E55 estate

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
My take is fairly simple. Yes, many of these cars are perfectly fine and represent good VFM. However for me it is like a burglar or car thief (I'm not either btw!) as I will try to find decent cars at a price that allows me to avoid depreciation once I come to sell. If I have to spend too much buying the car initally or the price including some day one works means the number is too high then I'll either ignore it or make an offer at price that works for me.

I'm not in the deal or process to make friends or do anyone any favours. I not horrible or an a4sehole and quite a nice decent honest person. I just am honest.and transparent with me thoughts and offer my price. They have the option to say yes or no.

I just have a passion for cars but am not a millionaire to be able to fund medium to heavy depreciation.

It is in the main a buyer's market as a majority at all times. Sometimes some models, colours, specs, miles etc. afford the seller many options when selling with multiple buyers fighting over the car. This is pretty rare now though due to the Internet and the abundance and over supply of cars for many years.

If a car works for me on the numbers I offer and the seller wants to sell then great. If not I walk away and find another option that works. I have made plenty of fair offers on cars for sellers to think I'm nuts. Then they don't sell it for a year, keep it or sell again and again to find they sell it only for less than the price I offered many weeks or months before.

A few cars I have bought and paid top top money like my 4200 as it was by far the best out there. For anything other than a long term keeper I have to have an eye on resale on the initial purchase.

The difference between the price of a cheap not looked after car can narrow/deplete to nothing or reverse against a nice looked after one at a slightly higher price very quickly in some cases. So what would be the point. Your better off taking your time and finding the better car/deal in the first place.
 
if it had full mb history, I would have been surprised if this wasn't covered by the 30 year corrosion warranty. unless it had previously been painted of course!
 
Buy it and break it would be a better option, Engine box and breaks would see the asking price covered,

Everything else would be a bonus
 
Doubt you’d get anywhere with warranty on a 15 year old 211 for cosmetic paintwork.

The wording used to be ‘corrosion from the inside out’ or something similar. The wheel arches will surely have rusted from stone chip damage, causing the coating on the metal to be damaged, letting water and salt ingress - hence the corrosion setting in?

Regards the car itself - it looks honest enough, if a little tired/tatty, but what do you expect for £7k?

Funny thing is, a nice/low mileage/immaculate car comes up for a much higher price and everyone moans it’s too expensive. A cheap one comes up needing TLC and everyone moans about the condition!

You can’t have it both ways! :)
 
Thats alot of stones!

70653145_10156979858597284_4396731314808553472_n.jpg
 
Think its a case of mud and salt getting between wheel arch and wing liner, and not cleaning the arches out causing the rot,
 
Think its a case of mud and salt getting between wheel arch and wing liner, and not cleaning the arches out causing the rot,

This ^ and the inner arch will be worse Still if the buyer isn't worried its all hidden up i suppose.
 
Either way, it’s rust/corrosion that has started from the inner arch lip area and crept out. Cause most likely the coating (ie paint/primer/galvanising) being damaged by stones and/or mud abrasion etc.

I don’t think it would be covered under any warranty after 15 years/157k miles, especially with a 7.5 year gap in main dealer servicing. The panel has accident damage (dented/scratched) so needs bodywork in that area anyway.

And as said already, at 15 years old/157k miles there’s a good chance it’s been repainted before anyway! :)

IMHO it’s not unexpected to have cosmetic bodywork issues at this sort of age/mileage/price point. That’s why it’s £7k and not £10k+
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom