Blackwolf shares his expert knowledge. It is greatly appreciated. I am considering the purchase of a white 1995 S500 four door sedan with 88.500 miles owned by the second owner for two years. He says he has experienced no problems with it and has spent no money on it other than adding a 10CD Changer in the trunk. He has only done routine maintenance (oil change) and has no records of prior maintenance other than the booklet which shows official maintenance up to 30,000 miles. There are mild surface cracks at the front of the driver's seat, apparently from perspiration. The car supposedly spent its life until the last two years in Las Vegas (hot) and is now in New Mexico. The car looks really good inside and out, with no signs of wear other than the driver's seat knee bolster, and there are no obvious problems except that the soft shut door function doesn't work (no big deal). Some good thoughts were presented regarding the S600. Any thoughts you may provide regarding the S500 are appreciated as are those from other members. Would $1500 average annual maintenance over a period of time be a reasonable estimate. I have long wanted a W-140. David

 

I own an SL600 with the same V12 engine, my repair costs average closer to $10k/ year. The injector harness gets fried from engine heat about the age of your car and that cost $3K at the dealer. Routine tuneup costs are amplified- remember you have 48 valves, oil change is $200, spark plugs are another overpriced item you can change yourself. But I must say that although I liked my V8 SLs, there is nothing like the V12, sticks to the road like it's on rails, has all the power you could need in any situation. I would consider an S class, but my wife likes the room and height of her ML over the sedans. Check your local shop to see if they have a mechanic who is qualified to handle working on the V12, out of 30 mechanics, there might be one who can really work on one of these jewels. It's not the kind of car you want to entrust to a rookie.

 

Base upon EXACTLY what you've stated, I would keep my antenna's up! The seller has a booklet that records maintenance up to 30k and the vehicle now has 88.5k; how long has the seller had it and what records does he have? It's rather strange to hear that he's gone 58k with no mechanical issues. And you keep using the word "except." I'd be very skeptical, because what I'm hearing you say is that he's a slug that has done only what needed to be done to get by, because you have not stated that he has kept records since he became owner. But now, I could very well be wrong, and I hope that I am. But think about this forum and all of the many that post here. It's because there are issues. So, excuse my skepticism, but it's just unlikely that the vehicle will not need major maintenance (especially in hot climate areas).

At any rate, we look forward to your post, and upload some pics when you get it, ok?

Oh, I forgot to ask; how much is he asking for it?

David

 

I had the 1995 S500 sedan checked out at the local M-B dealership. It needs upper and lower ball joints as well as another suspension component. The motor mounts need replacing and the oil pan leaks. The differential is leaking on both sides of the pumpkin and has coated all nearby parts with oil. The mechanic thinks the rear suspension system is working all right. The left rear window will not open and close and the left rear head rest will not raise and lower. The soft close door and trunk function don't work. The mechanic states that I need a new pneumatic pump. which I can obtain at little cost. There were a few other items but they are not included in the $7,300 quote. I can get the work done by a non dealer mechanic who knows Mercedes well at considerable savings. The car drives out well and looks great. I like it. Bases on the work it needs, I offered the owner $9,000 for it and he is holding out for $11,000. The seller has owned the car for two years and has installed a 10 CD changer in the trunk, however, his only other expenditure has been for scheduled oil changes. I see a lot of S500's for sale on Ebay but I won't buy a car without checking it out. The prices on Ebay are reasonable. I think I could put it in top shape for about $4,000. Perhaps I'm naive. All thoughts are appreciated.
David

 

Damn...[:'(]

Well...see...there you go! Runs great! Yeah, right! He never bothered to check under hood, or pay attention to the function of the vehicle, just drivin the damned thing. Maintenance??? What the hell is maintenance??? Papers, oh, I got papers...let's see...driver's license, Soc.Sec Card, Green Card, etc. I don't see maintenance records or papers. Are you sure that I'm supposed to have them? Is there some legal reference or precedent that requires that I have papers? Is there a class on that??? What's the 800 number to papers, I'll buy some, maybe?

I know I'm being foolish here, but, it gets me to know that somebody would say; "Tastes great...Less filling!" And then when you get hold of it, you find out how much of a pig they've been! And some folks are just pigs!!! Plain and simple!

But to them, they may actually believe (for some reason), that everything is fine! Misrepresenting the facts all the while!

And I'm not trying to say I told you so...that experience unfortunately have been yours. So, all I can say is: "Damn...damn, damn, damn!

 

Listen, if you really want this car, and it sounds like you're dead set on having it. I would not, by any means give him more than what the quote was of $7300 to fix it.

The vehicle is in poor to fair condition based upon your description. Edmunds.com is rather conservative. The vehicle is fair to them. And Private Party value is $7,156.00. Kbb.com the vehicle is poor doesn't give a value.

The bottomline is, I definitely would not offer nor consider giving this fool $11,000.00 for a '95 S500, giving all that you know thus far about the vehicle. Because, just as you know these things, there is a high probability that there are some things that you don't know!

My opinion is: Walk away! There are many others out there in better shape for probably the same price! And trust me, they're all over the place! Take your time, and look about.

Have you considered AutoTrader.com?

 

Well with all that info described wrong about that 1995 S-Class, $11,000 is too high especially if you already know you have to put about $7,300+ to get it right. And about that differential, he should get that leak fixed before the thing finally run out of fluid and can lock up anytime after that which can be dangerous and costly, very costly, ($7,000 would be chump change costly). It's probably just a seal.

But aren't you glad you had a mechanic take a peek at it first?

And I'll have to agree on 97dmsrS420 here. There are plenty other good shape less problem S-class W140 out there with good prices.
Auto trader is a good source. That's how I found my BMW and Mercedes.


(I'm a little slow on posting on time due to the fact I quit my home internet connection due to the fact that it wasn't worth no where near what I was paying a month for it. Not to mention, I went through two expensive modems in less than a month. I'm not ignoring anyone it's just that somedays I only have time to look and some days I have time to post one or two and some days I have plenty of time. )

(By the way: Updated pics of my W126 coming soon.)

 

I know someone who purchased a 1995 S600 Coupe with low miles 3 years ago. He has had it serviced regularly at the dealership since he owned it and as recently as 2 months ago. It is his extra vehicle. He was driving on the highway when he heard a something like a downshift. No warning lights came onso hedrove a few more milesthe carlost power and shut off. He had it towed to the dealership and they have gone from saying it is a bad distribution module $6k to bad oil pump anda blown engine minimum $13k used replacement. Mercedes Benz USA was contacted and says that the dealers service department has full control of the situation and they won't get involved. He is extremely upset. I would certainly hope that this is not a common situation but it is definitely and example of what you problem you might run into with one of these used V12's. Any and all assistance would be appreciated.

 

as long as the harness has been repalce with an upgraded one you should have a great time with it, the rest of the parts that might breakdown are common ware and tere, its a great car specially when the previous owner have taken good care of it. price is a bit on the high side but otherwise, its one hell of a great car, lots of specialist in this forum should be able to advice you if the need for repair arises, but caution your self to some know it all that will only cause you to spend more.