1989 300se advice

[matthewaagee]

New to mercedes Benz but have seen a 1989 300se in autotrader that Im interested in buying.

What issues should I be aware of when I view / testdrive the car?

Is this model prone to any expensive problems?

The maroon car appears to be in great condition for the age and has only done 99000 miles. Priced at £2500.

Any advice would be appreciated.

link to the autotrader page below.

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...236,N-240-4294960187-4294967262/search.action

 

[Alex M Grieve]

New to mercedes Benz but have seen a 1989 300se in autotrader that Im interested in buying.

What issues should I be aware of when I view / testdrive the car?

Is this model prone to any expensive problems?

Looks really super. I have not had one of these and I am sure others will give advice. The advert does not mention air conditioning, which I would have thought would have been standard. If it has A/C, make sure it works (turn the temperature settings right down - rotate the wheels to show blue - and turn the fan up high and it should blow cold quite quickly). If it does not work, could cost several hundred pounds to fix.

If it is there, but not working, or if there is no A/C, either way it would be a significant point for haggling.

Good hunting.

 

[supercharger]

well i have had my own w126 for 8 years now and had many in between. as above the a/c should be checked.also check the cruise control works. it wont work below 22mph IIRC.then there are rust issues to look out for. inside the boot have a good look at the panel below the parcel shelf they are prone to rot in the corners you can get the best view with a torch and lay in the boot area.the obvious areas are the arches and front wings below the indicators. also check the condition of the chrome bumpers as they are not cheap to replace.also check all the electrics work 4 x windows and sunroof it will have a tilt and slide sunroof being a later model take it all the way back.also check the door bottoms and frames for rust run your fingers carefully along the bottom of all the doors.the engines are pretty bullet proof and though not the quickest around they arent bad at all. listen for any clunks and bangs and all the gearchanges should be smooth and effortless.
if you can get the registartion number you can look it up on the russian site to get the spec.
good luck.


supercharger

 

[simon_wall69]

Check the tyres for uneven wear - a sign of suspension issues as well. The only other problem is that it can rust at the bottom of the rain channel behind the rear window so look through the boot to see if there is any.

Listen that the engine doesn't rattle as this could signify infrequent oil changes and hence wear to the engine and head gaskets do go on these so let the car idle and see that it doesn't overheat. Also check the history thoroughly as the mileage is quite low - it may have had its clock changed or gone for a few years without service.

It's also worth considering that the cost of running a v8 is not significantly more, as the insurance (if on classic) and VED will be about the same and the straight six engine is just as thirsty as the v8s. You will only get about 20mpg from it, my 560 does about 16mpg and the old 280se did about 22mpg.

Also, if you are interested in the 126, for the same money, you should be able to find a good example with air-con and other features such as ABS or ASR.

Good luck with it; if you find a good one they are incredibly good cars.

 

[matthewaagee]

300 se

thanks for the advice guys, very useful