I just responded to a post of someone who said he got ripped off on a car he bought, out of state. The car dealer said it was in great shape until he got there, then it was "oh, by the way, this doesn't work, and it's going to need that, and the brakes are bad, etc."

I used to sell cars, been ripped off a few times, so learn from my mistakes. These are tricks shysters play on you. When buying a used car, if you follow my rules, you will (hopefully) rarely get ripped off. These aren't MB ripoffs, but just any car in general.......

1) I know you can't set the perfect time of day to see a "cold" car (before it's been started for the day), but if you can, please do so. Don't tell the seller that you want to see it cold, but when you get there, ask if the car has been started yet for the day. If he says no, while you're looking around the car, sort of without him knowing it, casually feel the tailpipe to see if it's hot or warm. If so, he may be trying to hide a problem that exists on startup.

2) Walk around the car, viewing it from an angle to see any slight warpage or ripples in the metal. If there is, this might tell you that the car has been wrecked.

3) Look under the car to see if the frame is straight. If bent or if you see major shiny areas on the frame (where tools have been applied recently) vs the rest of the underside which is normally dirty, that might point out a problem.

4) Check the oil. With the exception of a diesel where it's pitch black, on a gas car, the oil should be golden. If the owner has almost never changed the oil, except right before he's trying to sell it, there might be a dark streak within the oil that won't come out. Also, look at the distick itself! If it's burned looking, there's been some big problems along the line.

5) Get in the car, close the doors. Make sure the windows go down AND back up. Take a good smell. If the car smells weird at all, chances are, you'll be living with that smell for the rest of the time with that car. Dog smells, water smells, heavy smoke smells, they are typically there to stay so I hope you enjoy it. If not, don't buy the car.

6) Look at the speedometer. Odometer rollback doesn't happen much anymore, but the numbers should be pretty straight, in a line. They're not all straight, but start noticing yours and other car's odometers to get a feel what "normal" looks like. If you see any weird marks on the dashboard that looks like the foam has puffed out here and there, someone may not have turned the odometer back, but may have replaced the odometer. Someone pulled that on me, with one 50,000 miles less. I sued him and won for $2400 of my money that he ripped me off on.

7) Drive the car, and DO try reverse! An owner who knows he has transmission problems will set you up by parking the car on the street pointed for you to normally drive off. While driving the car, try it on back roads, driving normally. On a windy neighborhood street, you don't have to drive fast or serpentine a lot to see if there's something wrong. Just hit a few bumps, do a few turns to see if it responds or sounds strange.

Next, you have to take the car on a highway of some type, to get the car up to at least 60, hopefully higher. If the steering needs alignment, it'll be more apparent at higher speeds. Let off the gas to slow down without hitting the brakes. As it slows, does it downshift properly or lose its gear?

Turn the radio off. If you hear ANY wierd thing, at higher or slower speeds, and your gut says "something is not right", either have it checked by a mechanic, or don't buy the car, period.

8) If you drove there alone with your car, and buy his car, don't leave his car behind to pick it up later. People can switch tires, radios, or a/c compressors on you, while you're gone. Instead, take his car that you just bought, leaving yours behind. Locked.

9) Don't trust Carfax. I once did a Carfax on a car, and it "Qualified" for their $5,000 guarantee, that it showed no wreck history, no odometer rollback, and 10 other wonderful things. The next day when I went to the shop to fix the "bad idle", the mechanic told me the car had been wrecked. I contacted Carfax for my $5,000, but they said no way. They only guarantee no wreck HISTORY, not that the car has never been wrecked. If someone wrecked it and didn't go through their insurance company, there would be no record of it. Turns out the "rough idle" was caused by a cracked cylinder head that happened during the wreck, a nice $1500 repair job. Carfax will give you a bit of helpful info, but that's it.

10) If you buy a car out of state and there's a problem, you will either be sued, or have to sue, in that state, meaning you'll have to travel there. So agree to buy only once you know what you're getting, then be done with the deal.

12) I once bought a car at an auction, a little Nissan 240. The seller rushed through the crowd to find me. He said they'd just put brand new tires on it, and didn't have time to balance them, so I might feel some vibration. I took the car for a test spin after buying it, and sure enough the tires were brand new, the cheapest polyester you could possibly find (probably cost him $25 each), and there was some vibration. I completed the transaction, took the car to a shop the next day to have the tires balanced. The mechanic told me the tires were all in balance. After a lot more trouble, turns out the drive shaft on the car was warped, a $700 problem.

13) If you sign something that says "As is", and the guy told you all was fine, you bought it. Buyer beware. If the guy had falsified receipts of work done (as the previous posting guy said happened to him) or something else similar and you bought it "as is", that's different, and is "theft by deception". Call the Sheriff's dept. Do not call an attorney. If you start with the Sheriff, you're in a much better position later, trust me on this one.

Good luck!

From my experiance in buying used Mercedes...

9 out of 10 are junk, even if the sellers claim otherwise.

I remember I looked at an S420 a few years ago and I almost told the seller off. The car had cracked lights, looked like a bunch of pissed off dogs lived in it etc. On the phone I asked about this stuff and he lied smooth as a snake.

9 out of 10 people selling old Mercedes either:
1. Don't know anything about them. Bought them cheap, drove them for a bit doing nothing, and now are dumping it.
2. Know, but are hiding something.
3. Just clueless in general.
4. Don't care.

And lastly, I have yet to look at a W126 that didn't need $1,500-$2k worth off stuff. Most of the time I don't have to even pop the hood. 95% of W126's for sale these days are at best decent drivers, at worst parts cars. Very few keepers are left.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

That's for sure, but it will probably get better in a few years when all the marginal ones are either fixed-up or killed off by idiots. Then the price will get up to a reasonable level and the quality of owners will increase. In the mean time, buyer beware. The biggest tip-off is someone who describes the car as "in good condition for a 20 year old car," translation: It's a complete POS.

I look at a lot of Mercedes and it's true that experience gains you knowledge. If you don't want to get screwed, look at a lot of cars just like the ones you want and get an "eye" for the model. Buy smart.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

This is all great advice. I'll add another from personal experience. I bought a '65 GTO years ago. While looking at the car, the owner had a heavy spare tire and some rolled up carpet in the trunk. I didn't think much about it. After I bought the car, I realized the trunk pan was rusted out completely and he had all that stuff in there to hide it.

__________________
Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

Yeah in another 5 years all the marginal ones will be gone. Rust is doing a number on most of them in my area.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

NEVER EVER buy from a dealer even a amatture dealer [flipper]
pt barnum was right the trick is to find the sucker sellor
the guy who thinks the cars problems are worse then they are
this require you to know your chit
be able to see the problems and judge the real costs of a fix
and look alot and pass alot on some real dogs

ever dealer know values and trys to get top or even over the top prices
there are simply no ''DEALS'' at a dealer's lot EVER!!!!

the deals are from the fools who are discussed with their car
example I bought a porsche 944 for a 1000 with a broken starter WIRE
the owner had spent big bucks on the car resently and the no start was the straw that broke his trust in the car
I drove the car for two trouble free years and sold it for far more then it cost me

resent 300sd had algee from sitting tooo long
resent purchaser was discussed with poor running and clogged filters
even after a tank drain and flush
but in talking to him I saw he never used a bio-side to kill the bugs
car ran fine between fuel starved moments so I bought it CHEAP!!!!
SO FAR I HAVE SPEND UNDER A 100 on the brakes
and bio-side plus new filters plus another tank drain and clean out
but I do it my self and use used parts from pick&pull yard
that may grow to 200 to fix a stuck window and the A/C clutch
but the car will be worth about 3 times my purchase price at that point