RE: Shed of the Week: Mercedes S320
Discussion
ferrisbueller said:
Flumpo said:
magic torch said:
Flumpo said:
I think if the owner had been taking it to a merc specialist it would be mentioned as that would seriously increase the value. So, for me a car like this with electrical problems the owner has had a go on himself and not been able to fix sets alarm bells.
A decent shed should at least have a working radio in my book. For £1500 I’ve seen better s class examples. It’s a great car, but I wouldn’t pick this particular one.
It did go to a specialist. It's my car.A decent shed should at least have a working radio in my book. For £1500 I’ve seen better s class examples. It’s a great car, but I wouldn’t pick this particular one.
The car went to a garage to look at the electrical discharge, and it now has a new battery.
It's always had the issue with the sensors.
i'm in the country a 2-3 days a week. I'm happy to sell the car as is, I just don't have the time for it.
It sailed through it's MOT with no advisories, I have had some recent mechanical work done. It's comfy, quiet, smooth, economical and under £1,500. What more could you want?
In that case a whole different scenario. Seems a good deal. I would consider it based on the specialist servicing you have had done. plus If it isn’t as advertised I know you are away from your house each week and could ‘recoup’ my 1500. Only kidding!
PH'ers using PH classifieds to sell their cars! Who would have thought it so?! If you had stuck to discussing the car rather than casting aspersions on the integrity of its owner, perhaps the owner might not have felt the need to post.
Elsewhere, you did well to create a profile on the site two weeks before you found it.
Once I realised the situation I apologiesed to the owner of the car as he has further info to the advert and reomves my comments.
I’m still very new to the forum so I’m assuming you are well know For criticising others and looking for unnecessary arguments. You little scallywag!
magic torch said:
pSyCoSiS said:
Invoices to back that up will show what additional work has been carried out.
Get a good one, and it is a rewarding ownership proposition - get one that's been run on a budget, and you'll spend the asking price putting it right.
I have all the invoices. It has not been run on a budget.Get a good one, and it is a rewarding ownership proposition - get one that's been run on a budget, and you'll spend the asking price putting it right.
Show me a better one, let alone a facelift, at this price.
It's my cup of tea - big, wafty barge that will drives for hours in total comfort. Still has class and presence about it.
I do over 700 miles per week, and I cannot think of a better car to do that journey in.
And I guarantee you this - take any colleague, friend or relative for a drive, and they will be gob smacked you only paid £1500 for it, and not £10k - as they do feel that good for the money.
J4CKO said:
It has a fairly unexotic 3.2 diesel V6, which was man enough to do the job, and it should even be fairly decent on fuel, 30 mpg or so I guess average ? tax isnt too haigh and insurance shouldnt be too bad for anyone over 30 ?
This has the 3.2 straight-six engine, the W221 S Class (and other models) have the 'OM642' 3.0 V6 diesel.Edited by pSyCoSiS on Friday 16th March 14:02
pSyCoSiS said:
Flumpo said:
I wouldn’t take a £1500 car to a main dealer no, my point was that to wax lyrical about the engineering quality and provinence then maintain it on the cheap are in conflict. That and my main point being a service history doesn’t tell you if a cars knackered. You could need numerous parts replaced that would t be picked up by a service print out, let alone a stamp in a book.
I think if the owner had been taking it to a merc specialist it would be mentioned as that would seriously increase the value. So, for me a car like this with electrical problems the owner has had a go on himself and not been able to fix sets alarm bells.
A decent shed should at least have a working radio in my book. For £1500 I’ve seen better s class examples. It’s a great car, but I wouldn’t pick this particular one.
Totally agree - for this money you can get much better examples.I think if the owner had been taking it to a merc specialist it would be mentioned as that would seriously increase the value. So, for me a car like this with electrical problems the owner has had a go on himself and not been able to fix sets alarm bells.
A decent shed should at least have a working radio in my book. For £1500 I’ve seen better s class examples. It’s a great car, but I wouldn’t pick this particular one.
Yes, a service stamp doesn't tell you much, and they can always be faked. Invoices to back that up will show what additional work has been carried out.
Get a good one, and it is a rewarding ownership proposition - get one that's been run on a budget, and you'll spend the asking price putting it right.
It's £1500 FFS, my bicycle cost more than that...
Motorrad said:
I'm late to the party but if there's rust on the arches I'd be scared it's everywhere else on this generation S class. Add to that a diesel engine and I'd wait for a corrosion free, large engined, petrol instead.
Do these suffer from the Valeo radiator issues like the W211?
What you want is a nice 5.5 litre CLS !Do these suffer from the Valeo radiator issues like the W211?
Know you of such a vehicle ?
A fantastic shed for sure; like so many comments above, I wouldn't expect a full service history on anything older than 5 years. People do their own, even on a luxobarge like this. The MOT history is cleaner than a lot of comparable models, and the price is spot on. Great work this week Shed!
Motorrad said:
J4CKO said:
What you want is a nice 5.5 litre CLS !
Know you of such a vehicle ?
As chance would have it I do and it's running great. Know you of such a vehicle ?
Still hanker after an S Class though, preferably with a twin turbo V12.
If I'd had my kids 10 years early that's what I'd be tooling around in rather than the E Class estate version.
Motorrad said:
J4CKO said:
What you want is a nice 5.5 litre CLS !
Know you of such a vehicle ?
As chance would have it I do and it's running great. Know you of such a vehicle ?
Still hanker after an S Class though, preferably with a twin turbo V12.
Wasnt a fan of my S430 I got for £750 really, it just didnt feel that good. Did manage to swap it for a Boxster S though so not all bad.
No real issues in the year except for the light in the instrument cluster dying so you couldnt see anything, £150 repair or just buy another set of clocks with similar milage for much less from ebay.
It somehow also avoided the rust despite being a 2000/01 car (cant remember exact age). Best bit of the car was the heated/cooled seats, made doing 600 miles easy. Would get somewhere around 25mpg at an average of 85mph from England to North Scotland which was remarkable for a 4.3L v8.
No real issues in the year except for the light in the instrument cluster dying so you couldnt see anything, £150 repair or just buy another set of clocks with similar milage for much less from ebay.
It somehow also avoided the rust despite being a 2000/01 car (cant remember exact age). Best bit of the car was the heated/cooled seats, made doing 600 miles easy. Would get somewhere around 25mpg at an average of 85mph from England to North Scotland which was remarkable for a 4.3L v8.
May I venture that if one had a 15yr old kid, you’d expect them to have had a few knocks and scrapes along the way, possibly the odd broken bit and if your unlucky, the odd breakdown (no offence meant to anyone who has experienced and suffered the latter).
So to expect a 15yr old complex luxo barge to have not experienced the same is a bit unreasonable. Likewise expecting it to have FULL MB service history.
I got into buying and selling shed cars with my friend and it took a major realignment of my expectations of older cars in that I wanted to see that FSH, no rust, scratches etc and something that was far better than the price paid when I first started out. The realisation that this was unrealistic came very quickly, and I soon settled quite happily into my new found knowledge, purchasing some smashing BMWs and MGFs for next to nothing.
Godfather had an S Class like this (‘my’ godfather, not ‘The’, although the latter might have been better inhe circumstances).
A retired bank manager, thr car did small mileage per year (living in N London and near a tube station helped), never went out in the rain if possible and was always garaged.
Oh, and apart from being serviced at the Main Stealer, it also had the annual corrosion inspection.
Imagine said godfathers apoplexy when thr Main Stealer told him of rust, rust and more rust that wasn’t covered by their anit-perforation warranty.
Long story cut short, he parked it outside thr dealership on a main road with a sign saying something like ‘Buying a Merc isn’t cheap. But the rust is free!’.
If you find a good one, great, it would be an exquisite way to waft, it a bad one would surely empty your bank account quicker than a cuckolded wife....
So to expect a 15yr old complex luxo barge to have not experienced the same is a bit unreasonable. Likewise expecting it to have FULL MB service history.
I got into buying and selling shed cars with my friend and it took a major realignment of my expectations of older cars in that I wanted to see that FSH, no rust, scratches etc and something that was far better than the price paid when I first started out. The realisation that this was unrealistic came very quickly, and I soon settled quite happily into my new found knowledge, purchasing some smashing BMWs and MGFs for next to nothing.
Godfather had an S Class like this (‘my’ godfather, not ‘The’, although the latter might have been better inhe circumstances).
A retired bank manager, thr car did small mileage per year (living in N London and near a tube station helped), never went out in the rain if possible and was always garaged.
Oh, and apart from being serviced at the Main Stealer, it also had the annual corrosion inspection.
Imagine said godfathers apoplexy when thr Main Stealer told him of rust, rust and more rust that wasn’t covered by their anit-perforation warranty.
Long story cut short, he parked it outside thr dealership on a main road with a sign saying something like ‘Buying a Merc isn’t cheap. But the rust is free!’.
If you find a good one, great, it would be an exquisite way to waft, it a bad one would surely empty your bank account quicker than a cuckolded wife....
"This 'one of the best cars ever' thing isn't just Shed's opinion"
It isn't one of the best cars ever made, not by a long shot. It was one of the best cars available when it was new, but they really aren't anything special now, and potentially bankrupting things. The E39 5 series IS one of the best cars ever made, it received more praise than the S Class when new, was the top of its segment for its entire life span, and remains an extremely well built car with great road manners, especially in 6 cylinder form.
On this budget a Volvo S80 D5 would be a much better car than the Merc, all things considered.
It isn't one of the best cars ever made, not by a long shot. It was one of the best cars available when it was new, but they really aren't anything special now, and potentially bankrupting things. The E39 5 series IS one of the best cars ever made, it received more praise than the S Class when new, was the top of its segment for its entire life span, and remains an extremely well built car with great road manners, especially in 6 cylinder form.
On this budget a Volvo S80 D5 would be a much better car than the Merc, all things considered.
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