How much for a 2 owner S500L on 11k miles? £5k, or more?

[Deletedmember130310]

I think you're both right. It's good value at £4k more than a low mileage S500L of the same age that's been used regularly, but there's a chunk of risk in knowing how this "Sleeping Beauty" will respond to use.

Well it has covered 3000 miles since April 2018 so that should have unearthed any issues, along with a clean MOT a week ago.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Well it has covered 3000 miles since April 2018 so that should have unearthed any issues, along with a clean MOT a week ago.

Agreed, but is that why he's selling it ?

A notchy gearbox, a problematic engine...

It's good that its done the 3,000 but it's no guarantee that you'll avoid a £5k maintenance / repair bill after buying the car.

 

[Will]

Personally I’d say the engine and gearbox are about the least likely to be giving issues on that car. What £5k bill are you likely to see on a 11k mike M113?

Even from Mercedes-Benz I’d be surprised if a complete new 722.6 box would be that much anyway. But that is a hypothetical bill that you’d probably never see.

You can have large bills on any car regardless of the age or prior condition once out of warranty. At least in this case the car looked pretty much mint throughout

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I take your point, Will.

The point that I’m failing to make clear is what are the cumulative risks behind parking a car for 20 years and then driving it?

Corrosion on the disks, solidification of moving parts, sludge in the oil, renewal of fluids , hardening of the tyres, battery failure, etc etc.

We get posts on here all the time about people worrying about dry storing cars for six months over winter, or about 10 year old tyres, or the need to replace fluids. A twenty year layup is simply a bigger risk.

Great value car. But so is a lightly used S500 with just 45k miles on it, for £5k, that’s been annually used and maintained


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[Will]

I didn’t think it said it had been sitting unused for twenty years though?

It did 8k miles before the last change of ownership, then 3k in the last year alone.

The most recent MOT does not list a single advisory.

It will probably have had a new battery at some point in the last 19 years (wouldn’t that be the case for any car?) but you wouldn’t be likely to get any sludge in the oil even if it had been sitting for a long time, which we don’t know that it has. It may even have been serviced more than what we assume by reading the limited description.

Tyres I doubt are original, but if they were original and perished or cracking - and if the discs were corroded you’d have seen that mentioned in the MoT test.

I don’t think this car has been sitting on a driveway in Switzerland rotting away under a tarp. One look at the under bonnet photo and I can’t see a spot of corrosion anywhere, every nut, bolt screw and clip looks like it was made yesterday


Wouldn’t look out of place in a museum or MB brochure

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Fair point, those 19 years may have been at a steady 500 miles a year.

I'm just wondering if it was, and wondering why there's no reference to any form of servicing at all (service book or invoices) over the 19 years from 1999 to 2018.

Once again, I'm talking "risk," not certainty, of additional costs, compared to a the same car, with 45k miles, for half the price, like this one in this advert on Autotrader: Saved Adverts

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[MWCLS]

Fair point, those 19 years may have been at a steady 500 miles a year.

I'm just wondering if it was, and wondering why there's no reference to any form of servicing at all (service book or invoices) over the 19 years from 1999 to 2018.

Once again, I'm talking "risk," not certainty, of additional costs, compared to a the same car, with 45k miles, for half the price, like this one in this advert on Autotrader: Saved Adverts

.

AT is awash with petrol and diesel W220s some with amazingly low miles for the age.. I'm just watching the owners - traders shaving a few hundred pounds off them monthly.

I would rather have a higher mileage with paperwork so you know all the big money jobs are done.. pretty much like the guy who purchased mine earlier in the month.