JazzMat

Hello all! Newbie here. I've been scouring this terrific forum for the past week in anticipation of purchasing a '98 E430 w/61K miles.

I test drove it once, and everything seemed to be in terrific shape until a malfunctioning MAF sensor reared its ugly head. It has since been replaced by the current owner (a friend of mine). In the intervening time, I found this site and have been reading voraciously so I can make an informed decision.

As with any car, there seem to be a few regularly-occuring problems with this car. I've read about the harmonic balancer, front control arm bushings, front seat rails,and fuel tank sendiing unit. Are there any other problems I should keep an eye out for?

More importantly, can anyone give me an idea of anticipated expenses for each of the aforementioned repairs? I'm trying to get an idea of what "built-in" expenses I can expect to incur in the next couple of years.

BTW, the car is very, very clean. No dings, no dents. Interior in terrific shape. The owner is a neat-freak, and it has been driven fairly gently by his wife. The asking price is $22K and I think I can get it for $20k to $21K, including winter tires with less than 3K miles, and summer tires with less than 6K miles. It has a moonroof, CD changer, memory seats & mirrors, but no xenons or heated seats.

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide. I look forward to learning a lot here in the years to come.

nguyensteve

Jazz,

Sorry I cannot comment on this , since my is a 2000 E430.
I have no problem on the car what so ever. just regular oil change so far. Good luck.

Steve

MARK CUMMINS

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JazzMat
[B]Hello all! Newbie here. I've been scouring this terrific forum for the past week in anticipation of purchasing a '98 E430 w/61K miles.



As with any car, there seem to be a few regularly-occuring problems with this car. I've read about the harmonic balancer, front control arm bushings, front seat rails,and fuel tank sendiing unit. Are there any other problems I should keep an eye out for?


I Would Have the car Inspected By a MB dealer or a MB Independent shop..for a pre purchase Inspection
Take a Look at the Motor mounts/A/C system(Evap temp Sensor)
Cracked dash/Cat Converters/window regulators/and the trans..I Would have it serviced asap..to Inspect for Material in the trans pan
Also run the Vin at the dealer for History..it helps!

JazzMat

Mark: Thanks for the reply, the advice, and the heads-up on the motor mounts & AC issues.

I've already had the dealer run a VMI on the car. It's had the following work done under warranty;

--both rear window regulators replaced;
--2 repairs to the automatic transmission: a control module & "shift valve body/electro-hydra..."
--Turn signal switch replaced
--Ball joint & tie rod...

The car has been meticulously maintained. I've "known it" its entire life. Anyone know the approximate costs to repair or replace the harmonic balancer, control arm bushings and seat rails?

Also, assuming the car is in as good shape as it appears to be (and it seems to be in pretty extraordinary shape, both inside and out), does $21K seem like a good price for a '98 E430 with 61K miles?

Thanks again for your help!

gstigler

The 1998 E430 seems to be going a little cheaper in my area. Have they been to the dealer and gotten a trade-in value yet? It's probably around $14k. I would offer them $17k and settle around $18-18.5k. But then again, this is your friend so the situation is more complicated.

As a reference I paid $14,500 for my 1997 E420 with 67k. Good luck and enjoy the car if you get it.

digitaldave

Care to mention where you are located?

Corp DL

I believe the seat rails are about $1500 to replace (I only know that from this forum). I have a bad drivers seat rail & I'm not going to replace it for that amount. Just living w/ it.

I have some headliner noises that are evidently common too (which seems rediculous).

I've had a problem w/ my starter switch...I have yet to get it replaced as an MB tech on this forum told me to get the flywheel greased (which shld be less than an new switch). Symptom: the car does not always start the first time & independant MB shop couldn't reset the FSS (he said due to the bad switch). He mentioned this was common w/ this car and even some S's & SL's.

I would agree too w/ gstigler about the price. 18-18.5K seems more reasonable.

JazzMat

Thanks for the price advice. It appears that the car won't be ending up in my garage, after all. I offered $17.5K this morning based upon local trade-in values and what you folks and other sources confirmed, and I was rebuffed by an upset owner.

It turns out that he was offered $14K for trade-in by a local Lexus dealere, and all the sources I could find point to the value of the car being approximately $17.5K - $18.5K. There's a bad fuel tank sending unit that was estimated by the dealer as a $400 repair, so I figured $17.5K was a fair offer. Apparently, he thought differently, and he's miffed.

To a certain extent, he has a right to be. He mentioned his asking price several weeeks ago, and I didn't respond either affirmatively nor negatively. It seems he took my lack of response as an indication he was in the right ballpark, and didn't look elsewhere for buyers.

When his dealer told him his new car would be here next Monday, I became more serious in my research, and that's when I discovered -- with your invaluable help -- his asking price was a few thousand dollars too high. His wife thinks I'm lowballing them at the last moment because they have to do something with the car before their new one is delivered.

They've rejected my offer, which was going to be run through the dealer, so they could save $1,500 sales tax on the old car (they would only pay tax on the price difference between their new car and the old one), and they feel like I've cost them that money. He's going to sell the car privately, take the sales tax hit, and hope they can sell the car for enough more than my offer to make up the difference.

I have a feeling he's not going to find any taker at his price, so perhaps the deal's not dead. Thanks to you all for your help.

E55 KEV

I believe all W210 E-Class are infamous for headliner and sunroof rattling. I had same rattles in my 98 E430 and my 02 E55. Make sure you drive with the sunroof and/or the sunroof shade open. Some cars need extra padding. If dealer maybe you can get them to fix it. Good Luck!

gstigler

I'm from Il, a suburb of Chicago. I just updated my profile.

Nice move on your fair offer, I hope it doesn't cause any unwanted tension with your friend but you did the right thing. $17.5k was a good offer and he/she would be lucky to bring more than that. I've seen cars with $20k+ asking prices like the one in question since I started my search over six months ago. The majority of them are still on the market. People rarely understand what their cars are really worth until they try adn sell them for a while. Every asking price you see in the paper is exactly that....an asking price.

Who knows, in a month or two they may be more willing to take your offer. After that the car will probably be worth less. Figure it's costing them a couple bills a month to own the car in insurance and maintenance.

Keep looking, these are great cars and you will find the right car for the right deal. In my mind, looking for a car is half the fun.

Corp DL

Sounds like you made a good dec'n JazMat...hope you friend does not take out the fact of his reality on you. Sounds like you didn't do anything to feel bad or guilty about.

This does raise the question, do MB's really retain as much value as they really should? That was probably a $50K new.

JazzMat

Thanks for the supportive words. This situation also raises the question of what's happening in this strange used-car market.

NADA, KBB and Edmunds all list '98 E430 in this condition and with this mileage as having trade-in values around $19K - $21k, private sale values between $21K - $23K, and dealer-ratiala values between $23K - $26K. Given the fact that actual trade0in allowances seem to run between $14K - $16K, it seems something is very out-of-whack. BTW, I had a local dealer-friend of mine check out actual dealer-to-dealer auction prices for December 2003 in my region for E430s, and all sold for between $15.5K - $18K. That means dealers are marking up these cars on their lots from $7K - $9K.

The published trade-in values are so out-of-line, one wonders if the glut of lease-return cars during the past decade has caught NADA, KBB & Edmunds napping, or if they're in the hip pocket of the dealers (well, obviously NADA is).

On another note, the car's current owner seems to have set his price by looking at national retail asking-price averages from Autotrader.com, Edmunds, et al, not recognizing the fact that:

1. Asking price and selling price are different;

2. People who buy from dealers are willing to pay more for the perceived security-blanket effect they think they're getting;

3. Many of the E430s sold at dealers are Starmark cars, so the price reflects the added warranty coverage I wouldn't get on the private purchase of a '98 with 62K miles;

4. He and his wife's emotional attachment and excellent care for the car don't necessarily translate to a buyer.

5. Amazingly, as hard as it is for them to believe, their $50+K car in 1998, really is worth less than $20K now.

Well, thanks again for your help. Nice crew you have here. Think I'll stick around for a while, if y'all don't mind.

gstigler

The used car market is strange right now. All the incentives that have been piled on new cars lately have directly effected the values of used cars. Zero percent financing is not availble on used cars so it's another strike against them. And with the pulling forward of new car sales there is still a glut of used cars on the market.

Leasing and balloon financing have had an effect as well. When you can lease a car with lower payments this becomes a viable alternative to buying a late model used car.

The result is that KBB, NADA have not caught up to the actual values. I can highlight many many good used cars in my area that are advertising close to kbb private party numbers and have not sold for up to 8 months. In the meantime, depreciation continues. Eventually private parties realize this and will sell the car for a real world price.

The dealers mark-ups are justified. Starmark warranties will cost the dealer $1500-2500. The typical trade in requires $1000-2500 worht of work to make it saleable. Then there is the cost of advertising ($300 per car), floor plan ($200 per month) and dealer overhead. In the end they are lucky to make $1000-2000 on a used car.

ARISTO

Wow I'm really surprised that 98 E430s are going for 18k on average, that is ALOT of car for 18k with an average of 60sumodd thousand miles!!

JazzMat, do a search for my screename and you will find a thread that I started last year about Eclasses in general, got some pretty helpful responses.

AJChenMPH

Hey Jamie! Glad to see you over here as well. (Man, this CB5-MBW cross-pollination is getting out of control...)

Keep us posted on this...I don't know if I ever told you, but Mom's 2001 E430 is a wonderful cruiser. If you do end up with this car, just make sure you lose the GS-D2's (if he's still got them on there) and get yourself a second set of rims with snow tires. Even with a/s HTR+'s, my mom's car is still somewhat of a dog in the snow.

6.3

I have a 98 e430 with 50000 miles and I love that car. I did not have any of the chronic problems and I bough it Starmark Certified with extended warranty. I did have some annoying problems with the sunroof guides broken which required 3 visits to the dealer but it's really the incompetence of the dealer that required 3 visits. Also driving in NY the front suspension get a beating and it needed some work recently. I got new shocks and other components replaced which I can remember now. I also had a Mass Air Flow sensor and 1 injector replaced after it caused an engine light to come one. Everything covered under Starmark extended warranty. That last repair with suspension and MAF was I think within $1600 but all covered. Getting the extended warranty really paid off although the car is trouble free and fun to drive. Heated seats in winter are awesome, air bladders in the seats make them really comfortable. Rear sunshade and other gadgets make a difference. Overall I am a really happy E class owner.
If you want to see a little gallery of my proud E go here
http://tomaszjakubowski.photopoints.com/main/gallery/

JazzMat

I hope you don't mind me exhuming this thread from a couple of weeks ago, but the plot thickens...

After refusing my offer, the owner put his car up for auction on ebay. After one 7-day auction expired with a maximum bid of $13,600 not meeting the reserve he had placed on the car, he reposted it, and hasn't gotten any bids so far.

Tonight the owner called me, admitted that my research had been more accurate (thanks to all of you!), told me he had an offer of $18K -- pending financing -- and offered to sell me the car for my original offer, $17.5K. The only fly in the oinment is that in the ensuing three weeks since he refused my original offer, we've become very interested in purchasing an E320 4matic wagon, with xenon, heated seats and a few other options. His car, while still a nice option, is a relative "stripper," without xenons, heated seats, or any other options. No E1,E2 or E3 packages.

I told him I'd let him know by Monday, since that's when he expects to hear from the other interested party. Looks like I have a weekend of thinking ahead of me.

Once again, thanks to everyone for the excellent advice. I'm pretty sure I'll soon be an E-class owner -- just not sure yet what model that will be.

AJChenMPH

Jamie, let me throw my two cents in here.

Mom's got an E430 RWD. With the OEM Goodyear GS-D2's on 'em, the car was an absolute dog to drive around in the snow -- I got caught on Route 28 (around Onteora) last winter in a snow squall, and I had to turn OFF the traction control to get anywhere. I finally made it to my destination, albeit after driving sideways for the last 20 miles or so.

I put on Sumitomo HTR+'s this past May, and even though it's a quantum leap better in the winter time, the E430 has nothing on my 4MOTION in snow. Even if I put snow tires on the E430, I have a feeling that the 4MOTION with my a/s Toyos will still be better.

Given that you live in upstate NY somewhere...go for the E320 4MATIC. You will be unstoppable in this weather. Mom got the original W124 300E 4MATIC when it came out in 1990, and despite the fact it was falling apart (NYC roads dish out some serious punishment), I still wept when we traded it in for Mom's 2001 E430. Heck, I even yelled at my mom tonight for not getting an E430 4MATIC when she bought this car.

Good luck, keep us posted...

(Man, I miss having sigs over at CB5...)

gstigler

I have a different opinion, go for the E430 2WD and forget the wagon. Newsflash, no one needs four wheel drive unless you are in a hilly area. Upstate new your is pretty flat so I would guess that you don't need it. On flat ground 4WD can make you go faster but it never helps you stop. 4WD is over-rated and over-marketed, who wants to speed in snow.

My E420 is great in the snow and fast in the summer. You'll really enjoy have the E430. If you want to be real stiff, you could offer them $17k at this point, but thats only if you want to prove a point. They don't have an offer of $18K.

In any case, the car sounds like an acceptable deal at $17.5k. Hve it inspected and buy it if it checks out.

Good luck, let us know what happens. And good job on being patient, not everyone has the dicipline to do that