Tossing Around a Bit of an Idea, Is it Worth It?

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Joey D

Joey D

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So I've been offered a 1998 Mercedes-Benz E320 AWD estate for the low low price of $7,000 and I think I can talk him down a bit since he wants it gone. It has 132,000 miles on it and is equipped with brand new tires as far as I can tell. I went and drove it tonight and it is good but not great, the interior needs a good cleaning and the body need some polish and nick remover but other then that it looks ok. The HID headlights also need new bulbs since one of them is pink and the other one goes from blue to purple.

I don't think I would keep the car for myself, I have no need or use for an overly large estate car but I'm thinking I would flip it for at least $8,000 judging by the prices on Autotrader. My best friend is interested in going in half way with me on it if it is going to be worth it, this would greatly help out with the upfront money.

Is there anything I need to be concerned with? I don't know Mercedes at all and I'm curious what I need to look for. I've bought and sold cars in the past to get some extra money but they've mostly been Neons that I get from my dad's work at auction.

I took some photos of it:

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And just to prove that I actually drove it I figured I would put up a photo with a tag in it, even though I didn't buy the car.
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I dont' know. On one hand, if you can sell it for a profit, you're up a grand. If you CAN'T...well...You're out 7.

Not good odds.

Ultimately, It's up to you if you want to try and take that risk. Remember that it's a fairly large car and people are kind of getting out of that market. It's usually tough to get asking price, anyway, because people like to haggle.

I'm not going to discourage you, but I think you should give serious thought as to how good a salesman you are.
 
My mother used to have a W210. Not Mercedes' finest hour.

It's a 10+ year old car known for mechanical issues in a deeply unpopular body configuration.

Kelly says ~$8k private. Edmunds is not nearly as optimistic and pegs it closer to ~6k. Given my own experience trying to sell a W210 4Matic sedan, I'd say Edmunds is much closer to actual market value. It may be different in your region, but I doubt it.

It it were my own money, I'd definately pass. Much better things to do with $7,000 these days.


M
 
So W210s aren't looked too highly upon?

A friend of mine just bought an Audi TT and I think hes trying to sell his W210 sedan, oddly enough black as well. I've been thinking about going after it if it was listed at the right price, but if there are mechanical ghosts and other nonsense fudging up the car, I'll avoid it completely.
 
Not by me, at any rate.

My mother's car had numerous electrical gremlins, like the LCDs in her IP going out one by one, apparently very common on the W210. She also went through two A/C compressors. Various squeeks, groans; general fit and finish problems that were common to "Chrysler-Merger Era" Benzs. There was a re-call on the harmonic balance pulley, which would fail. I recall M-B hovering below average in JDP Initail Quality Surveys in those years too.

It's not a rolling POS, but far below M-B's usual high standards of engineering. It was also incredibly boring to drive.


M
 
Just promise us you won't start konversing like a Deutsche when you start driving the Benz. ;)
 
Thanks for the input, the more and more people I talk to these is seeming like a bad buy.
 
I'm sure both Joey and I were thinking the same thing:

Bitches. Mad bitches. Rollin' on D's. With the seat back. Speakers blastin'...
 
Even if it was a W124, you just bought a new car. When you take into account that the W210 is as un-W124 as you can get (spectacular engine detonations, Italian-like electronics, chintzy trim bits that later fall off), it essentially means you are paying $7,000 for the privilege of repairs so you can resell it for $7,000. Stay far away.
 
I'm just always trying to thing of the next scheme I can make a couple extra bucks with. I would have no use to keep the car. My girlfriend is looking for a new vehicle but I don't think she would want to be driving around in that.

YSSMAN
I'm sure both Joey and I were thinking the same thing:

Bitches. Mad bitches. Rollin' on D's. With the seat back. Speakers blastin'...
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:lol:
 
But with that many miles on it you don't want to chance something going wrong on it before you are able to sell it.
 
Jim Prower
I dont' know. On one hand, if you can sell it for a profit, you're up a grand. If you CAN'T...well...You're out 7.

Not good odds.
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Not really. Its highly unlikely that he couldn't sell it for something, but it is a gamble.
 
I've done this numerous times, spend a day cleaning it up really good and then putting a sign on it in front of my house. I've made some pretty good money doing this, most of the time I can get Neons from my dads work for $800 and clean them up and sell them for $1500.

I'm sure others of you do this, it's quite common I would think.
 
Odd note:

I found a 1994 SL320 for sale nearby for $11K... I like it on principle, but I'm against it otherwise. Generally loving it for the same reasons Joey and I like those E-classes...
 
I would avoid it unless every single electronic device on the car works flawlessly, they are not nearly as easy or cheap to work on as earlier models but the car is still 10 years old. There's a good chance you could make a profit on it if everything works since it's an AWD wagon but still...
 
[124 owner superiority complex]VILE W210! I'LL NOT HAVE ANY OF YOUR SHENANIGANS![/124 owner superiority complex]

Okay, I don't know much about the W210, but here's my .02 (3.34 if you go by the cost of making the two pennies)

The AWD makes the car more valuable. Plus, it's the second iteration of 4MATIC, so they had time to work out the kinks of it. (I hope) It's not too high a mileage for a 10 year old car. Then again, my W124 TE had 137 when I got it - and it's four years older.

Toronado, //M-Spec, and land sea air have described it pretty well. It's not awful, but it was the first car to signal the end of the old ways at M-B. it's not a POS, but very un-W124 like.

I believe it's past the time of the M104 equipped W210. So, you're out of the nearly indestructible engine.

I'd say pass it up. $7k is too much of a gamble. You would be better off flipping neons for cheaper in my opinion.

It looks like a nice vehicle, though. Are the spring perches solid? MB used more "environmentally friendly" paints and anti-corrosives for the 210 than they used on the 124 and the 210s got eaten. If you're sure that it's in top shape you might be able to sell it to the right person.




Personally, I point and laugh every time I see a 210 while I'm driving my 124..
 
High Test brings up a good point that I completely forgot about, and you might want to do this for the owner even if you aren't touching the car. w210's are becoming more and more notorious for front spring perch failure (the dome shaped area of each wheel well under the hood where the spring connects to the car, almost unheard of for failure on any other car on the road) and this car is even more at risk for several reasons, first it has the M112 engine which is a fair bit heavier than the M104 it replaces, second it is an older car with fairly low mileage, which means it was before MB knew of a problem and since it hasn't has sky high miles the problem might not have been already corrected, and finally, the AWD models have a slightly different front suspension geometry which puts even more strain on this part of the body. Check for any sort of bubbling or rust and also see if the car may have a recall that applies for this.
 
The electronics work quite well, I played with all of them numerous times to make sure. Although you could tell that many of the moving parts weren't as quick as they once were, mainly the electric seats and steering column.

I'm going to drive it again tonight and if I like it I'm going to offer the guy $5700 for it and I'm not going to got above $6100. Although I might just take $5000 cash and see what I can do with that. If I can get the car for $5000 I will get it. If I can get it low enough I can at least get the $7000 for it I think.
 
Joey D
The electronics work quite well, I played with all of them numerous times to make sure. Although you could tell that many of the moving parts weren't as quick as they once were, mainly the electric seats and steering column.

I'm going to drive it again tonight and if I like it I'm going to offer the guy $5700 for it and I'm not going to got above $6100. Although I might just take $5000 cash and see what I can do with that. If I can get the car for $5000 I will get it. If I can get it low enough I can at least get the $7000 for it I think.
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Ah. That's more sensible. If you can pull it off, then that's a good flip.

But the parts wont move fast. It's 14. Don't expect too much. But the electrical gizmos all functioning is a good sign for a 210. Toronado said that it's made with Italian electronics.


What's the word?
 
The guy had something to do so I didn't end up driving it, maybe tonight.
 
I offered the guy $5000 in cash and he acted like I was stupid, frankly if someone offered my $5000 in untaxable income I would take it but whatever. He said the lowest he would go is $6700 with cash since he was already loosing money on the car. I have a feeling he will own that car for a while.

I'll keep looking around for some more deals to buy and make some extra money on.
 
Losing money...Yeah, you don't want to deal with a guy like that. chances are he probably is trying to do the same thing you were.
 
when selling a car you should always expect to loose a fair amount unless you are flipping... Sounds like a no-brainer-no-deal
 
land sea air
when selling a car you should always expect to loose a fair amount unless you are flipping... Sounds like a no-brainer-no-deal
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He is just an idiot, I'll imagine he'll call me in a week or two and see if I still want it...which during that time I will tell him he can go to hell.
 

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