W123 station wagon for sale - can this be true?? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

rstl99 · #1 10-03-2008, 06:30 PM

Some guy locally is selling a W123 diesel wagon. Asking price around $7500. Apparently belonged to a car aficionado who passed away 5 years ago. Car originated in FLorida. Before he passed away, he apparently (can this be true?) spent $40,000 on a restoration! (stripped to the metal, full refurbishment - apparently records to attest). Then while driving on freeway the timing chain broke and the dealer replaced the engine. It's been driven only seldomly since the owner passed away and is now being sold. 2 hours away or I'd be tempted to go have a look at it... DOn't need another Benz now but this sounds like a possible deal. Thoughts?

daw_two · #2 10-03-2008, 06:39 PM

IF I were only 2 hours away.....
IF I only owned 1 MB....
IF I had $7500...

Screw the IFs; where is the car? I'll start pricing transports.

TheDon · #3 10-03-2008, 07:13 PM

pics of all of the receipts plus the same day news paper in the shot as well

rstl99 · #4 10-03-2008, 09:09 PM

Yeah, good advice

I just can't believe someone would/could spend $40,000 restoring one of those cars!

Would they???

POS · #5 10-03-2008, 09:56 PM

Two hours away isn't anything. Crap, I've driven 4 hours one way to Dallas just to look at certain cars (after having talked to the owner, I'll add). For $7500, if it's what they say it is, it might be worth it.

Jim B. · #6 10-03-2008, 11:00 PM

2 hours away in NOTHING

I drive further than that just to meet the women that I date, this year.

Pooka · #7 10-03-2008, 11:04 PM

Stranger things have happend. I once bought a Chrysler station wagon that looked like new. It was 20 years old and had 56,000 miles on it.

The owner, an elderly man, took it in for repairs. The repairs took a long time. During this time the old man died. His heirs did not want to pay for the repairs so the shop owner kept the car.

He parked it in the back of his shop so it was always inside. Years later the shop owner died and it took several years to clean up his estate.

After getting title to the car the shop was auctioned off and I bought the car.

It was a really nice car, but from haveing sat for almost 15 years it had so many electrical problems I could never find them all. The relief valve in the oil pump also stuck and this blew off the oil filter. I finally sold it to a guy with a big family and a lot of time on his hands.

The bottom line is that no matter what was spent in the past you have to ask how well is it working now?

I have seen Mercedes from the 50's that were still a basket case after $15,000 grand had been laid out for engine and transmission repair. This was one of the big ones and still had wooden braces inside the doors. The cost of the wood work was estimated at $8,000, so I passed on that deal.

Look at this as any other Mercedes. If it is worth it then I would buy it. It could be like new when you see it. If so then it would be a deal.

Pooka

daw_two · #8 10-03-2008, 11:26 PM

I drove more than 5 hours just to meet Jimmy, Tyler, and some other fine Texas GTG folks.

sixto · #9 10-04-2008, 12:19 AM

I drove 2 hours in Los Angeles and travelled about 10 miles.

Sixto
87 300D

turbobenz · #10 10-04-2008, 04:32 AM

Driving isnt bad in an old merc. I just never get uncomfortable and I never feel like im inside a tiny box

rstl99 · #11 10-04-2008, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pooka

The bottom line is that no matter what was spent in the past you have to ask how well is it working now?

Look at this as any other Mercedes. If it is worth it then I would buy it. It could be like new when you see it. If so then it would be a deal.

Pooka

Thanks, good advice! At this point, I'd be just curious to see what "$40,000 restoration" buys you in a W123! And to have a look at paperwork and photos attesting to someone loving one of those cars enough to supposedly restore it to "concours quality".
Well, I'll think about taking a drive, after I get sent some pictures and receive confirmation that all the records have been located (they were in storage). Nice autumn scenery makes for pleasant drives at this time of year up here.
Cheers!

asnowsquall · #12 10-04-2008, 10:32 AM

Just realize that it could have been restored by overpriced hackers, hopefully not. Quality materials, + manual labor for body work can add up. Take good pictures to share with us.