look...
The total miles would be in kms because it is a euro speedometer, and they are not high at all.
1 km = 0.621 miles 1 mile = 1.609 km
To me this ALONE makes it worth $6000, easily, if it is half way good.
If the seller will take $3,500 for it, even with the rust area at the rear (common problem with ALL these models and per the license plate it appears to be Florida car which does have rust tendencies towards the beaches there) I see real value here even with the issues.
But to the seller, you should look at it with an indifferent face, and simply just point out the faults you found to make the price lower.
But treat it as a used car and get the PPI and see what it needs.
I think you have found a beautiful, ultra rare, airbag-less car, that if fixed up properly, (DON'T repaint it in "onyx" or a cheap non factory color!!), an impossible to find 2nd gen. (1986-1991) full euro car still full of valuable euro parts on it that somehow evaded the DOT EPA conversion process and should be repaired and treasured.
Reconversion back to MB Upholstery, sourcing a used dark amber euro corner, rust repair and good repaint, and reapairing the AC and engine idle issue are all things you could use to justify a price reduction.
But among 560SEC enthusiasts, in the USA, what you would then have is a car that would make them all very very envious.
Its high performance, and legality while in Euro form, would make it rare fast and very beaufitul compared to almost ANY smogged up and uglier version US spec car.
If I were in your shoes for this reason I would try and buy it. The selling dealer does not know about all the bonuses it has.
Not so much for a non enthusiast teen age female driver who would not understand or appreciate it, or its rarity and value.
For a savvy Mercedes W126 fancier, with some work it would be a sensational car!!!
I would get it and fix it if it were me!!!