95 S420, 135kmiles, black, head gasket , BUY OR NOT TO BUY ???

[Mauidieselpetr]

i want to look locally tomorrow at 1995 S420 with 135 miles, black, clean car fax, 6 owners, ..add says blown head gasket , not running, sitting month , price $900. Thats all i know so far…..
Never had one of these tanks ….
Will be fixing by myself ….
BUY OR NOT TO BUY ?
Thanks.

[oldsinner111]

I'd run,as you will probably have to replace the wiring harness too.

[oldsinner111]

that would be $2000 in vehicle or more if a mechanic does it. $900 if you do it

[Ferdman]

It depends how deep your pockets are. The fact the car has had 6 owners is a "red flag". I would interpret that to mean that one owner after the other realized the car is a money pit and sold it. Meaning also that the car was never maintained properly and you will be footing the bill to make the car right now. Since the engine doesn't run it will be difficult to assess the actual condition of this 1995 S420, other than the cleanliness of the engine compartment and the interior, plus the quality of the paint and presence of any rust. It would be preferable to get the car on a lift so you can check the condition of the rubber suspension components, etc.

[oldsinner111]

ferdman is right,there is no cheap mercedes,if not maintained you could be talking another $1000.rubber ages,and plastic gets brittle. However if you do all repair and maintenence,you would have a fine car.I don't know if that engine has the plastic oilers on the valve train,I'd replace them,and don't for get the heater tee,and flex disk.Its like I bought a w126 diesel,but I added $1200 in parts so I'd have the trouble free 5 years I have enjoyed her.

[Skippy]

It depends. If you're looking for a project car to tinker on and don't mind potentially spending a lot of time under the hood, under the car, and at the parts counter, it might be a winner. If you're looking for inexpensive transportation, run away.

I'll also add my stock advice on the purchase of the W140 chassis: Hold out for an S600. After all, if you're going to have an ugly maintenance intensive fuel sucking pig, you may as well have a fast ugly maintenance intensive fuel sucking pig.

[oldsinner111]

a 420 with nitrous would surpase a 7.2

[DieselPaul]

Because you run across so many 7.2s.

[duxthe1]

Those engines just dont blow head gaskets, figure the price of a used engine into it.

[MAVA]

Come On Old Sinner, While you are interested to see how much unburned fuel you pass through the exhaust. The average JOE is interested on volumetric efficiancy-you miles per gallon thing...

Seriously, Six owners...It must be the only one W140 in the whole State... Their are plenty here on the west coast for about $1000 to $1500.. Come out to San Francisco. I own two W140s, and one I paid $1k and it runs like a top. It just had all the Nicky-Nacks broken(you know the close assist, amplifier, hood latch, antenna, door locks). It needs paint, I will refresh the transmission with one from a W220 shortly...

Go to another car... I seriously go to one that needs a tranny. I can show you how you can put a $500 dollar updated W220 tranny into a W140...

Martin

[DieselPaul]

Originally Posted by duxthe1

Those engines just dont blow head gaskets, figure the price of a used engine into it.

This is a good point.

[97 SL320]

I don't take a non car persons diagnosis as 100% when they are selling a car as many times they are just guessing. ( Everything has a bad head gasket. )

The car still should run with a bad head gasket, it might have a bad plug wire or clogged injector. These cars were at the tail end of the biodegradable wiring problem so be ready to change the engine harness ( not hard ).

What part of the US are you in? Look at car-part.com ( it is an online USA wide salvage yard inventory. ) There is an early and late engine for 95 , there are piles of the early ones from $ 600 to 300 , a good selection ( and pricing ) for the later one as well.

If the car isn't rusty, I'd offer $ 500 in a non running state, counting on replacing the engine and trans. If you treat the car as an adventure and put $ into meaningful repairs, it could be a good project. ( the car probably weighs 4,200 LB , at $ 9.00 per 100 LB it would bring $ 378 in scrap )

CF will show when the car transferred owners, have a look at the time line. Six owners is hardly excessive for a 95 car that no one really buys new ( lease ) Also, if someone leases a car then buys it at the end, it is considered to have 2 owners even though the same person is driving it.

I'm thinking

Late 94 - 98 new car lease Person 1 ( Lease co is owner 1)

98-02 Star mark lease person 2 ( another lease co is owner 2 )

02-04 person 2 buys car ( Person 2 is owner 3 )

04-06 person 3 buys car, decides it is too big ( owner 4 )

06-11 person 4 buys car, market crashes ( owner 5 )

11-13 Person 5 buys car, after a time it is too expensive to repair ( owner 6 )

[Skippy]

He posted a video in a separate thread. It's a parts car.

[TnBob]

6 owners at 135K ??
Something very radically wrong with the car