I was not talking about dealers lol! I was talking about 95% of independents having never seen one or know how to work on cars of that era, they would have to figure it out as they went and that may go great or it may not.

The higher miles are also actually a good sign IMO because that means it is working well enough to be used consistently, the downside being that due to that and age you are going to want to replace literally everything rubber on that car like I had to with my first LS. Door seals, window seals, engine bay seals etc etc on top of all engine/trans gaskets and everything like that, Mercedes will be able to get you whatever you want but it may be insanely expensive.

Why not get an LS400 btw? It's the same era and many say they are better cars....

 

I know, I'm saying that you could always take it to the dealer and be destroyed.... it's expensive but it is an option.

And I agree about the mileage. It's been well driven. That car passes the internet sniff test. That's a very clean car the closer I look. Like I said, we know W140s can be disasters but this one has made it to 182k and looks like it has half the mileage. Complex as these cars were, they were still built to last forever.... That I-6 is very reliable and the transmission is bulletproof. I wouldn't care if pneumatics were out in that (self closing doors) etc etc. That's what I mean when I say I don't care, it's a $4,000 car that I wouldn't keep forever.

Get that thing waxed and polished and coated and it's a straight cruise-mobile. Which is exactly the kind of driving I do 95% of the time.

 

The dealer would not be able to work on this, they would likely send you to one of the few places that specializes in these if there is any "real" issue just FYI. I am not saying don't buy it but just to be careful......I usually rather buy cars that are cosmetically perfect with dead drivelines myself after all!

 

There would be no way to know that lol

And Striker is right, dealer wouldn't work on it and even if they would, they wouldn't do anything to it for less than $5k.

 

The dealer does service old cars, I see W126s and W140s there all the time. Other old ones too. I am beyond impressed by how well they know everything about my 2002.

Like I said, I'll know in 2 minutes if it's a decent car or junk. Let me get in, shut the door, start it, and drive it for 5 minutes.

 

Driving it for 5 minutes doesn't work on a car like that, but okay! It'll be entertainment for us at least

 

It does work when I repeatedly say I don't care and that the worst I'd be out is 4 grand. This isn't a car that I would treat like the SL, in any way. If it got annoying I'd just dump it. I can get into a W140 and drive it and tell if it's been cared for or not, that doesn't take a rocket scientist.

Like I said, who knows at this point but so far it passes the internet sniff test. The car itself looks good to great and he took a shot of it idling, no lights on.

You're acting like it's impossible this could be a Benz that might drive just fine for a while. It's only $4,000.... big deal if some of the fancy gizmos don't work. It's not like I'm dropping 20 grand here and finally found the car of my dreams lol. But hell a black W140? It's worth going to look at.

 

I just don't think you realize how big a headache those cars can be...it can be well cared for and still have the potential for a ton of incredibly expensive problems...its the old addage, there is nothing more expensive than a cheap German car...

 

I'm wellllllll aware, trust me. I know W140s as well as any Mercedes.

However is it not worth driving a lousy 30 minutes away to check out at least??

Like I said, you're/we're probably right but it's not impossible that car might drive fine and need minimal necessary work. I don't care if the doors don't suck close.

Keep in mind I'm not driving hundreds of miles a week in and out of a humongous city like DC with clients, running business, working etc.... I just putter around taking care of things and errands in everyday life in West Knoxville. And I have four cars to do so in. The S-Class would be driveway jewelry a lot of the time lol.

 

It looks nice and clean.
I'm down to one car, I don't want any extra work to do, I already have plenty. Lol

 

Scratch that W140.

Lol I missed it but the seller listed it in "fair" condition.

Hard pass.

 

Oh yeah, that means the pics only show the "good side". Haha

You want a cream puff or nothing at all. 😁

 

Then you are one of the lucky ones who has a dealer who will, the two near me 100% will not.

 

I don't see the issue? It looks fine enough to be worth a look in person IMO, if the intent is to drive it and not care you don't need a perfect car

 

Do the pro gamer move and buy a 12 cyl German 7 hours out of state when it's misfiring on 5 cylinders, with tires showing belts, and drive it home anyway!

The ULTIMATE test if you will, only thing worse was the Phaeton sitting atop a 4.5 foot wide pool of trans fluid after a 8.5 hour drive when I picked it up. Made it back home without issue as well, my thanks to the last shop who didn't know how to reinstall a trans pan correctly haha! Got me $7500 off!

(I have no idea how the silver W12 that I did ZERO diligence on is the one that has proven to be the most perfect, the ones I tried to carefully select have been worse but none bad thankfully)