Slowhands C43 (possibly)

[Howard]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1998-MERCEDES...77QQihZ013QQcategoryZ9855QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Think it might have been involved in a big accident, although don't really understand what the seller means in the text ...

 

[Dieselman]

He means the car was a write off and is recorded on the insurance register. Not necessarily bad but it will always affect the value of the vehicle and is a legal requirement ot declare it when selling.

 

[andy_k]

it was probably owned by someone called Eric who lived in Clapton

Andy

 

[Will]

Seems interesting though at £5k

Must..resist

Will

 

[jay73]

personally I don't care how cheap it is..
If it was a declared write off you probably only have the sellers word that it was a proper job.
Even if he had kept a step by step photographed history of the rebuild and it was carried out by an MB bodyshop I would still be dubious..
Once it's been in an accident it is never the same after...

 

[janner]

Agree with Jay.
Same applies to the C32 in the other post....They don't write off newish, expensive cars for a small amount of body damage. A small 'bump' would just be fixed.

 

[Will]

True, but if a car is very new and worth lots it'll nearly always be repaired under insurance. Damage such as on Karl's W202 isn't particularly serious but as it's 10+ years old and only worth a couple of grand they can't justify fixing it financially (due to to the labour rate of bodywork mainly). If it was involved in exactly the same accident when it was 5 years old, chances are that it would have been repaired.

If that C43 had been damaged that seriously it would be categorised as such and either broken for spares or crushed - that's the whole reason behind categorising write-offs

A thorough inspection (which would have been required anyway?) should be sufficient to ascertain the vehicle's condition. Granted it'll always be worth less than a 'non recorded' car, but if it's as straight as it looks it's certainly a fantastic buy at less than £5k

Will

 

[Flash]

My guesses are that the near side has been smacked as there are no pics what so ever of that section...

Once a car has been in a accident it is normally never the same again...