Lady called me yesterday to come to look at her car to see if anything could be done for a defect on the hood other than a repaint. Car is a 71 300SEL 6.3. Has 16,000 original miles and as you can imagine, the car is almost mint. Her Dad bought the car new and when he died she was given the car. The hood is definatley in need of a repaint and the rest of the car is oxidized fairly well. Don't think any amount of rubbing will bring it back either. The interior is as near perfect as can be, but I did not see under the hood or look at the undercarriage. She said she has heard values of anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000. Any thoughts. I know the car is on the web somewhere,,,, will try to find it and post a link.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

WOW! 16,000 miles! Thats LOW.

However, it seems that everything on the car mechanically would need to be refreshed.... hoses rubber stuff etc etc etc have all probably dried or rotted in some way or another to some extent- 16,000 untouched miles, if it has indeed been "untouched", will wear a car out more so than it would be if it had been driven fairly regularly and maintained meticulouslyl. Id say theres more value in this car sitting inside- the interior. If every aspect of the interior is flawless that would be exceptional.
But for this car to actaully be worth $50,000-$100,000 the mechanicals of the car would have to be restored to new condiition, and the exterior of the car would need to be carefully refinished with a quality paint job. I would suspect that rubber seals (weatherstripping) etc would all have to be replaced, etc etc etc.

I wanna see pictuures!

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Nate

1995 E420
1992 BMW 525i
1984 300D Turbo sold
1993 Volvo 244 sold
1995 Volvo 944T R.I.P!


"The details are not details. They make the product."
-Charles Eames

www.cbs.nu

I'd say no more than $42K, without a repaint. Maybe $40K with a repaint, but probably not that high. Heck, Brian Wilson's cabriolet in perfect shape only brought $45K at Barrett-Jackson a few years back, doubtful a sedan, even the 6.3 with only 16K miles would bring more.

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TXBill



Former owner of a few diesel MB cars
1998 Lexus ES 300 In Chicago We Trust

I'd say neither..............Every rubber seal is shot, aged, dry and brittle! What would it cost to rebuild the mechanics, then subtract from replacement value...............this is what it would be worth.......................$16,000...for the one interested in buying it.........find that person.......not easy.....drop price to $10.500............got some maybies........drop price to $8,500...sold! Sorry.......seek and you shall see............

Ask the guys over at the vintage forum, they know these cars very well.

6.3's are extremly expensive to restore, IE they can suck down $20k faster then a trophy wife.

If it is a true perfect car I bet it would fetch close to $50k. With a good paint job ie $15k+ paint job that would probably help its value a bit.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I have no other clue, but this car does have value for sure! There are so many variables to consider. It's like the guy who go's out and spends $500K to rebuild a classic yacht, and one year later cant find a buyer for it for $150K
Beautiful thing, but! The other thing with any car, once you repaint it, it very likely looses value. If in original perfect condition, like garage kept, no ultraviolet detoration, etc, yes, a premium might be expected ...BB

Hatteraguy, you speak the truth. I know just what they cost to restore, not two bit restorations, but real restorations. If this 6.3 has a clear coat failure, yykes, thats maybe 20,000 $ maybe 25,000 $ to do it right. That's right guys. You need to remove all glass and gakets. All brightwork, clean the puppy up, strip, prime, color, then clear coat it. Numerous sandings. Oh sure, you can get a EARL type paint job and hide it around the corner but this is a 6.3.
This is a surprise. The pics / photos and describtion are on the M100.cc board. Find it under, garrett.m100.cc, at least I believe thats it.
It was said to be perfect and it looked perfect. Now I automatically deduct 20 to 25,000 $. If this happened, and I ask, how did this happen? Did the father use the wrong cleaner waxes. Bet so. I now know all the rubber is shot. Another 10,000. Now I'm quessing my original thought is right also; it wasn't stored correctly. Bet it leaks from every gasket. Sure it's a low miliage 6.3 but my poorest 6.3 came to me with about 50,000 miles. What a joke. Everything needed rebuilding. A trophy wife and 20,000 $. I like that analogy, but 100,000 is more like it.

Paul, I must not have been clear. That's my current paint job estimate to have it disassembeled "CORRECTLY" , striped, cleaned, painted the three coats, and then reassembeled, by real pros, not want to be pros. The actual paint pro charges might be around 10,000 to 15,000 $ here in Oregon. It's another 10,000 minimum to take it apart and put it back together. Thus, 25,000 $ will repair the 16,000 mile 6.3. If you are willing to go that far, you still need to deal with everything else. I'm not willing to go on the record for total rehabs of 6.3s. My deff of rehab / restoration might be different from most, but lets say, I consider restoring a Gullwing to be a much simpler task. In fact, system to sytem, then all the additional 6.3 systems, there is no comparison. Only parts prices separates the two when they have the same system. The only difference between 600s and 6.3s, interior parts, exterior, and the hydrolic systems. My quess, it adds another 50,000 $ possibly.
Back to the point; you subtract restoration costs from the raw products purchase price. Lets give a very simple example. Any rookie can take apart a 65 Mustang. Have a great painter paint it, for lets say 10,000. If joe Blow owns a Mustang, thought to be worth 15,000, I subtract the disassembly, plus the paint costs. I'd pay, maybe 4000 to 5000. Sellers hate the way I look at it and usually go fishing for dreaming rookie auto enthusiasts. They wise up after the first or second error. Simple, right??? Sp what do you guys now think a "low mile" 6.3 is worth. Scary stuff.

Reading the replys have brought this car back to reality. Like I said, I did not even look under the hood or under the car, and would not be surprised to see the age of the car reflected in these areas. I know the car was quite unique in it's day, but there are other ones out there and by todays standards, it leaves a bit to be desired in terms of safety and performance. In my opinion it would need a complete repaint, and for concours competition, isn't a repaint the kiss of death ? Sadly, this may be one of those great vehicles that never got to be enjoyed by anyone. A shame.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

Thats not really out of line to restore a car. Drop a Mustang off at a good resto shop, and a showroom, turn key end product will probably run you close to $100k.

By the time my W126 is showroom I will probably have close to $20k into it. Since I do all of my own work with labor it would probably be twice that.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200