Anyone else here consider a 2 hour , 50 + mile test drive OK?

I told him what was required ahead and he agreed.... As it was, I was only out for 45 min... As I told him what I required, he should have spoken out ahead... He agreed with what I told him was required. If he had been able to see me at thee original time I requested, the time probably would have been much shorter. But, he could only see me during the city plugging rush hour.

Funny thing was, he had a purchase contract out on the desk when I got back. All filled out. Some guy that looked like his twin brother was there. After I told him that I wasn't interested at this time, he tried the old 'if you don't take it now, this guy is going to buy it now' trick. But the dealer had given me first right of refusal. I turned to the so called buyer, and told him to enjoy it. I noticed that the car is still listed 2 days later...

97 SL320, I get that you probably wouldn't have let me do that. That's your right. I also have the right to walk away. No use me having a car that doesn't work for me. I had a 2015 audi a4 rental that the traction control caused the car to twitch like a squirrel with torrettes having a nervous breakdown after a jumbo can of red bull while on gravel at speeds over 40 km/h. Traction control nearly put me into the side of a passing pickup at one point... I'm not buying a car with traction control unless I drive it down gravel. End of discussion. Only one other test drive objected, and that was due to the guys deadline to get to a family function, rather than he didn't want it happening. He told me if I came back after 9pm, or the next day I could find some gravel and check it out.

I sold a guy a 26yo Italian car a few months ago.
He set the time and all, came at just after 5, to a busy metro area, drove the car all of four minutes never exceeding 45mph, said ok paid cash and set off home on a three hour drive on the freeway. Now, this car (lucky for him) was one I owned and had OCD'd all over it and while it was so-so by my standards it was probably pretty damn good by most 26yo car standards. Especially 26yo Italian car standards. But what struck me was I could have screwed this guy in more ways than I could count and he'd have had zero recourse, and nobody to blame but himself(and me but you get the idea). I don't blame a man for wanting an extensive test drive in the slightest. If I had a car I gave a damn about and three people wanted to look at it and one said he needed to drive it more than around the block, that is the man who would get ample opportunity to buy the car. There is a lot of casual dumbassery in the world. Don't tolerate it, don't contribute to it is my motto.

I know I'm coming in late in this thread, but I'd go for a E320 simply for parts availability. There is a constant flow of E320s at my local puck n pulls.

The one thing that frustrates me about my 190e is parts availability. It can be a 4 month wait or longer for one to show up and when they do they are usually in pretty bad shape.

Some people really know what they are looking at and can drive a car round the block, be 95% sure of what the car is and accept the last 5% of unknown.

Apparently the call after 15 min car lot guy was not specifically told that " I will be driving the car for 1 + hour and taking it to my mechanic for a pre purchase inspection, do you agree to this? " otherwise he would not have called in 15 min and made such a fuss.

I get the impression our guy is expecting way too much for the type of car / price point he is after. In that case buying a CPO from a MB dealer is the best bet. Sure, deals can be happened upon but that will take some time and work.

I don't think I'm asking too much. Decent car in decent shape. Traction control that doesn't try to kill me while driving to and from the house. (I live down several miles of gravel and most of the time because of all the tractor trailer rigs going up and down it, it's wash boarded really really badly) Reasonably mechanically sound. I don't mind fixing a few things, but don't want to have to rebuild the entire front end for example...

As for the seller, I guess he wasn't listening, but he kept on saying 'yes, yes, yes' Also, as the lot was right smack in the center of the city, it wasn't going to be easy to get a proper try with the car... For anyone... Especially in rush hour traffic... As for taking the car for a mechanical inspection, I didn't. I went to a body shop. When I stopped to wash the windows at the truck stop, some water splashed on the front fender, and revealed 2 different colors of paint, one color crudely applied with a brush. This was after he tried to sell me on the idea that the paint was perfect....

As for expecting too much or wrong price point, there are only 4 used e class wagons for sale in the province at this time. I looked at all of them. There are a few R classes, but I don't really like them.

I appreciate the comment. However, I've gotten to the point that I've all but ruled out all the 210 body cars. Every 210 body car I've seen with a 4matic has major under body rust issues...

So, I bought the rebuilt 2004 e500 wagon. so far so good. On the highway, it's clocking better fuel mileage than my s320.

Good choice.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4274/3...9672050a_b.jpg2017-05-26_06-01-32 by wolverine00089, on Flickr

To be on the safe side...I.M.H.O..... I would be avoiding M271,M272,M273 engines until 2008.

W220's had M112's,M113's and 722.6 up until 2004 update. 722.9's after update.
Airmatics were better worked out after 2003 - but still be aware of some issues. Arnott's have made repair airmatic units much cheaper than years ago.

The 722.6xx was used in 4matic e class till 2009 when the 212 came into being. on the S class till end of 2006 model years, etc. After a certain point, there are very few non 4matic cars here. Most without 4matic were only driving in summer. Product of the weather here acting like a schizophrenic psychopath.