Is this a good deal?

[bobo_1314]

My friend's friend is selling his 1994 Mercedes S500 sedan. It's in excellent condition (like 90+% new), very few minor scrapes, has only 20,000km, never been in an accident, and well maintained according to the owner's manual (so I guess every 6000km). The guy is selling it for $20,000 CDN (~$17769.88 USD, 13,318.12 EUR). Is this a good deal? How much show I lower the asking price, to negotiate a better deal? Thanks folks!!

[MattD1zzl3]

I dont know if i would pay more then 10 grand (USD) for a 1994 sedan...

[jebjeb]

some reason MB tend to drop in value fast
I am sure it has to do with they change body styles alot and even 1 gen old just instantly looks really old. Also a family friend is a highend import mechanic(German,Italian) and he said even though they are well made after they get a few years old they well have problems and when that happens it cost ALOT to fix, and that basicly once the warrenty is up it is best to sell.


Just think that car was around $100,000usd new almost and now 13 years years later its almost 1/10th of that

[Jacobfox]

As far as depreciation goes, 10% of value remaining after a decade and a half is really good.
In fact, many german cars have very low depreciation.
EDIT: KBB says that such a car should be about $14130 US. Try to knock his price down about 2k.

[bobo_1314]

Thanks for the advice guys, greatly appreciate it.

But in term of mechanical failures and electrical problems, is this generation of Merc a bad reputation of that? Even though the car only has one owner (the guy owning it now), I really don't want the car to break down on a regular basis, as I've heard a lot of stories about mechanical failures on Mercs.

Folks, good or bad, I'd like to hear your comments/advice; once again, thank you very much!!

[cvrefugee]

We had a 1993 400SEL (4.2L V8 engine) and it have lots of electrical gremlins (power windows and self-closing doors/trunk), air conditioning went out a couple of times, ASR light (google it) was the biggest problem which led my parents to sell it. We paid about $35K for it back in 2000, sold it for $5000 in 2006

[bobo_1314]

That's the thing I'm worried about; I know Merc's electrical problems are so bad that most people just switch to another car brand. But because my friend is telling me that the car is in very good condition, I feel kind of tempted to give German cars a try.

[Cobol74]

cvg Your parents must have been unlucky, Mercs of that era, here at least, have a reputation of bullet proof reliability, only the later 1990's models seem to fall apart. Maybe the 1993 ones were in that category actually, its because they got a new boss at about that time who thought that they "over engineered" and built their cars and that a bit of the old built in obselascence would mean that they could make more money. Classic example of that is the ML which in its original version came bottom or near bottom in satisfaction surveys. They seem to have changed their minds and the reputation seems to have survived plus the cars have got better recently.

[Austere]

I wish I knew a bit more about that model. My knowledge is limited mainly to the W108 & W116.

From my limited knowledge I can tell you: The W140 is well built but it was 'over engineered' which made it unnecessarily complex. On the whole it is very reliable but as the kms get above 150,000 things start to wear out and break and those parts can be very expensive to replace. The AC evaporator is prone to leaking and fixing it is a major job that can get expensive but unfortunately I don't know about any other specific common problems to look out for so I would just recommend having the car looked at by an experienced Mercedes-Benz specialist before you buy it.
You hear the occasional horror story but they're few and far between. Generally this model is known for its reliability rather than unreliability but they have a lot of highly sophistimacated electronics that can be riddled with gremlins. Some cars are completely unaffected, some are plagued. Early cars suffer from these problems more than later ones.

Mercedes spare parts are expensive and dealerships charge a fortune for labour but if you can find a good specialist mechanic you can save a lot of money.

I don't have any personal experience with it but the W140 is highly regarded among Benzers. It's often referred to as the 'last true Mercedes-Benz' (but that's really not much of a compliment because the model that superseded it was the first of the of the 'new terrible Mercedes-Benzes').

I've found that Mercedes-Benz ownership costs are high but that it really is worth it to own such a fine automobile. It's likely to have higher running costs than your Lexus and it's the kind of car that the owner has to be devoted to. Your heart has to be in it.


Obviously I'm pretty biased. If it were me I would have bought it already but from what you say it's a clean, well looked after example with very low kms and a good service history and it's already gone through its steep phases of depreciation (never buy an S-Class that's less than a decade old if you don't plan to keep it for the long term because if you do you'll end up taking an absolute bath!).

It really does sound like solid buy but do have it checked by someone who knows Mercedeses.

+ YouTube Video

[Cobol74]

Thinking about an 2002/3 E-Class estate (7-seat) to replace my little Honda Civic so that either myself or my wife can take the whole family out (we'll both have seven seat cars).

[cvrefugee]

My parents loved that car, but their last Benz (1986 560SEL "The Beast") cost them so much money in repairs I can't believe they bought the 400SEL in the first place. Right now they drive a 2002 Infiniti Q45 and absolutely love it. It's their first Japanese car too

[Austere]

Originally Posted by cvg

560SEL

That is the best car Mercedes-Benz ever made.

[cvrefugee]

Originally Posted by Austere

That is the best car Mercedes-Benz ever made.

Nice for its time, I agree. My dad paid $25K for it way back in 1991, way under wholesale. Basically my dad's client sued this guy's business and he was forced to sell some of his stuff, including the car. My dad went down to the auction and snagged it for cheap. He was planning on selling the car for $35K to make a quick buck, but after my mom drove it she made him keep it!

I crashed the car in 2000, totaled it. The fireman on scene said the car pretty much saved my life - that thing was a freaking tank. The best part about the accident was the insurance money we got, $12,500, half of what my dad paid for it 9 years previous

[bobo_1314]

I'm thinking if I can get the price down to around ~$16,000 USD then I'll probably go for it. My friend's friend is going to take the car to the Merc dealer in a few days to get a full service done, so the car should be in the best condition afterwards. Also, if I get the car, I'm planning to drive it for quite a while, since it's got only 20,000km under the hood.

And thanks Austere, for the great advice!!

[GM_IV]

Originally Posted by bobo_1314

Thanks for the advice guys, greatly appreciate it.

But in term of mechanical failures and electrical problems, is this generation of Merc a bad reputation of that? Even though the car only has one owner (the guy owning it now), I really don't want the car to break down on a regular basis, as I've heard a lot of stories about mechanical failures on Mercs.

Folks, good or bad, I'd like to hear your comments/advice; once again, thank you very much!!

I believe my cousin had a C class about the same age as this S. Either 1993-1995, don't remember. That car had a lot of minor issues that costed a lot of time and money to fix. He eventually gave up because its too frequent and his job(real estate) requires a reliable car so he got a Lexus instead. The biggest thing is its a 13 year old car and adding that its a Merc means $$$ and lots of time if anything goes wrong. Due to the mileage it might be a rather good car...its just if its not a good car its going to empty your wallet very quickly. Can you take the risk is really the question.

[bobo_1314]

Originally Posted by GM_IV

I believe my cousin had a C class about the same age as this S. Either 1993-1995, don't remember. That car had a lot of minor issues that costed a lot of time and money to fix. He eventually gave up because its too frequent and his job(real estate) requires a reliable car so he got a Lexus instead. The biggest thing is its a 13 year old car and adding that its a Merc means $$$ and lots of time if anything goes wrong. Due to the mileage it might be a rather good car...its just if its not a good car its going to empty your wallet very quickly. Can you take the risk is really the question.

I talked to dad about this deal, since he used to have an S Class in the early 90's. Although the car sat in his garage most of the time (I believe he used it less than 10 times during his few months of ownership of the vehicle), he said the car is just not reliable. He's telling me to get another Lexus, and if I don't have enough money to buy it, he's gonna help me. So I guess I'm going back to looking at the 2007 Lexus GS again.

Thank you very much for everyone's advice/comments!! You folks helped me a lot on this one!!

[C53A_4G63T]

For that model here in CT, the ones I was looking at in decent condition, I would not pay over $9,000USD for.

But Canada could be diffrent.