Quote:
Originally Posted by Zappa
Hi,
I'm interested in buying an '85 300SD (cream with chocolate interior) with only 70,000 miles, single owner now deceased. The owner was a master mechanic. I have verified the history.
Garaged all its life...driven very little...mostly short miles around town. As the couple aged, the car saw less use and VERY few miles. In fact, from 2004-2010, the car saw only 1500 miles!
Buying direct from the family.
There are two damage reports on Carfax report. All indications are that they were minor bump-ups. I see no evidence of these on the car now; fully repaired.
AC currently is not cold. Seller thinks it just needs "recharging". I'll verify this with a mechanic before buying.
Everything else works and is really nice looking. I am a newbie on these cars. Will take it out for a drive soon.
Family is asking top dollar ($10k).
My questions:
1) What's a fair price assuming AC is ok (just needs a charge), and mechanic says the car is ok?
2) Is the fact that the car has not seen much action lately (or anytime really) or long miles a serious detriment? The seller says that the owner was vigilant about starting it up periodically and letting it run.
What are the major gotchas that I need to be aware of with this low-miles car?
Many Thanks!
Zappa
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The only major gotcha that I can think of is that someone else may beat you to the car. That, and for $10K, it needs to be perfect, perfect. The A/C will cost in the neighborhood of $1K to have an aftermarket place do an R & R of the compressor and recharge the system. Maybe more for an R-134 conversion.
You have to ask yourself if you'd rathe have a '99 E300TD with similar miles on it for about the same $10K.
I would probably offer them $9K, and be done with my offering. Tell 'em the A/C is a $1K item.