That 96 420 I posted the other day was much cheaper than that. Sent from my iPhone
> On Mar 28, 2015, at 5:59 PM, Dan Penoff <d...@penoff.com> wrote: > > 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 > _______________________________________ 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
