2001 S430, 82k Miles, £6k Value. Could be mine

[crammy69]

AMAZING MERCEDES S430 2001 HUGE SPEC FSH 82K MILES S500 on eBay (end time 01-Sep-09 20:29:30 BST)

I bid on this last week and it finished unsold @ £5900, and from the advert it appears the seller was looking for around £7000, which I felt a little strong. Parkers (which is just a guide , I know, and seems to undervalue Mercs) indicates atn independant Trader selling price of £5800 before adjusting for options, so thats the sort of level Id feel comfortable at.

+ Appears very clean indeed
+ Alloys in great nick.

- No parking sensors apparent
- Last owner had it for just a year, is this ominous?

Given the wife is gonna buy a new little hatchback, I have a great exccuse (need) to buy a larger car to do those trips to Devon and weekend visits further afield, so Im seriously considering it. I really wanted a W210 but have yet to find one in the colour combination and condition I would like, so this appears a good 2nd choice.

Given the costly nature of the electronis / suspension etc when they go wrong, is an RAC check really going to show up any issues, or is there another route to get this checked over given the car is a fair distance from me. Weirdly enough I bought the W124 from the same area.

Thoughts please gents?

 

[wemorgan]

The advert reads like standard Ebay dealer waffle to me. So I'd take it all with a pinch of salt.

Are 5 service stamps enough for an 8 year old car with 82k miles? I'd ask for the dates and mileage of those services.

Do those generation S-class cars rust like the CLK and E-class?

Is the climate control fully working?

I've bought cars from people who have previously owned it for a short while. Generally I'd say it's too difficult to tell whether that's good or bad, I'd just assess each car on it's on merits.

Maybe there is a forum member who can visit it for you before you bid?

£6k sounds like a fair price for a V8.......I hope it works out well for you.

 

[EDZ649]

Might be persuaded to part with my E55 still if its a 210 you are really after! Been thinking about putting it up for sale again lately. PM me if you are interested.

 

[crammy69]

The advert reads like standard Ebay dealer waffle to me. So I'd take it all with a pinch of salt.

Are 5 service stamps enough for an 8 year old car with 82k miles? I'd ask for the dates and mileage of those services.

Is the climate control fully working?

Agree, so have sent a mail asking for more detail of actual service history and whats been done. I love the idea of this car but I know that when you get a wrong 'un, they will strip your wallet at lightening speed!.

 

[lynall]

Car looks nice, house and surrouding area look nice go for a drive and see.
I dont think they rust as bad as the 210, did see a post a while ago about rust on s class and was a small easily replacable panel by the wipers.



Lynall

 

[davethemus]

maybe the previous owner only had it a year due to fuel costs and recession, wouldn't worry about that.

 

[Seamster15]

Pay for a specialist Mercedes garage such as Mercland to PDI the car. You will then get an honest view on the car rather than some RAC/AA carp.

 

[crammy69]

Pay for a specialist Mercedes garage such as Mercland to PDI the car. You will then get an honest view on the car rather than some RAC/AA carp.

Yep, Ill have to make some calls to see whats possible, I wonder what a Merc garage would charge for a good look over, cant take them more than an hour or two?

 

[Howard]

Nice to see a seller spelling COMAND correctly ...

 

[Will]

Just my personal viewpoint:

W220s S-class MBs are an absolute bargain on a metal-for-your-money basis, but just remember that they were expensive to service/repair when new - now that they're older and have covered higher mileage remember to budget plenty to keep it all in check.

They're quite complex cars and some of the parts can be expensive (electrical, A/C, suspension etc).

I'd happily buy one but would be totally realistic that even after a reasonably thorough inspection, a large bill could appear during my ownership.

DO buy one if you like them , but also don't expect to be able to run it for just £500 a year etc

Will

 

[crammy69]

Just my personal viewpoint:

W220s S-class MBs are an absolute bargain on a metal-for-your-money basis, but just remember that they were expensive to service/repair when new - now that they're older and have covered higher mileage remember to budget plenty to keep it all in check.

They're quite complex cars and some of the parts can be expensive (electrical, A/C, suspension etc).

I'd happily buy one but would be totally realistic that even after a reasonably thorough inspection, a large bill could appear during my ownership.

DO buy one if you like them , but also don't expect to be able to run it for just £500 a year etc

Will

It is a worry, it certainly appears that the S Class isnt just a bigger E Class!. So that being the case how about an E55 as a comparison? is that going to be less likely to give me big bills? whats the most likely source of grief there?

Cheers

 

[Will]

I'd buy any of those cars, but on the understanding that I'm not buying a £5/6k car, I'd be buying a £50/60k car for £5/6k that is much older and higher mileage than when it was new

Realistically, any car can have problems. It'd be a dull world if we all drove Hyundais with 5-year warranties for that reason

Just buy the car you want and enjoy it. But be aware that at some point down the line you might have a hefty bill. What you save in depreciation (£££££s) you can spend a fraction of in maintenance. And if you're especially lucky, you might have a few years cheap motoring if nothing much goes wrong

I bought a CLK55 recently, for a good £50k+ less than it would have been when it was new. But I'm under no illusions and that if it goes wrong, I will need to fix it (unlike a new one with warranty).

Personally, I'd put about £100/month or so aside to cover servicing/repairs. If it doesn't need it all one year, let the money roll on to the future and it could pay for something major at some point - gearbox or whatever.

Still cheap even if you spent £6k on it, kept it a couple of years and sold it for £3k. You'd lose that taking a new one out of the showroom!

Will

 

[wemorgan]

My personal view is that the W210 looks rather dated now. That together with the widespread rust issues would put me off buying one.

The W220 still looks elegant today and I'd be prepared to pay the higher running costs.

Though that's easy for me to say as it's not my money on the line

 

[Seamster15]

Yep, Ill have to make some calls to see whats possible, I wonder what a Merc garage would charge for a good look over, cant take them more than an hour or two?

I normally pay for an hours work, this includes a full safety check and testing of all the goodies. Normally on lesser cars than an S though, so budget for slightly longer for all those expensive toys!

Good luck, looks fantastic.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

...

Do those generation S-class cars rust like the CLK and E-class?

...

Unfortunatley the W220's do rust, my dad had two new front wings, all 4 doors repaired and I believe a rear wing. His is a 2002 S320

Another common fault is an airmatic failure (yes we had that too!).

 

[crammy69]

Unfortunatley the W220's do rust, my dad had two new front wings, all 4 doors repaired and I believe a rear wing. His is a 2002 S320

Another common fault is an airmatic failure (yes we had that too!).

How much does the airmatic cost to fix? I heard it could be £3000?

 

[Smiley]

It says the last owner was a garage owner and that he paid £12,000 for it twelve months ago. Somehow I doubt that. A garage owner is not the sort of guy to OVER pay for a car - and why is the number of previous owners left blank?
If the prospect of big bills is going to keep you awake at night then one of these - or a large engined W210 is not for you I am afraid. I think you would be very lucky if £100 per month was sufficient unless you do few miles or are very lucky - it seems to me that there are plenty of four figure potential repair bills on these cars.
Try looking at something a bit less complex and / or a bit more reliable - or an older car in great condition - at least the repair bills are lower when they do go wrong.

 

[crammy69]

The seller has just mailed me and said the last owner had the air suspension overhauld at a cost of £2000!!! Blimey, you guys werent joking!. Mind you if this is the wrost bill, then maybe the cars due a cheap spell?.....

 

[Howard]

Wait until an ECU goes

 

[crammy69]

Wait until an ECU goes

Go on then Howard, burst my little bubble of hope!, how much is an ECU then? (im assuming more than £1000 given what I see for W124 EZl prices!!!