I am looking at a 1990 500sl with 107k miles on it (california car). Looks to be in good shape but I am concerned about ongoing/immediate mailtenance. I will not put but 5-8,k mines per year on the car as a casual driver and do not want to face enormous repair maintenance bills. I plan to have a local California mechanic do a pre-purchase inspection and then have the car shipped to North Carolina.

What would be a "fair" price for this car if it is in average condition with no major repairs needed?

Anyone with any experience or cautions on this car please reply.

 

a wonderful car. Best bet would be to spend a little more and get a 97 to 02. They were pretty bullet proof by then. Not to say that previousyearsaren't great. I bought 90 300sl about five yrs ago. She had 65000 miles on her and I paid 19k at that time. In that 5 year time period I've put in another 30k and I'm still not done. Of the 30k, at least 1/2 of that was throwing the money right out the window for nothing or worse. The secret is finding someone who is honest and competent to work on her and it would help a lot if you can do some of the easier jobs yourself. It would be nice if you could see the service records. at 100,000 miles it should probably have the timing chain replaced and if she uses oil it may need to have the valve stem seals replaced. Then she'd be good to go another 100k. There is a lot to fail on a sl and eventually everything does.sorry. Yes I've put few bucks into her, but she's worth it. After you drive her you'll be hooked. It's hard to drive anything else after having a sl. So what do I do when she in the shop. Well, you get a little slk. It's small enough to fit 3 cars into a big 2 car garage. They are fun little cars. Almost trouble free too. 28 mpg.the interiors are kind of cheap. otherwise neat car.