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560SL Price/purchase advice

883 views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Shoman 
#1 ·
Hi,

I've found a 1988 560SL and need purchase advice, mainly price. Car has less than original 70K miles, extremely clean, not a blemish beyond a very small rash on the driver' side bolster, and left front of bottom passenger cushion. That is, the surface finish is slightly cracked, only the surface of its finish. Engine is like new in appearance, but doesn't look "just" Gunked. It idles extremely smoothly at the right rpm. Everything works so far as I can tell. No maintenance records. Only performance issues are the steering is "rough," like it might need a good balance. I need advice on the purchase price, ie, what would be a reasonable to good price to pay.

Thanks
 
#3 ·
No maintenance records.
This would give me pause. Even with extensive maintenance records, I would take the car (and did, with mine) to a reputable mechanic who works on older MBs and have them give it a thorough once over to find out what's been done and what looks like it needs doing, unless you have the experience and knowledge to do so yourself of course. This will give you a good idea of how much work you will need to do / have done if you buy the car, and this info should obviously figure into the price you'll be willing to pay.

FWIW, I've seen one pristine 560 -- rare color, low mileage, like new condition -- listed (and apparently selling) for more than 40k. I've also seen decent 560s, with higher mileage than that (and that's not a bad thing) in good to very good, though not in as nice condition as the one you're describing, offered at around 8k and not selling (mine was one such car).

At the very least, take a look in the classifieds here, sniff around Criag's list, eBay, etc., to get an idea of what folks are currently paying (or not) for these cars.

Bottom line for me, in your place I wouldn't make an offer / accept a price until I had the car inspected and knew what work needed to be done and how much that would set me back.
 
#5 ·
I can't suggest a price but I might offer some purchase advice.

The question you posed makes me think if you researched more cars rather than moving forward on this one,
you would be in a buying position of more expertise to perhaps pose a more helpful question to aid your decision-making.

much luck with your purchase-
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the replies, guys. I have done research on this model, autotrader, Nada, etc. There were 38 380SL's in the range I checked, and about 5 560's. I limited the search to those with less than 60,000 miles, this one has 57,000 miles. I found seven 560SL's within 500 miles, mileage ranging from 50,000 to 75,500 miles, average price was $19,000 +/-. The average price of all 560SL's nationally (I think) with less than 6oK nationwide was $24,789. Price of 380SL's was $18,000 with < 60K.

I'm surprised at the difference in price of the 380's and 560's. The base price of the two was also very different.

The asking price of the '88 I'm considering is $12,900. I don't know about records, I would certainly get them if posslble, and I agree they are extremely important.

I spoke with a fellow who's business is exotic older cars. He thinks told be 57,000 miles is too many miles for high resale, needs to be <20,000 miles to get $20,000 for a 560SL. That seems awfully low miles...My feeling is he's selling truly collector cars, not very clean drivers. I also don't get the high asking prices for the <60K cars, advertised for $24,789. Maybe they don't sell, if the dealer's opinion is correct.

Thanks again for the help. I may be out of the market for the time being anyway. Today I moved my 560SEC from the garage after two weeks, and discovered a scary pool of tranny oil, damn. That may have to be resolved first.

George
 
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