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Toughts on buying a 1997 S420

515 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  BJBb 
#1 ·
Hello everyone, can someone give me any thoughts and advice before inquiring a 1997 s420 that i was able to find up for sale locally.I kept watching the lisitng online and the owner kept dropping the price from 4k to $1995 (red flag?).
Any advice or thoughts on its reliability and maintenance costs?

Thank you in advance
 
#2 ·
The drop in price is a bit of a red flag for sure. I'd be sure to have the car checked out before you buy, unless your a big DIY'er with some experience with old Mercedes. At the very least get an engine scan done to look for faults, preferrably with an actual Mercedes scanner, not just a generic OBD scanner. I've owned 3 Mercedes up till now and just bought my latest, a '97 E300 with over 300,000 KM's on it (came from Germany). While it looks great and I had a Mercedes mechanic give it a once over as well as an engine scan, I expected lots of issued to come up and boy have I not been disapointed. I expected this as both previous Mercedes I've owned (01 E320 and an 06 C230) were challenges maintenance wise. But if your buying a nearly 20 year old car you have to expect challenges. Issues you'll probably run into would be elecrical faults (lights, charging system, accessories), electric window problems, rust problems if car is from the rust belt ….. and of course electrical faults. Lots and lots of electrical faults….So it will help if you are an electrician and already have a mult meter. So just go into the purchase with wide open eyes. And start reading up on the stickies on this site for the model you get, they are life savers, as are the veteran posters on this site. Good luck !
 
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