Pre-Purchase Inspection Saves Me $$$$

[backstage1]

I took the `88 560SEL that I've been considering in for a PPI this afternoon. It was $150 well-spent. This is a taupe model with 98k miles. Very clean exterior and interior except for a 2" spot on the hood where the clear coat has failed. I've mentioned this car recently in a couple other threads.

No cracks in the console, chrome looks good, headlight lenses good, two small dings and the rims need refinishing.

The owner is in his early 60's and this was his wife's car. They always buy a matched pair of MB's. They used to have a pair of the old 6.9's and then drove the pair of 560SEL's for five years before replacing them with two S320s. He had a big folder full of service records on the car.

He told me he's always had it serviced at the German Auto Center in Austin.

Although I wasn't that jazzed about the color, I thought I'd found exactly what I wanted, a late 80's 560SEL that had been well taken care of.

Here's what the PPI revealed:

1. Left front seat bottom spring broken (this one I knew about)
2. Shifter bushings gone, shifter loose
3. One country horn inoperative
4. Blown suspension spheres at the rear
5. Front shocks worn out
6. Cylinder head gasket leaks badly on left and to some degree on the right, too.
7. Power steering box leaks badly and has damaged caster housing bushing
8. Transmission front pump seal leaks and perhaps secondary pump there, also.
9. Pipe just before left center muffler rotting through
10. Sterring shock worn out
11. Electro-Hydraulic actuator of the fuel injector leaks
12. steering pump and low pressure hoses leak
13. Front pads almost worn out
14. Spark plugs worn but doesn't show evidence of oil burning
15. Wipers streak, washers need aiming
16. Noise through speakers when operating electrical components
17. Wheels need balancing
18. Alternator and Power steering belts badly cracked
19. Fuel pump cover falling off

"Overall a car in need of much and soon to be unreliable."

Btw, Ben, the shops owner, did the PPI himself. Really nice guy. He's got a large shop, they've been around since `79, well organized and there were probably 40-50MB's there being serviced. Ben told me that often the owners of these cars just don't take car of them or just don't bring them in unless something breaks.

He was pretty surprised to hear that the owner of this car took the car in every time his wife heard anything out of the ordinary. This car hasn't been driven much lately but how could all these things be wrong on the car and the German Auto Center not know about them?

When I spoke with the German Auto Center originally myself, they told me they never recommend changing the timing chain before 125k unless someone reports a noise. The Barrett book and Ben recommended 100k.

So I have to wonder about German Auto Center. They were trying to sell me a call, too, and I got a bad feeling by the way things were handled. That's why I went to Ben's for the PPI.

This was the first 560SEL I've driven in years. I thought the car seemed a little 'bouncy' on the freeway and the front seat seemed worn. I mentioned this to another SEL driver and he said that's the way these cars are... the seats take a little getting used to. Next time, I'll trust my own judgement.

I noticed the exhaust seemed a little 'throaty' on the way to the shop but I hadn't noticed that on my first test drive.

I'm fairly new to this, I've had Frank Barrett's book for a while now and have read his recommendations on what to look for.

How long do you typically take when test driving a car like this with a private owner? I spent about half an hour going over it beforehand and about 20 driving it. In order to check everything I'd want to check, it would take an afternoon. Usually when you take a car for a test drive, people think 15-20 minutes.

If I was selling a car privately for $5k, I wouldn't want someone coming over for 2-3 hours. I'd be interested in hearing how others feel about this. Any advice would be appreciated.

The good news is that I found another `88 with 130k that's already had the timing chain and tensioners done for $4800. I'm going to drive it on Friday.

Ben said if I brought it by, he'd be happy to go on a test drive with me and give me his opinion without charging me for it.

I don't understand how people buy these cars on eBay and just have them transported without any kind of inspection. Imagine if I'd bought this car on eBay. It would have looked great in photos and a phone call or emails to the owner would have made this sound like an ideal car.

I know some of you have bought out of town cars. How do you coordinate everything? You've got to fly in, rent a car, go test drive the car, get it to a good INDY for a PPI, negotiate a price, arrange to get a cashier's check, etc. etc. and be prepared to write the whole thing off if the car's got problems.

Anyone with tips on this, I'd love to hear them. I'm self employed and free to travel but I don't have an unlimited budget.

My quest continues...

~Bill