F.S. 1987 Mercedes 300 SDL 95k miles 1 owner - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

ohiomike · #31 07-11-2009, 05:03 PM

Babymog - again w/o knowing the facts for sure, you are drawing false conclusions. The car, after all, is 22 years old. It wasnt driven much and was owned by one person. It was parked in an unheated barn with dirt on the floor and in a cold Ohio climate. It was always maintained or could not have been kept by the person all his life. I have the records, I have the car, I have the evidence and known most of the data behind the car including the owner....so I have the facts. You have nothing but your interpretations and they are just that. I suppose other people have their interpretations of reality, too. So it best until you know the facts like I do, to not guess at your personal interpretable conclusions. Keep them to your self or state they are just what you interpret and are very subject to personal error.

babymog · #32 07-11-2009, 10:02 PM

Read your own posts
read your own posts
read your own posts.

matthias08 · #33 07-11-2009, 11:37 PM

is now a bad time for me to chime in?

so, say, a mint SDL, is what 6-7K with approx 100k miles (for the purpose of this thread)

Paint issue -$2000
Rust -$1000
Cruise -$500?
interior issue -$1000 for leather repair/replace
tires -$600? or so?

and, if I were to buy a car, with that low mileage, I'd rather see the rust and flaking paint, and dig into it myself, vs. having an unknown seller, who purchased car from estate sale, for reasons that may make me wonder if said seller just did cover ups & flipped.

what else?!

oh yea! Mercedes suspension issues! (I know prices, I'm doing it on one of my cars right now)

you've got your self a $1500-2500 car.
hope you didn't lose money, and I wouldn't advise doing the paint, I doubt you'll be able to see the return

shertex · #34 07-12-2009, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matthias08

is now a bad time for me to chime in?

so, say, a mint SDL, is what 6-7K with approx 100k miles (for the purpose of this thread)

Paint issue -$2000
Rust -$1000
Cruise -$500?
interior issue -$1000 for leather repair/replace
tires -$600? or so?

and, if I were to buy a car, with that low mileage, I'd rather see the rust and flaking paint, and dig into it myself, vs. having an unknown seller, who purchased car from estate sale, for reasons that may make me wonder if said seller just did cover ups & flipped.

what else?!

oh yea! Mercedes suspension issues! (I know prices, I'm doing it on one of my cars right now)

you've got your self a $1500-2500 car.
hope you didn't lose money, and I wouldn't advise doing the paint, I doubt you'll be able to see the return

I know I've got vested interests here (I'm going to be selling my 86 SDL on this forum in about a month), but it's hard to imagine that a MINT SDL with low mileage would fetch only $6-7,000. If by "mint" we mean EVERYTHING is in great condition and there are NO known issues whatsoever, it's hard to imagine that the proverbial perfect specimen couldn't command $10-12,000, especially if it had that kind of low mileage. I should add that mine is NOT said perfect specimen.

To give a real world example, a friend of mine was looking for a black and tan 1987 190D in excellent condition....it was the first MB he ever had, got totaled years ago, thought it would be nice to replace. Anyway, he saw an immaculate low mileage one (maybe 70,000 miles) being listed for $19,000. He thought the price was high, but perhaps could be negotiated down. By the time he called to inquire, it had already been purchased for FULL PRICE. When people want a particular car, and they find one with low mileage in great condition, they are willing to pay a premium.

Hit Man X · #35 07-12-2009, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by babymog

Weathered paint from being parked outdoors, rust spot on RR door apparently, bad seat leather, bad radio, no cruise, suspension issues, older cheapo tires, and likely a #14 head it's probably still worth $1500 as a decent 2-owner "fixer-upper".

Yup... the outdoor living is easy to spot. Hell, look at the bleached out gauge cluster. Pretty blatant showing of it being outside almost all the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohiomike

Babymog - again w/o knowing the facts for sure, you are drawing false conclusions. The car, after all, is 22 years old. It wasnt driven much and was owned by one person. It was parked in an unheated barn with dirt on the floor and in a cold Ohio climate. It was always maintained or could not have been kept by the person all his life. I have the records, I have the car, I have the evidence and known most of the data behind the car including the owner....so I have the facts. You have nothing but your interpretations and they are just that. I suppose other people have their interpretations of reality, too. So it best until you know the facts like I do, to not guess at your personal interpretable conclusions. Keep them to your self or state they are just what you interpret and are very subject to personal error.

Do you know much about VDO odometers? They always break and don't show proper mileage... dealer just punches in whatever the odo shows. One of mine is stuck at 256079... and has been for 18 months.

I saw a sharp 1991 350SDL sell for about $2100 recently with better paint AND interior, granted some have bottom end issues... still a better way to roll. A dead driver seat points out to a mainly city car or just flat out careless-ness. Neither of which are good, let alone on a Turbo Diesel.

You have a $2k car for the trained eye. Sorry. Hope you didn't spend more. My SDL was about $600 or something from what I can remember, bought it at some auction in '04? I forget. But also had bad paint and so-so interior.

... maybe to someone hard up for that you can fetch more. The brown interior is awful.

JimFreeh · #36 07-14-2009, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohiomike

Being that it just need cosmetic work, I really dont know what it is worth. One high quality paint job estimate was $2500 including the wheels. Perhaps a buyer can paint it and then it would be cheap to him. Great car. Any offers? What is it worth?

Good german paint will cost close to $2k for materials.

Jim

22350 · #37 07-14-2009, 08:26 PM

This car certainly needs love.

Paint is real expensive. and will easily top 5k

babymog · #38 07-15-2009, 01:45 PM

I feel bad for the guy if he went in too deep, but I went through this with my '91 SDL, thought I had gotten a great deal until I looked at the price of paint and some parts to make it right, ... parted it.

Hatterasguy · #39 07-15-2009, 05:38 PM

SDL's are not worth much, mine needed paint and I felt lucky to get $3300 for it. Had more miles, but I know my old SDL's mileage is correct. OTOH I put the better part of $20k into while I owned it, so it really did only need paint.

The car above has low mileage but that doesn't really mean much. If the owner has a paper trail as he claims that it could be accurite. The condition isn't bad, but not mint. Its a driver. The color combo is not a desirable one so thats not going to help you.

In its currant condition its a $2k-$3k dollar car. If you want top dollar I would recomend detailing it to the 9's and throwing it on ebay. Thats your best bet, maybe you will do better.

The market for W126's in general has fallen through the floor in the past 18 months. You would have to come up with a true sub 50k mile gem to see the teens these days. Ver clean 100k mile SDL's are $5k maybe, maybe $7k cars on good days. I can buy super mint gas cars all day long for $3k.

Fixing up these cars gets VERY expensive very fast, I know, been their done that. Its very easy to drop $10k into one if you want it right. Paint alone is $4k-$5k. Knowing what I know now I would be very willing to pay a lot for a nice example.

POS · #40 07-15-2009, 06:41 PM

Based on my experience in watching the market, a top notch sub-100k mile SDL should fetch $9000 or so in today's world. Might take some time for a buyer, but the market is still there. That said, a sub-100k mile SDL that needs paint will be about $5-6000. A half-ass paint job will be $3-4000, and a seriously good one will be $6-7000, but anyone who buys that SDL will be into a "runner" and not a show car. It's hard to knock down prices by saying "it needs ball joints" or "it needs the cruise looked at" - the car is 24 years old and any buyer can't expect perfection nor can he reduce the price dramatically b/c he added up the cost to fix and subtracted that off the price. It's going to have some issues; it just will.

If it was my SDL, then I think I'd ask $6000 and hope/settle for $5500. It may have low mileage, documentation, and be an SDL, but it does have some issues and paint is a rather large one.

babymog · #41 07-16-2009, 06:06 PM

I think that $5k is more of an ebay price for that car, here guys know what they're looking at and subtract for issues and unknowns. Hopefully he's found an ebay buyer and is happy.

kande · #42 02-14-2010, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohiomike

I came across this car in the owners estate sale. It is a one owner, 95 thousand
mile, 1987 Mercedes 300 SDL (a diesel car) he bought new. The low odometer
mileage is authenticated by the dealer and the records. I have the warranty
records from Mercedes Benz of America and all the stamped books in the car.

A local man bought the car new and serviced it on schedule. It has all the books
with it which have been originally stamped by the Akron, Ohio, Mercedes Benz
Dealer who sold it. The car starts and runs like new and has no drips or leaks.
It has had many new batteries over the years but one battery failure put the
original Becker radio into "theft" mode, so it is not working, but only blinking
4 dashes. The power antenna works well. All power windows work as do the
sunroof & locks. Older Mercedes will squeak when turning the steering wheel
indicating the driver's side ball joint rubber needs repaired or lubed.

The only thing is the clearcoat finish has erratically come off the hood, the roof
and trunk much like it has gone through many car wash brushes. The drivers side
near the turn signal shows a little amount rust. The only thing, detracting from
the car is the wornoff clearcoat so you may want to do a paint job on it and the
bumpers. The other thing is the leather on the driver's seat has brittled and is
broken and torn as is the wear on the bolster on the driver's seat. They
are currently covered with sheepskin seat covers. Car was not smoked in.
The dash & wood are not cracked but in excellent condition. The transmission
shifts through the gears perfectly. The cruise control does not work as in many
Benz's of this age. The Vin number is WDBCB25D8HA340001 .

All the mechanicals on this car work & have been serviced. The car has a new
exhaust system. A new transmission filter kit will be included with the
sale even though it shifts perfectly. The color code of the golden brown paint
indicated by owner manual is 441 while the interior is tobacco brown
(dark brown) leather. This Mercedes drives nicely, shifts smoothly and rides
well like no other car you have ever driven.

The car even has the original "First Aid" kit in it. There is no sunfading of the
interior as the car was parked most of it's life in the garage. This low mileage
Mercedes was only driven 4320 miles per year and made of much better
materials than the cars of today.

These big cars get 33 mpg on the highway and 25 in town driving using diesel
fuel. The tires are Firestones with about 60% life left with a new Michelon spare.
You may make an offer. This purchase is a good investment for a 95,000
mile, one owner driven car. The Mercedes always was and is still located in
central Ohio.

ok thanks a lot , but how u selling this 300 sdl for , i will like to know how much you want for it and let know and i will get get back to you shortly kande contact cell 404-518-5670

POS · #43 02-14-2010, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kande

ok thanks a lot , but how u selling this 300 sdl for , i will like to know how much you want for it and let know and i will get get back to you shortly kande contact cell 404-518-5670

This thread is from July 2009; it's probably gone.

ohiomike · #44 02-14-2010, 01:06 PM

I have been driving this car ever since I got it. All those steering squeeks have dissappeared. This car runs excellent. Had the roof painted where the clearcoat came off. The moisture of sitting in the barn caused the clearcoat problem. All the filters, fluids (including transmission) have been changed. The fuel tank has been drained and cleaned. I put the car away for the winter with a special battery charging system to keep it up to snuff. The clearcoat on the hood and deck remains bad. I was going to have that painted by MB this spring. As it is right now, I want around $5,000 for it. This spring after those parts are painted I will ask more. The only items not working are the cruise control and the radio. That series radio has a battery in it and when it expires, the mfgr is the only fix since dealers mostly lost the parts to do it or dont know how. The radio just shows 4 dashes and for several years models, a code cannot be entered in the radio.

There are no drips, leaks, oil burning whatsoever. Also the car is good and tight. The interior is like a dark chocolate and is very fine. This car really runs and shift good just like the day it was made.

babymog · #45 02-14-2010, 05:14 PM

That radio was removed improperly, triggering the self-destruct, it was the security of the late '80s in the Mercedes/Becker radio. Supposedly not repairable.