Help with valuation please - might be selling W124

[kingkong]

Dear all,

I may be selling my car shortly and I would be grateful to receive any guidance regarding a realistic valuation of my car. Here are the details;

1992 K reg W124 300E auto
88,500 miles
Mot/Tax Jan 2010
Almost full service history, half dealer half specialist
Electric windows, sunroof, mirrors
8 hole alloy wheels
Air conditioning coverted to R134 and regassed this summer
New Sony CD stereo with ipod jack
Two new Toyo tyres
New central locking pump fitted this year

Negative points:
Electric aerial not working
headlamp wash wipe not working
Bird poo has damaged paint on boot lid

Otherwise the car runs superbly on both short and long trips and is in excellent condition both inside and out.

Thanks for your help,

KK

 

[bobby]

Call up a few dealers and state the above - are you sure its time for it to go? You say you may be selling.

When I was "thinking" of selling my car I priced it unrealistically (sub)consciously, as I later realised I want to keep it!

 

[Big_Jon]

A car in similar condition with similar miles made £1075 at BCA Paddock Wood yesterday.

This was a 230E however.

 

[bolide]

A car in similar condition with similar miles made £1075 at BCA Paddock Wood yesterda

Well I think that proves that W124 prices are holding firm. I've never looked at W124 prices at auction but £1075 seems like a fairly strong bid for a trader for an "old car". Perhaps it was a private buyer?

A couple of years ago all older W124s were £1500 in the Friday-Ad. Now they seem to be a little cheaper - but not much

Good examples will always demand more but you have to advertise them in the right places to get the buyers for them

I saw a tidy one-owner 300-24 estate with 7 seats, leather & a/c the other day. Nice history, basically very sound but it was "worth" £2k to the owner because of the scrappage scheme. If you bought it at £2k, however, and then spent £1500 to get it "right" then it'd look a tad expensive. So it may well be scrapped

Nick Froome

 

[manalishi]

Good colour? Then perhaps £1200, maybe £1500 on account of the sub-100,000m.

For comparison, I paid £2000 for my '93 280E a couple of months ago. But I only paid that much because it had had £3500 spent last year at MB on a wiring loom, head gasket, etc. Plus it had leather and the AC.

 

[kth286]

By no means are old cars all worth 2000 pounds just because the scrappage scheme exists.

The existing owner has to qualify - he has to have the cash/loan amount to be able to spend on a new car - and of course a great majority of old car owners do not qualify.

Also, the new buyer of his car cannot use the car for the scrappage scheme either, because it needs to be owned at least one full year, by whichtime the scheme is due to end.

So, doing my own research there are a great many cars that can be purchased for well under 2000 pounds, because of the above reasons.

 

[kingkong]

Well I think that proves that W124 prices are holding firm. I've never looked at W124 prices at auction but £1075 seems like a fairly strong bid for a trader for an "old car". Perhaps it was a private buyer?

A couple of years ago all older W124s were £1500 in the Friday-Ad. Now they seem to be a little cheaper - but not much

Good examples will always demand more but you have to advertise them in the right places to get the buyers for them

I saw a tidy one-owner 300-24 estate with 7 seats, leather & a/c the other day. Nice history, basically very sound but it was "worth" £2k to the owner because of the scrappage scheme. If you bought it at £2k, however, and then spent £1500 to get it "right" then it'd look a tad expensive. So it may well be scrapped

Nick Froome

Thanks for the feedback Nick, could you please recommend some good places to advertise such a car, that would be really helpful. Thanks, K

 

[kingkong]

Good colour? Then perhaps £1200, maybe £1500 on account of the sub-100,000m.

For comparison, I paid £2000 for my '93 280E a couple of months ago. But I only paid that much because it had had £3500 spent last year at MB on a wiring loom, head gasket, etc. Plus it had leather and the AC.

It is a dark blue car, non-metallic paint. No rust at all - only problem is bird crap damage on the boot lid.

Where did you buy your car from, a dealer or was it a private sale?

 

[Will]

Thanks for the feedback Nick, could you please recommend some good places to advertise such a car, that would be really helpful. Thanks, K

You could put a 'For Sale' post up on here when you've got 30 posts under your belt

For a cheaper/older car like the W124 I'd start with free online places to start with (MB owners clubs, Pistonheads etc) and then progress onto eBay classifieds or Autotrader etc.

Make sure you take plenty of pictures - inside/outside/under bonnet etc and put as much information in the ad as possible - servicing history/length of MOT/Tax etc, items that need attention etc. Saves a lot of hassle and needless emails/calls for simple stuff

Will

 

[d w124]

You forget to mention if the car is 12v or 24v.Also the spec matters likeoes it have leather etc.

 

[Will]

A '300E' will be a 12 valve M103.

If it was a 24 valve variant, it would be a 300E-24

It says it's got air conditioning in the first post

Will

 

[d w124]

Well spoted Will,but as you can see i`ve edit my post.Many people see the 300-24 as 300e.One time i bought a car on ebay and it had 300-24 at the back and was advertised as one.When i went to pick the car,it turned out to be m103 300e.

 

[kingkong]

Yes, Will is correct, it is the M103 12 valve variant.

No leather, cream coloured check cloth interior, AC blows nice and cold having been converted and regassed by John from Aircon Direct recently - I posted some pictures on here about 15 months ago, you might find them if you search under my username.

To be honest I don't really want to sell her. However I have a company car on the way, I'm looking to buy a small manual car for the wife who's about to take her driving test and I also own a motorbike so I can't really afford/justify/have space for 4 vehicles!!

Thanks, KK

 

[manalishi]

It is a dark blue car, non-metallic paint. No rust at all - only problem is bird crap damage on the boot lid.

Where did you buy your car from, a dealer or was it a private sale?

Same colour as mine - Midnight Blue I think it's called.

My car was that in-between thing you get on Ebay: an MB-specialist who takes time to find good ones locally and then resells with long and detailed (and overly flowery!) write-ups on Ebay.

With mine, the M104 engine's biodegrable wiring loom is a big issue, and it does therefore count for a decent chunk of value (ruling out a potentially car-wrecking future cost).

Before that, I lost count of the number of times I asked 280E/320E sellers (private and dealer) if their cars' wiring looms had been sorted only to find that they just couldn't be ar5ed to look in the supposedly-thorough FSH to find out.

 

[Vlad]

A 1995 Green 280TE with 134,000 miles on the clock with cloth, air-con and 7 seats made £1750 at BCA Blackbushe earlier this week and it had cracked bumpers and the odd mark here and there, but was otherwise a fair example

 

[the1beard]

sorry posted this here by mistake it's a purge valve

 

[PhilG]

A 1995 Green 280TE with 134,000 miles on the clock with cloth, air-con and 7 seats made £1750 at BCA Blackbushe earlier this week and it had cracked bumpers and the odd mark here and there, but was otherwise a fair example

Estates will always be worth significantly more, hard to compare.

Low miles and history good for value, no leather/tex isn't, I'd say £1000-1500.