I'm looking at a '92 500E for $7,500. It seems to be in good shape, but I haven't seen it or asked too many questions, yet. It has 160k, and the transmission was just rebuilt (500 miles ago, supposedly). Is this normal, or is it something I should be worried about (evidence of neglect or aggressive driving)?

The wiring harness has been changed, hopefully with the revised version.

It's a two owner car (each had it for 8-10 years), so it doesn't sound like a lemon or anything (but that's just what the owner says). There are maintenance records for it, but I'm not sure how thorough they are, yet.

Is $7,500 a fair price?

I intend to use this as a daily driver; most of the trips will probably be town/minor city traffic, but a few mid-length trips (200-400 miles) per year, and probably an occasional long trip (NY to Florida or something like that). Will a '92 5000E be reliable and trustworthy enough for such trips? (I had a 300TE that went half-way across the country a few times (between 100 and 200k miles), with no trouble--will a 500E be similarly reliable?)

The car will see a lot of snow every year (NY). I will do my best to protect it from the road salt--is there any way to protect the undercarriage from severe rust (hydrolic/brake lines, exhaust, self leveling suspension, etc)? I eventually had to get rid of the 300TE at 225k because the hydrolic and brake lines were starting to rust out (replacing them meant replacing everything they were attached to because it was all one big glob), and the self-leveling suspension had turned into a non-functioning glob years before. I'd rather not see this happen to such a collectible/unique car--can it be prevented (other than by not driving it in the winter)? (It's a Georga car, so hopefully, it should be pretty clean, underneath, to start with.)

Would I be better off with a 400E? (At less than half the price, they're clearly a much better deal, but I like the uniqueness of the 500E.) Either way, I plan to keep the car as a daily driver for 5-6 years (probably less than 10k miles per year). After that, I'd probably sell a 400E if it was still worth anything; if it was a 500E, I might keep it as a second car. Will both cars be likely to survive (and be reliable/dependable as a daily driver for) 5-6 years with good care (following the dealer maintenance schedule as close as possible, myself, and fixing anything that needed it)?

Thanks for any suggestions to guide me in my purchase!