mercedes 500 sel, 420se

[north-star]

i am thinking of buying an older big 4 door merc, looking at the galleries there are some loveley cars on show which have wetted my appetite even more.

can any of the owners on here give me a rough idea of cost to buy a decent one and also running costs?

also is there a huge difference in power between the two models i've mentioned?

thanks, paul

p.s is the build quality a lot different from the 80s models compared to the 90s models?

 

[simon_wall69]

The running costs will be about the same for either; similar fuel consumption (expect 20mpg), same tax, insurance, servicing costs, similar likelihood of things requiring fixing. I would buy on condition. You shouldn't have to pay too much for a good one, £1000 to £2000 as they are at the bottom of their depreciation now.

Have a look at www.carfolio.org for information on power but there's not a massive difference, both around the 200bhp mark, I think.

As to build quality, the w126 is probably the best built of all recent Mercs.