W124 E320 Sportline Cab,Cat D Project

[nick mercedes]

so a recorded car could have no damage at all?

That's right.

Or though most stolen ones have at least some lock/window damage.

 

[Dee-124CAB]

3600 quid, cheap car imo. If it does not get relisted in the next couple of weeks (due to timewaster!!!), we can assume the new owner is happy with his/her purchase...

 

[Will]

Well, stolen/recovered or not, even front ended and repaired, that's a very cheap E320 sportline cabriolet, in the right colour combo.

Most mechanical/trim bits will be standard 124 fare, so it really could be a bit of a bargain so long as the shell isn't twisted or something silly like that.

Interior bits, even panels etc won't be all that expensive - only the hood I guess would be more expensive/difficult to get bits for.

Will

 

[mikeouk]

That's right.

Or though most stolen ones have at least some lock/window damage.

i know what your saying,but if someone stole it, then cloned it, they would have fixed the damage they did stealing it so it looked like a legid car.

it made £3600, seems like a hell of alot of money to me for a car with a dodgy history

 

[Will]

But sportline E320 cabs are rare cars, and cost a small fortune when new - so I guess the price is well justified.

Would probably be worth about three times the auction amount if it was a straight, non-recorded example.

Will

 

[mikeouk]

But sportline E320 cabs are rare cars, and cost a small fortune when new - so I guess the price is well justified.

Would probably be worth about three times the auction amount if it was a straight, non-recorded example.

Will

even if a totally genuine example is worth 3x that amount at todays prices (which i doubt), im still not convinced this car will ever be worth a third. You cant turn a hooker into a virgin, you cant polish a turd,,etc etc

 

[Dee-124CAB]

In the end of the day, finding a E320 Cabriolet for sensible money can be difficult enough, even though prices have nosedived in the last couple of years, but if you add Sportline to that equation, & then add the perfect colour combo to that equation also, it becomes apparent that this is a pretty rare car... & for someone the most cost effective way to owning thei dream car.

Budget a coupe of grand to get her tidied up (not concourse levels obviously), sell the AMG's & replace with the cheaper & more appropiate 8-holes. I would not bother with the mohair roof, as long as it works, is watertight, & is reasonably presentable.

You will then have a nice usable classic, that you wont mind putting a few miles on, as values unlikely to plummet with the addition of more miles unlike some of the low mileage, high value examples available at the specialists.

 

[The G.F.P]

i saw a program where someone had their car stolen and it was found 2 years later and they did not want it so i suppose as it had been paid out on at least a year or so before it was found

then as the car was an insurance write off but then found with no damage it would still be down as a cat d

 

[aka$h]

Ive only just read this thread. If anyone on here has bought it, I can shed some light on the car. I saw it on a salvage auction site (hbc.co.uk) about 2 years ago, with frontal impact, I had a bid on it and it got to around £4500.

The damage was the front wings, bonnet, headlights, bumper and rads.

Ive only got an interior photo of it:

It was bought by http://www.chaseautos.com

As I had then seen it advertised on their website.

I was only interested in the car as I had an azurite blue e220 ce, that I had bought to change my E320 CE interior over with. I thought id use the parts and do what the chaps that bought it have done.

As luck would have it, chase autos contacted me when I put a photo of the car on ebay with a ad for parts. I sold the car as a whole without the interior to them, here is a couple of photos of them collecting the car:

So there is the truth about the car.

 

[The G.F.P]

so your saying the convertible was at a salvage auction place, then sold for around £4,500

they then bought your car off you with no interior?

why did they want your car with no interior?

was it to swap broken parts from crash no.1, if so yours was a 220 and thats 320

then they fixed it up and now its been crashed again!

i think i get it

weird how things work out

so is the car a heap and worth the current end price?

 

[Iain]

i know what your saying,but if someone stole it, then cloned it, they would have fixed the damage they did stealing it so it looked like a legid car.

it made £3600, seems like a hell of alot of money to me for a car with a dodgy history

With respect Mike, the alleged 'dodgy history' is all supposition and most previous posts may not hold any water.
Some people do have vivid imaginations!
The only way for an interested party to be assured before purchase would have been to give the car a thorough going over before handing over their hard earned.

 

[Iain]

aka$h
Isn't the picture of them collecting a Coupe? And the car in question is a Cabrio?
Apologies, if I've missed something in the translation, but are we now suggesting that the roof has been lopped off?

 

[nick mercedes]

aka$h
Isn't the picture of them collecting a Coupe? And the car in question is a Cabrio?
Apologies, if I've missed something in the translation, but are we now suggesting that the roof has been lopped off?

I think the jist of it is, they brought the damaged cabrio, and then brought the coupe off Simal to use the parts to repair the cabrio.

 

[Iain]

I think the jist of it is, they brought the damaged cabrio, and then brought the coupe off Simal to use the parts to repair the cabrio.

Thanks Nick.
I thought I was missing something.
Damage on the cabrio couldn't have been to bad to give it a D marker, do you think?

 

[V12]

With respect Mike, the alleged 'dodgy history' is all supposition and most previous posts may not hold any water.
Some people do have vivid imaginations!
The only way for an interested party to be assured before purchase would have been to give the car a thorough going over before handing over their hard earned.

With all due respect, all of the earlier points of why the history isn't quite true have been supported. Akash has even supplied pictures showing the interior just as we had pointed out that both airbags had gone off...

There is no room for speculation, this is not down to a vivid imagination. I worked for a mercedes breakers for 5 years and in that time saw 1000's upon 1000's with these symptoms...every time, without fail, they had been crash repaired and badly at that.

Fair enough, that could be a bargain to someone who wants to tidy it up and spend a little time to sort it out. It could end up nice.

It is just quite a bit more work than the owner makes out and if we're being picky, things like panel gaps may never be right if poorly repaired.

He isn't even honest about the history of the car.

I STILL wouldn't pay that kind of money for this car. (but i am tight )

 

[V12]

Thanks Nick.
I thought I was missing something.
Damage on the cabrio couldn't have been to bad to give it a D marker, do you think?

Interesting that it only got a D marker and they bought a whole donor car...i guess if it was cheap enough

 

[janner]

Ive only just read this thread. If anyone on here has bought it, I can shed some light on the car. I saw it on a salvage auction site (hbc.co.uk) about 2 years ago, with frontal impact, I had a bid on it and it got to around £4500..

Ahh, that's where I remember the plate from; we discussed this car as it went through the auction.

The point in trying to figure out if this car is a wrong un or not is to stop a forum member buying a pup. This car is clearly not a simple stolen/recovered. It takes quite a whack to fire both airbags.

Right let's clear up the Cat D thing. If a car is stolen and the insurance pays out there is a 'stolen' marker put against it on the Vehicle Condition Alert Register (V-Car). It's not Cat D.
If the car later turns up undamaged (a missing radio would still count as undamaged) the insurance company will remove the 'stolen' marker and sell it at auction. The car will then NOT show up on a HPi check and will definitely not be a Cat D.
If the car turns up with damage the insurance company can decide what category to assign to it (Cat D for minimal damage). The V-Car register (Cat D, Cat C etc) was invented to protect the insurance companies, not Joe Public.

 

[nick mercedes]

Thanks Nick.
I thought I was missing something.
Damage on the cabrio couldn't have been to bad to give it a D marker, do you think?

Dunno, it set both airbags off...

 

[Iain]

QUOTE: It takes quite a whack to fire both airbags.

I have heard on several occasions of airbags going off after hitting a kerb or dropping down a pothole in the road.

I won't dispute janner's partial description of categories ( it still is only a cat d) and won't labour the point, but that doesn't give the complete story. The crux of the matter is I don't believe that ther are too many 'gullible' members on here and if there are, I'm sure they would be asking the questions on this forum. As I and others have said 'check the vehicle before handing over the hard earned.

 

[janner]