Thoughts / Advice on buying a W140 S500

deejaybee

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I am thinking of buying an S500L that is for sale at a local car dealer. I have already briefly viewed it and have a test drive booked on Saturday.

It is a '97 R-reg car and has only done 34000 miles. The cosmetic condition of the car matches the mileage as it has hardly any interior wear and no stone chips with just one small scratche. It has only had one owner for most of its life (first 10 years) and a 2nd owner for about 1 year, plus it has effectively been in storage for the last 21 months.

It is a black car with light (mushroom) interior and looks to have had most of the option boxes ticked when new, including Bose sound system, rear air con and rear adjustible / heated seats, etc, etc. It appears that the first owner was wealthy and this was used as a chauffered car with quite light use.

The original service history is unfortunately missing, but the service is confirmed by MB in 2004 and 2006 plus VOSA MOT records coroborate the mileage / use from 2004 until early 2008 at around 2500 miles / year.

The proof will be in the pudding when I get to drive it as it should drive as though it was new, but we will see.

I would be interested if anyone can advise any particular things to look out for given that it has not been in regular use for a while.

The dealer originally had it up at a very optimistic price which would explain why he has had it for so long, but it is now down to £5490. This is still a "premium price", but I think it is worth something like this if it is as good as it looks - I will of course try a much lower offer to start!

Any advice or opinions welcome.

Dave
 

Dogman

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Unfortunately I have no advice for you - you are much more knowledgable about these cars than me. I'd just be interested to here how your test drive goes today(?). Reading another recent thread all I would say is, beware of Bulgarians selling S classes.:D:D
Good luck.
 

Dogman

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Even better I'd be interested to HEAR how your test drive went!
 

turbopete

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I am thinking of buying an S500L that is for sale at a local car dealer. I have already briefly viewed it and have a test drive booked on Saturday.

It is a '97 R-reg car and has only done 34000 miles. The cosmetic condition of the car matches the mileage as it has hardly any interior wear and no stone chips with just one small scratche. It has only had one owner for most of its life (first 10 years) and a 2nd owner for about 1 year, plus it has effectively been in storage for the last 21 months.

It is a black car with light (mushroom) interior and looks to have had most of the option boxes ticked when new, including Bose sound system, rear air con and rear adjustible / heated seats, etc, etc. It appears that the first owner was wealthy and this was used as a chauffered car with quite light use.

The original service history is unfortunately missing, but the service is confirmed by MB in 2004 and 2006 plus VOSA MOT records coroborate the mileage / use from 2004 until early 2008 at around 2500 miles / year.

The proof will be in the pudding when I get to drive it as it should drive as though it was new, but we will see.

I would be interested if anyone can advise any particular things to look out for given that it has not been in regular use for a while.

The dealer originally had it up at a very optimistic price which would explain why he has had it for so long, but it is now down to £5490. This is still a "premium price", but I think it is worth something like this if it is as good as it looks - I will of course try a much lower offer to start!

Any advice or opinions welcome.

Dave

id certainly start with a lower offer. it sounds like a great car and will be fairly big money for its age, but i think the price is a touch on the steep side. from a dealer, id be trying to get it for £4.5-£5k max
 
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deejaybee

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Well I've taken the plunge - probably!

Went for a test drive as arranged this morning. It started up from cold just with no worrying noises and everything seems very straight. It drove very well with no squeeks or rattles and no suspension knocks when going over speed humps. Performs well and goes as you would expect from an S500 with only 34000 miles. In the daylight the bodywork looks very nice, it is plain black and still has a good shine. For me, black with a light interior is the ideal combination for this type vehicle.

It was only MOT'd yesterday and passed without a problem (except high level brake light initially not working), only advisory was "slight wear to discs all round", but these weren't too bad, certainly don't need replacing anytime soon.

The only problem was the heater / air-con fan did not work and a couple of the windows were a bit sticky (I'm sure the latter is mostly just down to lack of use, but they are on the list to fix anyway). Fan could be just a fuse or something much more expensive, but anyway they have agreed to fix everything.

I tried negotiating on the price but they did not want to budge. I'm not that surprised as they had just knocked £500 off their advertised price and the heater fan motor could be very expensive to fix. I did leave the dealer without agreeing to buy straight away, but having reflected on it although the price is relatively high I think it is worth it and have decided to buy - there are not many W140 S500's with only 34k around and the specialst dealers would probably be asking £8-9k for this.

Deposit now paid and depending on what is involved with fixing the heater fan I hope to pick up the end of next week. The only reason for the "probably" above is that if they end up having to remove the dash to fix the blower motor I want too make sure that it has been reassembled properly as there would be nothing worse than ending up with squeeks or rattles from the dash.

Anyway hope to be the new owner of a very tidy S500L before too long. Will keep you all posted on progress.

regards,

Dave
 

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I will give you all the help that you need fixing the heater this is easily checked and to work on.

Congratulations they are so nice
 
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deejaybee

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Thanks everyone for the posative support. Malcolm, your offer is much appreciated, although I do hope that everything is working properly when I collect the car, that is supposed to be the agreement:)

They are selling it with their own 3 month warranty so it is their own interest to make sure it is fully sorted.

Dave
 

Dogman

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Sounds like a great car - I too am jealous. It will no doubt go like stink.:cool:
I hope they sort the fan out okay for you. It will have all the toys on it as well i suppose, being a 500.

Pedestrians will scatter as you come down the road in it:twisted:, and other traffic.

Enjoy.:D
 
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deejaybee

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I've got it now!

Picked up the car this morning. I have not had a chance to do many miles today, but first impressions are very good. Everything seems to be working as it should and it drives faultlessly.

If it stops raining I will post some pictures soon!

Dave
 

Roxy John

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Very best of luck Dave - hope its all good for you. Bit of a come-down from the C280, but sure you will get by...!!:)
 

47p2

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Nice cars the S500 W140. Hope it goes well for you
 

shayes

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Any update on your purchase?
 
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