The spousette made me do a drive-by on a Mercedes-Benz 420SEL. She says she's seen it for over a month with a sign in the window. It has a goofy looking telephone on the console and what looks like a Sony CD player. The upholstry looks immaculate. I saw 132000 on the odometer. The body shows numerous small door dents and a few very superficial scrapes. The roof clear coat is turning milky. It had a number to call, which I did, and I'm awaiting a return call.

I have no idea what year it is, but its body style looks like a slightly stretched version of my '88 300e, so I guess its from the same era. I googled 420 SEL and the low end seems to be about $4k and the upper end about $12k.

What do you think of the 420 SEL? Is it a money pit, destined to deprive me of money not spent on my recently purchased 300e? Has my wife taken leave of her senses?

At that milage I would hope and pray the timing chain/rails have replaced along with the valve stem seals. The top ends of these things seem to be the weak link, if you want to call it that-- including worn cams, bad rocker arms etc.

It certainly could be money, pit: A/C work is $$, top end as mentioned, chain/rails. Looking at a few thousand right there.

Transmission is another issue, $1500+ for a rebuild, see:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?threadid=44423&highlight=transmission+piston

If you get serious have a qualified MB tech perform a PPI.

Let us know that the seller says!

Case in point: I just had the chain & rails done, as well as the valve seals. Much to my chagrin, a camshaft had to be replaced, along with the rockes and lifters.
Reading that the clearcoat on the roof is starting to come off, does not surprise me either.
The stitching on the interior can provide a clue as to the year. Small narrow spaced seat stitching is '88 and older.
My 420 SEL has lots and lots of room...especially in the back ..and those handles on the sides come in handy too!

-Larry

__________________
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

W126, thanks for that link. Golly, what a sorry thing to have happen. I'll def. check the service records on the car.

The folks on this list are wonderfully helpful. I deeply appreciate it.

Botnst

Glad to be of help. If you have some time, there's a ton of info on this site in regards to buying advice for 420/560's.

If the 300E is turning into a money pit, I'd hold off on another Merc until things are sorted out. Two money pits would be an absolute nightmare.

Let the 420 idea sit for awhile, as you know, emotions get in the way of logic when buying a car and I've always found it helpful to let things settle for a week or so.

w126's advice won the day. That, and an asking price of $12k US--which is about $5k more than I could rationalize, given the current state of my project car (this is not a complaint, I'm enjoying the progress and the results are more than satisfactory. In a couple of weeks I'll post a full tally on what it cost for each item to rehab my '88 300e).

I spoke to the owner on the phone. He said its a 1992 420 SEL. I asked specifically about the a/c and the timing chain. He said the/c is fine and that the timing chain had been replaced. I failed to ask about the transmission. He is serious about selling it and will probably be open to minor negotiation, but I don't think he'll drop a lot off the price. I'd post his phone number, but its a cell phone and he'd probably get severely p**s-off if I gave it over the internet. If there is an interest I'll mention this website and suggest he post it online here.

I'm still not sure about my wife....

I'm guessing you meant '91 (?), last year of the 126s.

Anyhow, I think $12k is too much, even with a complete service history. If it had 80k miles, that might be a different story. If he gets over $11k, I'd be surprised.

Hmm, thats curious. He def. said, 1992. Maybe he bought it in 1992? For ex., my '88 says '88 on the title but when I looked up the VIN it said mfr in '87 in Germany. Is this usual?

Concerning the price/miles, maybe that's why it has been unsold for over a month.

That makes sense. He'll prob have to go lower if he wants to sell it. Sounds like a nice car and well doc'd car though!

Its just a coincidence, but this w126 on this thread is a different car from the one that I mention on the new thread. Its funny, the color of the two cars is identical.

Also, the car on this thread is still unsold. I gave the owner this forum and also suggested eBay, but he doesn't seem terribly interested in selling as I haven;t seen the car posted. Yet it sits there, baking in the summer sun. Unused, unloved, unappreciated, slowly rusting to oblivion.

Botnst