mrS55

hello everyone,

new to the forum here, but have read alot and it seems like many of you have a ton of experience and knowledge.

I am considering purchasing a 2003 s55. black on black, has the 2 bucket seats in rear option, and interior is mint. best part is, it only has a shade over 30K miles on the odometer.

here is the kicker: it has a TX rebuilt/salvage title. normally i would run away from this as fast as possible, but the seller is someone i know and has been upfront with me about everything. says no frame damage, but it was involved in an accident. rebuilt by a shop he uses--lead builder worked at a mercedes dealer for almost 30 years.

everything seems to be in order, but i am definitely getting a pre-purchase inspection prior to making a decision. hypothetically, if the inspection come back clean (no frame damage, quality repair, etc) what would you say is a good price? and any maintenance issues i should be aware of? it only has 30K miles, but its now an 8 year old car.

thanks for any advice and input you may have

mrbenzes

I would say if you are going to keep it for th long term and drive it you could pay up to $20K for it. If you only plan on keeping it for a one year, that salvage title will kill the price when you try to sell it. If it passes the inspection you should be in good shape...can you see pics of the accident damage? If it was mainly body issues you may get a deal. If it got into the engine compartment, you may have issues down the road.
Good luck.
Mike

mrS55

Thanks, what kind of issues are we talking about down the road? I do not believe it did any damage to the engine itself, but I am not sure if some of the body around the engine (i guess technically in the engine bay) may have been damaged. I am going to get it looked at in detail so if any body issues pop up it should be caught. What I am also concerned about is maintenance as well. Low mileage, but it is an 8, almost 9 year old vehicle. Anything I should look out for?

Anyone else have feedback?

mrbenzes

The issues that come from accident damage typically can be covered up until a future owner has to do ANY type of maintenance or repair in the future...again it all points back to how hard, and where, the car was hit. I have seen odd rust issues from bent or unpainted suspension parts, any belt driven component can have unseen bearing issues due to bent pulleys, etc. If you ever have to replace a fender, bumper, or trim they often wont fit properly, and on and on. Underhood fuel lines, or anything else under a tight hood may have moved and make repairs or maintenance an issue. These occur even when top notch repairs are done. I just think of it as if all of the paint that cannot be reached without "dipping" the car (as was done at the factory) is now bare metal and may have to be addessesd later. I'm not trying to scare you away from this car, but to say that the issues you may face will not necessarily be equal to those of cars that have never been damaged.