Purchasing advice
 

There are 2 1995 S 500's i am looking at both with 86k miles both black, one had beige interior the other black.

1. 95 S500, black on black, need new battery, apparently the dash was switched out to the SL500 one, it has Brabus wheels, i believe babus tuned, it shorts when the break light turns on or something, out side is in good condition not great, it needs some minor work, guy has a sound system in it, tvs in the headrest, its lowered as well it was a cali car and now sitting in a drive way in new jersey it hasn't moved in over a year i see it everyday thought I would ask if its for sale I didn't tell the owner a price but honestly I'm thinking I would pay like 1500-2500 MAX. its loaded nice looking car but was once impounded by police the dash vin and cars vin didn't match some crazy story behind it, engine was replaced as well.

2. The second S500 is on cars.com the guy is asking 12k boo which i think is way to high, it has amg wheels, black on beige its in great condition no issues according to him.

What are fair prices for both, according to KBB even for the mintest S500 from 1995 I should pay nothing over $3500. what is everyones thoughts.

Before you start telling me ridiculous things take into consideration I own a lot of Mercedes cars, and a lot of BMW cars I know what goes wrong with them and know how much I can get it fixed for, also i have a 1998 S 420 which was bought brand new in 98 no serious issues. But i don't know how these owners actually treated these cars from the looks of them, they look great.

I never bought a old used Mercedes and I want to buy a few, so to start off I would like to get this W140 S500 these both are nice.

I wouldn't pay over for $4000.
for a 98 or 99.95s are junk,bad wiring and 4 speed auto.5 speeds are the way to go,I've seen them over 350,000 miles the transmissions.

These two are very nice cars but I really want the Brabus one it's very close to my house but it's not running it has a dead battery and I feel like the guy wants a lot of money for it I would be willing to pay 3k max i want to pay less it's not running

its a old car,and it will never be worth anything,so many w140s were made.

yea I know it will never be worth anything but these owners think they are worth 12K but i don't think they know you could get a way newer S500 or even a S600 for that price, one of these guys told me I don't know what I'm talking about and I should go learn about the car, and told me kbb doesn't know the true value of a car..... that guy is an idiot, if kb didn't know the real values then they wouldn't be in business....

My inclination would be to start out with a clean transferable title. I would then look at service records (if any) to see how the vehicle was maintained. I agree that a '95 is probably not something you should ever pay more than $3 - $4k for. '97 - '99s are a much better vehicle (and bargain). I would then consider the mileage on each vehicle, what probably needs to be done to each (and what that will cost), and finally would look at standing presence or curb appeal to make my decision. It is not what you can sell it for but what you have to pay for it that matters in the end.

Neither one of those sound like a good buy to me. Your best best is to get a 97-99 model with low miles and a great service history. The one with all the mods I would really stay away from. These cars are frighteningly expensive to "make right" and not worth it unless you're just rich. Start out with a much better example IMO. My 1999 had a seat problem that cost $$$$ to fix. It ran fine all summer, but now the climate control is acting funny and the auto door close is out on the drivers side, not major things, but still going to be expensive to fix due to the W140's complexity. Great driving car though, but you pay for every mile.

M

97 and up in my opinion. Like stated above 5 speed tranny is a better choice. I would personally stay away from modified cars unless its just wheels or other minor item. They are expensive to fix but you can score parts on ebay if in need. Good luck