Buying a C124

[Marineboy]

There is no guide price for cars that are around 30 years old because they're pretty much fully depreciated by the time they're 20 years old, and the majority are already in the junk yards. The price comes down to what a buyer is willing to pay and what a seller is willing to take. That usually boils down to some sentimental value and the condition of the car.

The rust you see is not the extent of all the rust. There will be much more that you will not see. 94 MY cars will have the M104 which is a beautiful engine, but be weary of the EFI wiring harness biodegrades by design and can cause electrical issues.

Thank you, is it possible to know if the engine harness has been changed?

 

[Marineboy]

The inner wing inside the engine bay also rusts away behind the headlights and on the n/s under the washer bottle - you can inspect this with the outer wings in place

Yes forgot to check the water bottle and battery shelf . Going back hopefully in January to put more holes in it.

 

[Will]

The car is effectively an economic write-off IMHO.

To begin with such an example makes no financial sense, you’d be far better off spending more on a better example to begin with.

There’s a reason that the paint and bodywork (rust/welding/new panels) has been left - it will cost far more than the value of the car to rectify properly.

Sorry to put a downer on it but there’s a reason that the car is for sale and I suspect that the owner is jumping ship before the MOT runs out in a few weeks’ time

 

[ChipChop]

As above the mot history for the c124 pictured (L434CLJ) paints a picture of a car that has had little love over the years (see brake pipe advisories year after year) and mot welding to areas near to suspension mounts done in a day which means a plate over the existing rust, never a good sign and expensive to rectify.
The icing on the cake is the poor paint. Really not worth the bother imo unless you are really keen, have the facilities to do it all yourself at cost and could obtain the car for scrap price + a little good will. £750 sounds about right (negotiate for the alloys separately), certainly nowhere near the £4500 the seller is asking.

 

[ray_hennig]

Thank you everyone that responded and sorry for the delay in me replying.
I agree with everyone, im
Sure the rust is a lot worse than I ever can imagine. I love the car and we view them with rose tinted speckles.
There is only so much you can do when buying a car and I was lucky enough to get access underneath, I can post a video if anyone’s interested.
But I’m sure you’re all right, if the thick jacking tube is bad then the whole sill is going to be junk. The photo I posted is really the corner that is really bad, the others look 50% better.
I’ve seen that most of these the inner wings are bad and having seen Des’s pictures I now know to expect a lot more issues
I had done some my homework before I saw the first 2 cars and hoped this one was a good one. I’m going to go back to view the car in NY to hopefully give it a more thorough poke and pull back the sill panel if allowed. Del is there anyway of looking at the inner wing without removing the outer wing other than the door falling off?

I’ve sent out lots of quote request for the paint and welding. But little response this far, I think everyone is scared of taking on 124 basket case.
Think I’m going on a welding course if I want to own a classic Mercedes Benz.

THe car in the pic looks lovely but the nerd in me would be suspicious of the non-standard AMG wheels. They may be genuine AMG but I don't think they are period-correct.

Others may comment.

R

 

[Marineboy]

THe car in the pic looks lovely but the nerd in me would be suspicious of the non-standard AMG wheels. They may be genuine AMG but I don't think they are period-correct.

Others may comment.

R

Yes prefer originals also.

As above the mot history for the c124 pictured (L434CLJ) paints a picture of a car that has had little love over the years (see brake pipe advisories year after year) and mot welding to areas near to suspension mounts done in a day which means a plate over the existing rust, never a good sign and expensive to rectify.
The icing on the cake is the poor paint. Really not worth the bother imo unless you are really keen, have the facilities to do it all yourself at cost and could obtain the car for scrap price + a little good will. £750 sounds about right (negotiate for the alloys separately), certainly nowhere near the £4500 the seller is asking.

Yes I had looked through that too, I have a video of the underside of the car, it looked okay, but I’m no expert, I could see some welding patches, but suspect a lot of it is held together by the original underseal.

I had a look at the brake pipes and all looked okay, so either they were replaced some years ago or they have only changed the short wheels cylinder pipes.
The paint quality is amazing, but whoever keyed it didn’t agree obviously, it’s such a shame as I doubt the paint will ever match.

 

[Marineboy]

The car is effectively an economic write-off IMHO.

To begin with such an example makes no financial sense, you’d be far better off spending more on a better example to begin with.

There’s a reason that the paint and bodywork (rust/welding/new panels) has been left - it will cost far more than the value of the car to rectify properly.

Sorry to put a downer on it but there’s a reason that the car is for sale and I suspect that the owner is jumping ship before the MOT runs out in a few weeks’ time

Thanks, pretty much what I suspected, it’s a beautiful car and very sad to write it off.
I’ve managed to chat to a well know paint shop locally who had also restored a C124 which appeared on YouTube recently . if I can I will get it to him for an assessment.

 

[ALFAitalia]

I really would remove that number....never a great idea on a open forum.

 

[chief67]

Hi Marineboy, don’t know what’s happened but my post I put on your thread has disappeared. You can pm me if you like.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Probably deleted because your phone number was in it.....

 

[chief67]

Probably deleted because your phone number was in it.....

Sorry about that. Should have read the rules before posting. Apologies.

 

[chief67]

Hi 300ce coupe c124 | General Discussion

Hi, owner of a 300ce coupe c124, will upload pictures soon.

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