But it seems to be getting better, thank goodness. Looked at this 1996 S320 today:
http://tampa.craigslist.org/hdo/cto/4947867972.html Been chasing this guy for a week. He just reposted the ad a few days ago and raised the price $400 - it had been up for over a month at $6400. I suspected this was due to the "100,000 mile service and overhaul by Mercedes specialist costing $2,500" he just did. So I drove the 90 minutes to Brookville to have a look.... The car was described as in the ad. Very clean, well maintained, all service records for his ownership, etc. Two dings that I found: the mirrors didn't work, which he pointed out, as he had used RTV to seal the joints between the mirror housing and doors and added a chrome trim strip across the front of both. Ouch. Nasty, but reversible. No doubt the mirror wiring harnesses have failed. Not a pleasant repair, but a DIY one that takes about two hours a mirror. As for the recent "overhaul", he was pretty much spot-on. He took the car in for service and his mechanic noticed the head gasket was seeping at the rear of the engine. This guy pretty much gives his mechanic free reign from what I could tell, and it was clear to me that the mechanic has some boat payments he's got to make. So a couple of weeks ago the car gets a new head gasket, thermostat, new radiator (??) and tranny fluid and filter change. This was all apparent from inspection as well. Get this - I checked the coolant in the reservoir and couldn't make out the color. There was this beige crud in the reservoir that would stick to my glove if I put my finger into the coolant. Weird. I an only assume it was some sort of sludge or crud left in the reservoir that didn't get flushed out when the radiator got replaced. I wonder if it was ATF? The color was weirdly reminiscent of ATF that had been in water... Strange, very strange. Other than that everything worked, the body was almost a 9.9 out of 10, and the interior immaculate. The PSE pump was acting up as all of the doors' closing assists weren't working - when I point this out he tells me that he had noticed this and found that by pulling the fuse they would work again for a while. That's because there's a leak and the pump section for that door is timing out. Being a 1996 model I'm wondering if some of the dreaded wiring harness issues could still be lurking on this car. The engine harness looked OK, but the mirrors are another place where the biodegradable wiring fails big-time. It's possible the engine harness was replaced in the past. All in all a good prospect, but this guy's not motivated to sell and will probably not budge on price due to his recent expenditures. I'm betting he expects to recoup some of his expenses on top of what he was previously asking. We'll see. The guy was like someone out of the Sopranos. Dark complected Mediterranean looking guy, open shirt with his gold chain and astral sign medallion, bouffant-like hair, pinkie ring, etc. I'm wondering if I make him too low of an offer I'll be swimming with the fishes.... Here's my next prospect: http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/4952435910.html Just got an email back from the owner and I'm trying to set up a visit as soon as possible. This looks nice and could be an excellent choice if it's as described. What's weird is that he posted it in Orlando but he's in Wesley Chapel, which is about 40 minutes directly north of me. That's probably good for me. Dan _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
