Carbooks

A General question designed to solicit opinons from "those who know" about collector cars.

How important are service records to you when buying a 107,000 mile car?

How important is it to you if several panels have been repainted?

Thanks,

Ron

ps2cho

Depends entirely on how much you are paying for the car. Don't pay top notch without having any clue where you stand. Nothing can be more expensive than a cheap Mercedes.

Assuming this is a w124...not a whole lot can be bad with the engine with 107k other than hardened air hoses + valve stem seals maybe. Main expensive things will be the suspension + control arms if they have not been touched.

Chappy

An original, unrestored car (no paint work) with great books and records will be the most desirable for a collector.

Was the paint work done as the result of a collision repair?

Real1shepherd

Records are great ONLY if they are complete, i.e., if the service records were kept until say 50k and then not much after....that tells me the owner sort of gave up. If he did the work himself after 50k then he should have the receipts of parts. You should be allowed to look through the service records to get an indication of what was done and when. Bear in mind that mechanics recommend repairs on things they see wrong (if they are honest), but the owners don't always follow their recommendations. Some people will drive with a broken component/system as long as they possibly can.

Painted panels mean either rust or damage...find out which and be wary. If it was from a collision, the frame might have been bent, not repaired or repaired improperly.

I know personally of a MB that fell off a car carrier yrs ago...500e. The insurance paid for a 'total', but the car was fixed and sold as new by a 'dealer'.

Kevin

iblaho

You're dead on, Kevin. I used to be in the biz. Whenever I see an unlikely person driving a late model luxury car, I check to see if the doors and trunk line up, or if the paint perfectly matches.

The only record I wanted from my used Benz was whether the new oil I saw were synthetic. I had it changed JIC.