SL/R107: looking for 560SL
07-30-2006, 01:21 AM
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W221-S550
looking for 560SL
I am looking to purchase a 560SL. I live in Vancouver, Canada so I'd prefer a Canadian car or one from the Pacific Northwest. Please PM me if you have one available
08-01-2006, 11:17 AM
#5
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Originally Posted by flaw
Can you tell/teach me some of your experiences about buying this sort of car (older sl) on eBay?
- Do you have an eBay identity already? (as you can't do advanced searching w/o an ID on eBay)
- Have you purchased anything on it already?
08-01-2006, 07:54 PM
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W221-S550
I've bought tons on eBay. Never sold any. I am wondering how to do it as best as one can, to tell the shyster from the real deal? How do one telepathically feel if a car is a good deal or a POS(Piece of ****)
08-01-2006, 11:10 PM
#7
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Gotch'ya. I'll tell you what I did and learned.
- 1st, decide what year, price range, and mileage you're shooting for. 560s are the most expensive; of course lower milage will be a real premium. I used advanced search to see what sold, at what price, in what condition, filtering with stringent search criteria. A decent percentage of the SLs sell. Compare that old Porsche 911 convertables... I watched about 50 and only saw 2 hit the reserve and sell! (both slantnose turbos). Everyone paid too much for them and want too much when they sell them ... so they don't sell. If you don't want a 560SL near the end of the run (i.e. the newest you can get) which should cost over $10K and under $20K unless it has like 30K mile or something, you'll most likely pay under $10K for the 450SL or 380SL (or 3-something if not 380, sorry).
- My mechanic told me to say away from the 500SL imports, as there's some parts in either the fuel system or ignition that if they go are real hard to get and expensive. There's so many 560s you should stick with them; performance is real close to the 500. (and my wife actually likes the bigger bumpers of the US models). Though you're in Canada, so I'm not sure whether you got the 500SL w/o modification or not.
- Definitely used feedback and mined the sellers past sales. My seller had a rating in the 900's with near 100% feedback. Though a majority of his sales were little Promo model cars, he did have good feedback from past vehicle sales (a few were within 90 days that I could see) and the autos were nice.
- I definitely have to talk to the person by phone. That tells a lot. My seller was open about buying it on auction. He didn't try to BS me.
- I hired carchex.com who sends a person out to do an in-person comprehensive inspection. A very detailed report is produced, and all blemishes are conveyed, with detailed pix of them. He found some rust the seller didn't even realize. It really works. I also bought the 90-day insurance they offer with inspection for $300, just in case.
The car I bought wasn't rated as 'perfect' in really anything (if a near 20 year old car is, either I should be paying a lot more, or the inspection company is BS), but just about everything was "very good". Compare that to a 1987 300TD wagon I was looking at at the same time. Thought from the pix it looked "real good"; but the car had some "red" on the report with some pretty bad marks I never would have known about from the eBay write-up, the pix, or even talking to that particular seller. I did get a sense the seller was somewhat shistery too talking to him. There is know way to know telepathically feel if a car is a good deal or a POS. Use Carchex or another similar for sure.
- The guy I bought the car from didn't charge any extra money for title exchange. Often you'll be charged $100 or more ontop of the sale for that by the seller. Not a statement of "shysterness", but a negative still. You only find this out well after the sale, though the seller did say he'd do this before the sale, but my seller was very helpful in getting the car out and shipped to me; I had to arrange it, but he was helpful in getting it to them, and charged just $50 for getting it to the shipping company.
- BTW, pay for either expidite service, and/or enclosed shipping, and/or garanteed delivery. The frigg'n shipping company was a week late ontop of a 20 day estimate; oil dripped on the car. Grease in the interior. Grrrr DAS Shipping.
Hope this helps.
- 1st, decide what year, price range, and mileage you're shooting for. 560s are the most expensive; of course lower milage will be a real premium. I used advanced search to see what sold, at what price, in what condition, filtering with stringent search criteria. A decent percentage of the SLs sell. Compare that old Porsche 911 convertables... I watched about 50 and only saw 2 hit the reserve and sell! (both slantnose turbos). Everyone paid too much for them and want too much when they sell them ... so they don't sell. If you don't want a 560SL near the end of the run (i.e. the newest you can get) which should cost over $10K and under $20K unless it has like 30K mile or something, you'll most likely pay under $10K for the 450SL or 380SL (or 3-something if not 380, sorry).
- My mechanic told me to say away from the 500SL imports, as there's some parts in either the fuel system or ignition that if they go are real hard to get and expensive. There's so many 560s you should stick with them; performance is real close to the 500. (and my wife actually likes the bigger bumpers of the US models). Though you're in Canada, so I'm not sure whether you got the 500SL w/o modification or not.
- Definitely used feedback and mined the sellers past sales. My seller had a rating in the 900's with near 100% feedback. Though a majority of his sales were little Promo model cars, he did have good feedback from past vehicle sales (a few were within 90 days that I could see) and the autos were nice.
- I definitely have to talk to the person by phone. That tells a lot. My seller was open about buying it on auction. He didn't try to BS me.
- I hired carchex.com who sends a person out to do an in-person comprehensive inspection. A very detailed report is produced, and all blemishes are conveyed, with detailed pix of them. He found some rust the seller didn't even realize. It really works. I also bought the 90-day insurance they offer with inspection for $300, just in case.
The car I bought wasn't rated as 'perfect' in really anything (if a near 20 year old car is, either I should be paying a lot more, or the inspection company is BS), but just about everything was "very good". Compare that to a 1987 300TD wagon I was looking at at the same time. Thought from the pix it looked "real good"; but the car had some "red" on the report with some pretty bad marks I never would have known about from the eBay write-up, the pix, or even talking to that particular seller. I did get a sense the seller was somewhat shistery too talking to him. There is know way to know telepathically feel if a car is a good deal or a POS. Use Carchex or another similar for sure.
- The guy I bought the car from didn't charge any extra money for title exchange. Often you'll be charged $100 or more ontop of the sale for that by the seller. Not a statement of "shysterness", but a negative still. You only find this out well after the sale, though the seller did say he'd do this before the sale, but my seller was very helpful in getting the car out and shipped to me; I had to arrange it, but he was helpful in getting it to them, and charged just $50 for getting it to the shipping company.
- BTW, pay for either expidite service, and/or enclosed shipping, and/or garanteed delivery. The frigg'n shipping company was a week late ontop of a 20 day estimate; oil dripped on the car. Grease in the interior. Grrrr DAS Shipping.
Hope this helps.
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08-03-2006, 05:07 PM
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Originally Posted by flaw
I am looking to purchase a 560SL. I live in Vancouver, Canada so I'd prefer a Canadian car or one from the Pacific Northwest. Please PM me if you have one available
vijay
08-03-2006, 11:37 PM
#10
Super Member
Originally Posted by mdvijay
check out www.oursl.com you might find what you are looking for...you should get a good used 560 SL with 80-100k miles for somewhere between 7 -10k...remember these cars are already 18-20 years old
08-25-2006, 03:59 PM
#11
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Originally Posted by flaw
I am looking to purchase a 560SL.
08-25-2006, 05:54 PM
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No, not yet. There is a lot of "stupid" money out there out bidding me every time I found something reasonable. I live in Canada so I am mainly looking at Canadian cars first. People with SL with over 150K are asking $23K+ for their cars and the car itself is a POS (Piece of ****). Otherwise nice ones are going for over $25K and people pay asking price without haggling at all, thereby driving up the market values. I check on eBay and most US cars in reasonable shape cost under $20. what this world need is a good ole fashion recession with a big market crash. Maybe that way, people like me on a fix income (I am a surgeon) will do better relatively.
08-29-2006, 10:20 AM
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'87 560SL Sold, '99 SL500 For Keeps
Originally Posted by flaw
No, not yet. There is a lot of "stupid" money out there out bidding me every time I found something reasonable. I live in Canada so I am mainly looking at Canadian cars first. People with SL with over 150K are asking $23K+ for their cars and the car itself is a POS (Piece of ****). Otherwise nice ones are going for over $25K and people pay asking price without haggling at all, thereby driving up the market values. I check on eBay and most US cars in reasonable shape cost under $20. what this world need is a good ole fashion recession with a big market crash. Maybe that way, people like me on a fix income (I am a surgeon) will do better relatively.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...%3ASS%3AUS%3A1
Good Hunting!
Bob
09-18-2006, 09:33 AM
#14
Senior Member
I have an 87 560SL with a total of a 109500 miles on it. Clean one owner with absolutly no rust. No paintwork, accidents or anything of the such. Its in colorado. Exterior is signal red with a tan interior. Chrome wheels and everything is in really nice shape. PM me if youre interested in the color combination and so on.
Peter
Peter
Last edited by ptoro01; 09-18-2006 at 09:36 AM.
09-20-2006, 01:29 AM
#15
Senior Member
here are some picture of it. I am still in the process of fixing little things like the headlight door but if interested please email me at ptoro02@yahoo.com
http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k250/ptoro01/
Peter
http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k250/ptoro01/
Peter
