dhodge

1988 Mercedes-Benz 420 SEL
WDBCA35D1JA384369
ext color 355 diamond blue (diamintblau)
int color 278 grey leather
68,000 documented miles

This is a great low mileage rust free W126 in excellent original condition. The photos speak for themselves as you can see at:

http://s13.photobucket.com/user/davh...?sort=4&page=1

All of the photos are recent from Nov. 2013; I put the old CA plates back on just for effect.

The mileage and 23 year CA ownership is documented by both recent AutoCheck and Carfax:

file:///Users/hodge/Downloads/Vin%23%20WDBCA35D1JA384369.html

I swear this car belongs in a museum! One Southern CA owner for 23 years until I bought the car 1/22/2012. As you can see from the Autocheck and Carfax this car has been in dry southern CA until 2012 and garage kept in FL since then; never seen snow/salt and is rust free. As you can see from the photos, this car has been pampered all of its life. She's a low mileage car, but has been driven regularly. Runs and drives wonderfully. Ice cold AC even in S FL summer heat (I used to have a 300TD so I guess MB finally figured that out!). Everything works except the passenger side mirror remote moves only up and down but not side to side. The antenna mast deploys about half way. I thought she might have a current draw since the battery drained once when I stored her for about a month, but I haven't been able to reproduce it; not sure. I have all the books, keys, original warranty plate and documents for the car. Regular maintenance is documented in the service booklet until 29K miles, the next record I see are oil changes at about 49K and 57K on the carfax so there are some gaps in the service history, there was fresh oil and filter when I bought the car at about 66K. There are a few scattered blemishes in the paint that I've tried to show. Minor things like a few pin hole stone chips on the front hood, a quarter sized repaired chip on the passenger front wheel arch and a few small scattered stains on the finish that will probably polish out (I've only washed and waxed the car). The front bumper is a little splotchy looking; not sure if this can be polished out or repainted separately. There is subtle minimal age related yellowing of some of the interior panels which is ubiquitous at this age (I looked at many W126 before taking this one). Few small cracks in the center console wood. The netting behind the seats is a little baggy looking. Two tiny cracks in the dash adjacent to the dash speakers (less than one centimeter each). I was told there are about 5K miles left on the pads as of 3/13 and I've put about 700mi on since then.

I've done the following work 3/2013 at a high end specialty MB shop at great expense (receipts available) using only OEM Mercedes parts; the following were replaced:

new ignition wire set
new ignition rotor
new distributor cap
new spark plugs
brake reservoir cleaned and flushed
all brake lines flushed
new EHA valve
new locking vacuum pump
all belts replaced
new motor mounts
new transmission mounts
new exhaust hangers
new shifter bushing
new fuel filter
new air filter
new battery
new hood pad
four new Michelin Primacy MCV4 tires

I bought this car from a broker who got it from an estate sale. I wanted one of these for nostalgic reasons (this was the car of my parents during high school!) and although I've only put about 2K miles on her, I've really enjoyed the car very much. The visibility is really incredible compared to modern cars and she drives so smoothly; a real sweet highway cruiser. I love the smell of classic Mercedes interiors. If I had a warehouse I would definitely keep this car, but I've got other cars I want to experience and not enough room. I even looked into buying a lift so I could keep this car, but sadly my garage ceiling is too low.

Because of it's great condition, I think this is a special car. For that reason, I'd prefer to sell to an enthusiast. I'm going to leave it on the enthusiast websites for a month or so before putting it on eBay, etc.

The car is at my home north of Miami near Aventura about 20 minutes from FLL and about 30 minutes from MIA. Fly in, check out the car and have a nice vacation in S FL; or, fly in and drive her home. Any and all inspections welcome. I can assist with transport.


Asking price: $7900

David Hodge
davhodge at hotmail dot com