A lady in Pocatello, Idaho wants to sell her deceased husbands' 1978 280CE MB for $13,500. Is that a fair starting price? Roger rbauman1939@qwest.net

__________________
Roger
1983 300CD 246k sold
1998 C230 52k
1980 450SL 75k needs AC
1999 Subaru Outback Ltd 43k

KBB Old Car Guide would probably be a good guage to estimate a good starting price... (its availble at the local book store)

if this model is considered a 'special interest car', there is a guide known as Cars of Particular Interest (CPI) that also poses market values

...unless its a show-car or show-car qualty (as-new & fully maintained car w/ new hoses, etc.) I'd imagine that $4500 is more than fair due to of the age of the vehicle and liklihood of items requiring freshening

-fad

Sorry, but 13k is way high...even considering the mileage.
That year and model should fetch between 4-5k depending on the interest of the buyer.

...imagine yourself on the selling end....

how much do you realistically think you would be able to sell the car for in these market conditions?....for example just to turn it around in a quick sale....$4k?, $5k?, more? less?

-fad

Well Fad, if your asking me.... Umm I'd probably start at $4700
and be willing to be "talked down" to no less than $3900. but, like you said earlier...any items needing work taken into consideration ($ -/+) either way.

J
Jordan

I have seen these high asking price on old Mercedes with low mileage. What the owner want is not what the buyer willing to pay. These old cars are good driver, but it has no collectable value. Give it time, unless they want to keep it, they will have to sell them like any 25 year old car.

yep- I'd think $3900 is very fair, if one is feeling generous up to $4300

a while ago, I bought an original owner 1967 250SE 4-speed manual that had been locked away in a howeowner's garage for 20 years (low low miles- w/ tons of dust on the outside)...it was a gem, but needed a ton of items that had become brittle from non-use (to a tune of $5000) including fresh fluids...at the time, it was worth my effort and was ended totally satisfied since after all the love I gave it was a near mint showcar ----luckily, the motor was still solid after such a long storage with little if any occasional use during those 20 years!

... glutton for this type of punishment, later I found an original owner 1972 280SE 4.5 loaded with all the options also with super low low miles that required quite a few maintence items to bring it to pristine show-car condition

both situations, the admission fee to ride/entry costs were very low...however, the minor restoration/ freshening-up ended costing thousands...and some parts may not be available new

if its not a 'turn key' deal, plan to put in time and a few $$$ to go through & freshen these older MBs

the good news though, ...really there is nothing on the market at that time or now that provides the proverbial MB Old World coachworks, ride, and driving experience

good luck and let us know what turns out

-fad

formers:
'67-'68 250 SE, 4 speed stick
'67 250 S
'69-'70 280 SE
'72 280 SE 4.5
'73 450 SEL