500SEC fuel economy

[BigBen]

Not a sentence you usually see but may have the chance to buy a 500SEC (W126 shape) for a good price in the next month. Wondered what kind of economy I might see on a 16 mile open road type commute.

I am used to rubbish economy from my 300SL so hoping this won't be much worse....

Ben

[r129sl]

I have a 1986 500 SEC which I sometimes use for commuting, 30miles, open roads with some traffic at one end. I also use it around the doors. I get about 18 to 20mpg. It's a great car, but not especially fast and quite expensive to maintain. It is definitely better to buy a really good one rather than an average one for improvement.

[BigBen]

18-20 is about the same as my SL so not so bad.

Anything else to look out for on an SEC ?

Ben

[r129sl]

I have had mine since April 2008. I bought it from a club member. It is a good car but not one of the best. My impression is that these cars will last forever if serviced and maintained to a standard appropriate for a car which cost £50,000 in 1986. However, many have been neglected or just run on a shoe string.

Rust: obviously. Front wings; wheelarches; under the rear screen.
Moisture inside: there should not be any.
Trim: expensive and hard to obtain. Make sure it is present and in good order.
Electric gadgets: check they work. The electric seats are prone to failure either at the adjustment switch of at the control unit.
Air con: has it been converted and does it work. This is not unreasonable to expect on all but the worst cars.
The engine should run smoothly (especially at idle) otherwise it is a new distributor, cap and set of leads. If it idles high then the seller is hiding this problem.
Transmission should be silken.
The engine always takes 4seconds to catch.
Exhaust: mine failed soon after I bought it. I guess 22years is not bad for an exhaust.
Suspension should be silent and smooth.

[BigBen]

Thanks for that. Sounds mostly the same as my similar aged SL in terms of rust / moisture and even exhaust lifetime (I know 20 odd years is not bad but it still smarts ! )

Ben

[fluffnik]

BigBen said:

Not a sentence you usually see but may have the chance to buy a 500SEC (W126 shape) for a good price in the next month. Wondered what kind of economy I might see on a 16 mile open road type commute.

I am used to rubbish economy from my 300SL so hoping this won't be much worse....

I had a 500SEL a few years back, did ~22-23mpg IIRC, mainly out of town.