Thanks for the quick replies.

And wow...what a morning. After taking the info here and checking repair prices with my local Mercedes mechanic ($1100 for the harness, $2100 for the head gasket), a guy called back on a car I was interested in. Saw it advertised on craigslist a couple days ago, left a message, but never got a call back - thought it had sold, as it sounded pretty minty at a good price.

Turns out, the guy had been out of town, was calling folks back, and had a number of people coming over this morning to look at it. Hopped in the car, raced over to check it out, took it for a test run, and returned to see the next guy had arrived and was anxiously eyeing the car as I pulled in. Got out of the car, and told the owner I'd take it - much to the other fella's chagrin...

She appears to be quite a peach...2nd owner, 76K miles, perfect dog-friendly MB-Tex interior (except for that rippled veneer they all seem to have by the gear shift), 3rd seat, zero rust, and all records since new. Exterior is 95% - couple of minor chips, and one small area where it looks like the clear coat is coming off. I'm not sure what the color is called, but the wife and I really like it - it's kind of a dark charcoal color.

There's no indication in any of the records that the harness was swapped out, so I bought it knowing that bill could be coming. No mention either of the cylinder head gasket being replaced, but the oil and radiator fluid looked fine, and there are zero obvious oil leaks.

Drove it home about 60 miles - runs and drives like new, with two minor issues. The auto-raising antenna is busted, so the radio sounds like crap. Also, the cruise control almost works - it doesn't set or accelerate when you lift the lever, but it sets fine when you lower the lever. It shuts of fine when you brake, and resumes fine.

Picked it up for just under $10K...around here, that seems to be a good price based on local ads I've seen. Most are $1.5-2K more, with more miles, fewer records, and inferior interior/exteriors.

Almost forgot - a few pics are HERE.

Thanks again for all the help...I'll be back for more.

Bill