Hey guys,

Some of you may know me from a few years back... I haven't posted here in a while. I just thought I'd let you guys know in case you're interested... Sadly, I'm selling my 300ce (Seattle area).

It's just not getting the attention it deserves, and I got a new project... a 1976 Toyota Landcruiser FJ40... it's really sweet... but 3 cars between two people just doesn't make sense.

Here's a link to the craigslist ad. I'm asking $4k. I'd repost everything about the car here, but if you're interested, just go to the CL listing... I wrote more than enough there. lol

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/2302809716.html

I've included some higher resolution pics here though.

Feel free to call me if you're interested. Hope you guys are doing well. Good to see that a few of the old guys are still posting here!

Thanks for looking.

Peter
(two zero six) six one three - nine seven zero eight
pierps - at - gmail dot com

 

Have you guys ever had issues with not being able to find your Craigslist posts?

I posted my ad, and I can get there using the URL, but I can't find the ad through their search engine. My car will never sell if people can't find it via search!!

Any tips out there?

 

Hey, Pete;

Nice to see you on here again.

I know you've put a lot of work into this car and it must be hard to let go.
You were talking of selling, three years ago!

For anyone wanting a coupe, this is a nice example.

Good luck on the sale.

Sorry, don't know about the CL problems.

 

Thanks for the endorsement brother!

 

No idea on the CL search. Do you have enough terms in the auction/listing that it can be searched easily? Also, about how long ago did you post it up? Maybe it takes a bit for the listing to get indexed.

Sad to see it go man, it was always a clean example. I'd love to see your other projects if you feel like sticking around to post up some notes on them

 

Thanks man. The biggest project I've done is the stereo. The rest of the projects are little things (headlights/tail lights/grille, etc), or were done by qualified mechanics (suspension).

But if you'd like more info on the stuff I've done let me know!

 

Bump... my CL ad expired and I took a little off the price.

Here's the new link. Let me know if you're interested!!

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/2322104120.html

 

I am interested, When you had the head gasket work done, did you have the motor rebuilt? Just wondering considering the high mileage.

 

I had a valve job done, but it wasn't a full engine rebuild. My mechanic didn't think a full rebuild was necessary. Good guy, so I took his word for it.

PM me or shoot me an email if you'd like me to list out the details of the recent maintenance. The invoice lays out exactly what my guy replaced when he did the head gasket.

pierps at gmail dot com

Thanks man!

Peter

 

Alright... this is starting to get depressing.

I can't believe what little interest my car has generated... maybe the economy is worse than I thought.

You guys tell me. What's a fair price for my car? It's not perfect by any means, but all I'm getting is a few people who say "I'm interested" and never call or email back.

I'm tempted to start calling the junk yards to see what they will pay for it. I'll probably take the stereo out and sell it on ebay.... god, the stereo alone is worth a couple grand used. Plus the rims and brand new tires. Hell, the completely rebuilt tranny is worth at least a grand too. I live in a condo, but if I didn't, I guess it would pay better to part the thing out. That would be so incredibly wasteful though! It's a great car!

Sigh... I guess I must be depressed!! ha ha listen to me!

 

Your CL ad was deleted by you?...post the info here...most likely the buyer will be an enthusiast from here anyway.

Miles, mods, work done, issues etc please....

Looks nice btw ! price point seems fair IMO

 

Petey, I think its rough all around for everyone. I'd always love another 300ce but reality dictates I can't. Right now I'm hunkering down to have headgasket/valve jobs done to get mine driving again.

Just wait it out, we have a small but fervent market. You'll find someone who is truly interested soon. I'd say don't junk or part it, no reason. Its a waste of a car that is in damned good shape otherwise.

 

Pete,
Your car needs to be seen to be appreciated.
Selling it curbside would likely be best. Are you driving it around with a For Sale sign, at least?

Just a suggestion:
Are there any used car lots that sell cars on consignment, in your area?
That way, people who are actively looking to buy, would get a good view of yours.

 

Too bad you're far away or else I'd check it out.

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Ugh, I just spent 30 minutes writing a response to everyone but my browser locked up... Don't really have the energy to re-write it all, but here's the gist.

I think Craigslist thinks I'm a scammer so they keep blocking my ads... I've had to try deleting, reposting, using alternate email addresses, etc... for example, last night I reposted my ad after the previous one expired. It worked, and I could find it via search. I edited the ad today, and after editing, it disappeared so you can't find it via search anymore... you need to have the link. Oh well, can't complain I guess since CL is free.

So anyway, here's the current link:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/2341512334.html

As far as recent maintenance (this is from memory, but i have the service records at home):

Head Gasket
Valve Job
Full Tranny rebuild
Rebuilt Fuel Distributor
O2 Sensor
OVP Relay
Crank Position Sensor

Lots more stuff on top of this... I think I've probably blocked most of it out of my memory since I'm so depressed about selling it.

The stereo is super nice. Interior was stripped and dynamatted. Focal 3 way front stage with custom fiberglass speaker enclosures in the doors. Front stage has the tweeters on their own channel of the amp (aka "bi-amped") for really clean highs. Nakamichi CD-400 deck, although the farking cd function stopped working recently... you can still use the radio and plug your MP3 player in though.

The rear deck also has custom fiberglass enclosures for the speakers. The sub is in the rear deck in an infinite baffle configuration (no enclosure), so the trunk is effectively sealed from the cabin. This is a sound quality stereo install, so it's not going to feel like you're being punched in the kidneys every time the bass hits.

The amp is a JL Audio 500/5 (very nice), which runs the front stage and the sub. The rear channel (also Focals) are powered by a smaller, more average JL Audio amp (not sure about the model number off the top of my head). I also have an audiocontrol EQS 6 channel equilizer (as pictured above).

It sounds really damn good, in my opinion... especially with well-recorded vocals and more mellow music like the Counting Crows. It's average for rap/pop, and the tweeters can be a little too bright for hard rock... but that's why I got the equalizer- so you can fine tune it to your taste.

The car does have a few issues, primarily a rough idle. There have been a number of points over time when this problem has come up. Usually it's resolved with a tune up and adjustments... but it does seem to come back as a recurring issue. Somebody smarter than me will figure it out.

The cruise control stopped working a few years ago, but it never bothered me since I don't take a lot of road trips.

The A/C is also not working (never has since I've owned it). In Seattle, it's not really much of an issue at all. On the rare hot day, you can roll down the windows and enjoy the panoramic view since this car doesn't have B-Pillars.

The driver side door lock seems stuck- you can't get your key all the way in. Either the tumbler needs to be replaced, or it just needs some lubrication. As you guys know, the locks are on a shared vacuum system, so all doors unlock if you use the trunk or passenger door key hole.

What else... you can see that I didn't do a great job painting the headlight wiper filler plates when I installed the euro headlights. The basecoat and clearcoat are chipping off, but the black primer is holding strong. I have a can of color-matched paint so it can be fixed with a few hours of work.

I also bought an after market grille for the car, on which I attempted to fill the emblem holes and color-match the paint. It was a really great idea, but my execution was poor. you can still see a recess where the emblem was, and the color matching wasn't great. There's also a chip on the grille and some rust. But I still have the OEM grille. Only problem is that somebody ripped the emblem off (which was why I decided to try the painted grille project).

The upholstery is also coming apart a little at the seam on the back seats, above where the arm rest folds out. The leather and tubing are fine- it's the softer fabric that is sewn to the leather that has broken down. Shouldn't be a tough job for an upholstery shop- no more than an hour or two of labor.

Anyway, yeah. The car does have a few minor issues, but I think they're expected for a car this old. It will go for at least another 100k miles if you're willing to do a little maintenance. Totally worth it in my mind, but I don't need a third car.

Feel free to let me know what you think. I'm now asking $3,250, and I think that's fair, but I guess I need to let the market speak for itself.

Thanks!

Peter

 

Saijin, I totally hear you man. I'm sure the economy has something to do with it. Craigslist is also not helping much since every time I turn around, I can't find my own ad via search.

Part of me is tempted to just keep the thing, but I don't want to deal with having 3 cars. I bus to work every day, so as it is I hardly drive.

190E, thanks again for the nice words. I think you're right- I should probably park it on the street with a for sale sign in the window. I've been keeping it in the parking garage to keep it clean since I spent hours detailing it recently. But the pictures just don't do it justice, so I guess I need to get it out there in the open.

Oh, and Jim... mileage is ~215k. I think with all of the mechanical work that has been done though, it's young beyond its miles.

It's really amazing when you think about it. This car is 21 years old. How many cars look this good 21 years later?!? And I think this is true of most MB's of this era. The paint is still in awesome shape. ...sigh...

 

Sounds like you've still got the soft spot for it man, I'd advise against getting rid of it until you actually NEED to, or the love is gone.

 

I think I was probably lucky that my son totaled my car. Nobody was hurt at all bye the way, just a fender bender that cost more to fix than the KBB price of the car. After all these years, it would have been hard having to give it away for almost nothing or nothing at all. Like your car, the AC didn't work. I also had a leaky head gasket, leaky front timing cover, a shift flair, leather worn through on driver's seat bolster, deteriorated leather steering wheel, broken and then removed center console sliding top box, crazy stereo volume knob, and a bit of rust at the rear quarter panel seams.

Funny, just a year before I gave the car to my son, I had what I think was the cleanest looking W124 at a local German auto show. This last year, with my son maintaining the car (not), the car really seemed to go down hill very quickly. Although to be fair, the mechanical problems had already developed. The AC evaporator went bad right before I gave the car to my son. It was just the aesthetics that went down hill very quickly with him driving. The broken console box and the torn leather seat were caused by some rough treatment that are probably typical for a teenager. He never loved the car like I did. I was very careful with things and always kept it looking as good as possible, but I had a long relationship with the car since it was new. These cars really are getting pretty darn old. Even my 1995, the last of them made, was more than 16-years-old when it met the end of the road.

July 2009 at the car show

From Flickr.com

Good luck selling your car.

 

So I sold the car yesterday... I got $2,800 for it. After 3 weeks of having it up for sale with little to no interest, this is the best offer I got. Good enough I guess.

Pretty weird that it's gone! It was the first car I ever bought. Had it for about 7 years. For the first 4 years it was my pride and joy. Since I got married and we bought a newer BMW, the Mercedes just kind of faded away in terms of my priorities. And the maintenance was becoming way too expensive given how much the car was worth and how little I drove it.

It's for the best I guess. Thanks guys for your input on this thread and for the years of entertainment and learning on this forum. Our family is now Mercedesless, so I expect I probably wont' be spending much time on this forum.

Best wishes.

Peter

 

Best Wishes, Pete;

It was a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for bringing your car out to Birch Bay to share with us.

Good luck in future endeavours.

"190"