RE: Shed Of The Week: Mercedes S500

[STA5H]

Im just wondering if the engine would be useful in something like an Ultima GTR just to be different from the usual Chevy /Ford powered examples you see

[pSyCoSiS]

Or, if you wanted to go mad....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvVPkTfTDZQ

[Strawman]

chazola said:

They still have great presence, but even the bloke who designed it, the great Bruno Sacco, said it was too big!

It was designed to carry five 6'10" adults in comfort IIRC which seems a bit over the top. I ran a S280 for a while and they are a pain to park, even the short wheelbase models, much longer than a normal parking bay in an average car park.

[Kawasicki]

Lagerlout said:

I've got an S500, had it about six months now. Lavished lots of wonga on it doing maintenance stuff (it's a keeper) and it's now close to perfect. I drive it a lot couple of trips up to Leeds and back from the south coast and it has averaged 28 mpg, yes seriously, and I don't baby it. I've given it three oil changes in 3,000 miles, diff, gearbox, the lot, new tyres, shocks etc. The beauty of these is that there is practically none left on the road, they have all been parted out. Which means you can get lots and lots of spares for practically nothing. I had to fit two new cats recently and a barely used set cost me a couple of hundred quid as opposed to the £2,000 Mercedes wanted (!). The car has working Sat Nav too from 1998 with a 2007 disc in it so it doesn't even get me lost (very often haha).

Here's a few shots of my barge

Seriously impressive.

[BrightonEd]

drewpasmith said:

Having spent well over twice the purchase price of my 600 SEL in the two and a half years I've owned it, I can attest to the fact that these cars have expensive tastes.

(see stoic other half, having just loaded her on to a flatbed)

That being said, I was a serial car flipper before Diana came along. Now I'm so deeply, madly, truly in love, I'm taking her to the US with me when I move.

(see her at the end of a 1-day blast from London to St. Anton in Austria)

Be aware: if you allow it, you'll be hooked for life (or as long as you can afford it)

Brilliant name! I too was waiting for someone to allude to the 'People's Princess'

[trj88888]

thing is these sheds will start to appreciate soon enough, picking up a good one now is well worth it if nothing else for the fact that they are lovely regardless.

[Dr G]

I hadn't realised previously but this is at a garage I pass on the way to work; they were just opening up as I went past this morning and thought to myself "that's a very familiar looking car..."

[the_hood]

The tech, when new, was amazing. Even now, it's very impressive. Unfortunately, I've never liked the slab sided looks. It's as if Mercedes forgot to style it. Park it next to a contemporary BMW or Jag and the Merc just looks like a big ugly shape.
I'm sure it's a comfortable cruiser but, I couldn't live with the looks.

[Martin_M]

This might be a daft question but is anyone put off by 'sold as seen' or is that just the seller being sensible given the age of this particular car?

[Dr G]

Martin_M said:

This might be a daft question but is anyone put off by 'sold as seen' or is that just the seller being sensible given the age of this particular car?

At that age and mileage anything other than it blowing up on their driveway could be considered reasonable given its age, mileage and price.

Their responsibilities to the vehicle will go as far as it running, driving and doing what it says in their advert at the time you buy it. It is already well passed what would be legally considered 'reasonably durable'.

[redrabbit]

Martin_M said:

This might be a daft question but is anyone put off by 'sold as seen' or is that just the seller being sensible given the age of this particular car?

Good Question. I'm sure this point must have been discussed ad infinitum on other threads, but AFAIK these 'sold as seen' disclaimers are unenforceable: aren't all used cars, even sheds, sold with 3 months' warranty on major faults under law? Even if you agree with the dealer to waive the warranty in exchange for a reduced price, he still has a legal obligation since these rights cannot be signed away. I'm certainly not a legal expert so my understanding might be flawed, but I've got recent experience of getting fairly major work done at no cost in exactly the circumstances described above: maybe the vendor was as clueless as me?

If I was in the market for a W140, I'd buy this one, put as many miles on it as I could justify in the first 3 months (with the aircon set to "sub-arctic"), and if anything broke I'd be back to Mr Shouty to get it fixed. Would that be naïve (in legal terms)?

[Dr G]

redrabbit said:

Would that be naïve (in legal terms)?

Yes, it's old enough that a failure, even a fairly major one could be considered reasonable for a car of its age, price and mileage. It has already surpassed what would be considered reasonably durable. At 18 years old and probably well north of 100k miles any warranty company will tell you the same, it has just plain worn out.

[HannsG]

Do these rust like a bd?

[Schermerhorn]

One of these please

[redrabbit]

Dr G said:

Yes, it's old enough that a failure, even a fairly major one could be considered reasonable for a car of its age, price and mileage. It has already surpassed what would be considered reasonably durable. At 18 years old and probably well north of 100k miles any warranty company will tell you the same, it has just plain worn out.

Interesting. I got a driveshaft on my newly acquired 1989 Mk2 Golf GTi replaced at no cost after it gave out a week after purchase. I had theoretically neg'd away the warranty, and initially got short shrift, but I argued it wasn't fit for purpose as sold and the fault must have been present at point of sale. Dealer fixed it without much further discussion, all pretty civilised in the event. He was a pretty straight up guy tbh so maybe it was worth more to him in terms of goodwill to fix it. Only time I've ever done this in years of running old motors so as you say maybe he had no legal obligation, and I may have got nowhere if it had been something that didn't render the car undriveable.

So is the 3 month statutory warranty thing a myth? And if not, what does it reasonably cover on a shed?

[Tonto]

Remember being driven around Dublin by a customer in the 90's who had one of these. He used to wave at passersby like he was the queen. Lovely smooth ride. Pitty this one doesn't appear to have aircon, or I might have been tempted.

[Tonto]

Remember being driven around Dublin by a customer in the 90's who had one of these. He used to wave at passersby like he was the queen. Lovely smooth ride. Pitty this one doesn't appear to have aircon, or I might have been tempted.

[VolvoT5]

Martin_M said:

This might be a daft question but is anyone put off by 'sold as seen' or is that just the seller being sensible given the age of this particular car?

Sold as seen has no legal meaning. SOGA would still apply..... however for a car of this age/mileage/price I think 'fit for purpose' and 'of reasonable quality' would extend to driving to the end of the road before blowing up.

I do however think it still has to be roadworthy ? But with a valid MOT presumably that standard is met.

If a dealer was trying to sell a 10k car "Sold as seen" it would raise big alarm bells in my head, but with a £1000 shed I think they are just making it absolutely clear to a tiny % of unrealistic buyers that the car doesn't come with any warranty and is your problem as soon as the money is exchanged. Sure if the engine blows up in 2 months the buyer could still sue them in small claims court under the SOGA, but it would be unlikely to be successful IMO.

[monthefish]

Am I the only one that thinks the wheels aren't that bad?

[Strawman]

VolvoT5 said:

Sure if the engine blows up in 2 months the buyer could still sue them in small claims court under the SOGA, but it would be unlikely to be successful IMO.

I'm not an expert but a specialist car dealer told me last year that the SOGA was the reason he had stopped selling cars for under £5k. He's had the experience in the past of selling a car that then developed a fault, offering to take it back and refund the money and the customer insisting the car be fixed instead. He didn't want to do that so went to court and the judge found in the customers favour. With potentially any £1k car hiding many times that in possible faults he didn't want to take that risk any more.