So I am the seller, and looking to maximize selling price. So no fair knocking down the value if you are a potential buyer. I'm new in this forum but a regular over in the W126 forum.
Car is USA 1979 6.9. Three owners. Astral silver over blue. 99K original documented miles. Bosch Euro headlights. Newish tires.
Cosmetically I'd put the car at a 9 or 9.25 out of 10. Underwent significant cosmetic resto work in 2001, but only where needed so much of the car is original. No rust, TX car right now.
Exterior: Paint is excellent, straight body, good gloss, some door dings but no dents/scuffs. Chrome and glass excellent. Engine bay clean, trunk very clean and dry. Lots of new rubber weatherstripping and seals. From 10 feet, looks like a new car, from 3 feet the same, from 6 inches looks excellent with a few minor correctible blemishes like surface scratches and dings. Even doorjambs, inside of fuel filler door, etc are clean and neat. I've seen a lot of W126's that are much newer and still would be considered nice looking cars that were nowhere near as nice as this one.
Interior: Seating condition excellent, some work done to leather, padding, etc back in 2001. All seats firm, no horsehair smell, no dead springs or floppy cushions. Color is strong, even to rear parcel shelf. Headliner excellent, clean and not dropping. Dash has the beginnings of a few small cracks but hard to notice unless you are looking for them. Wood trim very strong, some minor stress cracks but not many and none of them are through to the wood itself. Door panels have slight pulling in center but it's easy fix and then they are excellent. Interior chrome, plastic, console, carpets are all excellent. Lots of shine to parts that should be shiny, correct texture to plastics, steering wheel not worn out, etc.
Mechanically I'd put it at an 8.5 out of 10 currently, but only because of slight misfire that has not been corrected yet, and trans modulator pressure needs to be adjusted. I am assuming it's plugs/caps/wires/lack of use and I will correct it, car shows no signs of significant problems otherwise. So let's say it's a 9.5 after the car's misfire is diagnosed and corrected. When warm trans is fine, when very cold slight flare during 2-3 upshift only. But again, when warm, no flare at all.
Engine idle smooth, not too high. Pulls well even with misfire to highway speeds, drives very smoothly. Brakes excellent. No shimmies or shakes, no pulling, nothing weird. No noises. Suspension stays up indefinitely (at least two weeks but that's all I can verify so far), works properly, rides smoothly. All windows and sunroof work. HVAC system works, no servo issues, A/C is cold. No leaks of any significance, slight seepage around oil pan gasket. Trans is great other than cold flare noted above which I will correct.
Miscellaneous: This is the good stuff! Car is fully documented back to Day 1 with custom binder three inches thick. Original window sticker, title, every single receipt for every single repair, part, or service since new including all oil changes, tires, etc. An easy $40K+ in receipts when you include the cosmetic work in 2001. Spheres, HVAC servo, window regulators, etc etc etc. Even has brand-new-in-the-plastic-bags suspension blocks for shipping, supposedly the last new set that was available from MB, although that may or may not be true.
So a fabulous looking car, fully docuemented and then some, mechanically excellent once two issues are addressed which they will be so the car is 100%prior to selling.
Value? I see some that look nice for $10K, $17K, $20K. I know none of them are documented like this one. I doubt many are as nice cosmetically or mechanically, but hard to say since I have only seen mine. They all look nice on the web, but I've gone over this one from 2 inches away and it's as nice as I say it is, if not nicer.
NOTE: Due to the srong sunlight and my crappy camera, the interior pics make the seats look almost black and kind of bleached out. Trust me, they are rich blue and look perfect.
Thanks all for listening and helping!
Car is USA 1979 6.9. Three owners. Astral silver over blue. 99K original documented miles. Bosch Euro headlights. Newish tires.
Cosmetically I'd put the car at a 9 or 9.25 out of 10. Underwent significant cosmetic resto work in 2001, but only where needed so much of the car is original. No rust, TX car right now.
Exterior: Paint is excellent, straight body, good gloss, some door dings but no dents/scuffs. Chrome and glass excellent. Engine bay clean, trunk very clean and dry. Lots of new rubber weatherstripping and seals. From 10 feet, looks like a new car, from 3 feet the same, from 6 inches looks excellent with a few minor correctible blemishes like surface scratches and dings. Even doorjambs, inside of fuel filler door, etc are clean and neat. I've seen a lot of W126's that are much newer and still would be considered nice looking cars that were nowhere near as nice as this one.
Interior: Seating condition excellent, some work done to leather, padding, etc back in 2001. All seats firm, no horsehair smell, no dead springs or floppy cushions. Color is strong, even to rear parcel shelf. Headliner excellent, clean and not dropping. Dash has the beginnings of a few small cracks but hard to notice unless you are looking for them. Wood trim very strong, some minor stress cracks but not many and none of them are through to the wood itself. Door panels have slight pulling in center but it's easy fix and then they are excellent. Interior chrome, plastic, console, carpets are all excellent. Lots of shine to parts that should be shiny, correct texture to plastics, steering wheel not worn out, etc.
Mechanically I'd put it at an 8.5 out of 10 currently, but only because of slight misfire that has not been corrected yet, and trans modulator pressure needs to be adjusted. I am assuming it's plugs/caps/wires/lack of use and I will correct it, car shows no signs of significant problems otherwise. So let's say it's a 9.5 after the car's misfire is diagnosed and corrected. When warm trans is fine, when very cold slight flare during 2-3 upshift only. But again, when warm, no flare at all.
Engine idle smooth, not too high. Pulls well even with misfire to highway speeds, drives very smoothly. Brakes excellent. No shimmies or shakes, no pulling, nothing weird. No noises. Suspension stays up indefinitely (at least two weeks but that's all I can verify so far), works properly, rides smoothly. All windows and sunroof work. HVAC system works, no servo issues, A/C is cold. No leaks of any significance, slight seepage around oil pan gasket. Trans is great other than cold flare noted above which I will correct.
Miscellaneous: This is the good stuff! Car is fully documented back to Day 1 with custom binder three inches thick. Original window sticker, title, every single receipt for every single repair, part, or service since new including all oil changes, tires, etc. An easy $40K+ in receipts when you include the cosmetic work in 2001. Spheres, HVAC servo, window regulators, etc etc etc. Even has brand-new-in-the-plastic-bags suspension blocks for shipping, supposedly the last new set that was available from MB, although that may or may not be true.
So a fabulous looking car, fully docuemented and then some, mechanically excellent once two issues are addressed which they will be so the car is 100%prior to selling.
Value? I see some that look nice for $10K, $17K, $20K. I know none of them are documented like this one. I doubt many are as nice cosmetically or mechanically, but hard to say since I have only seen mine. They all look nice on the web, but I've gone over this one from 2 inches away and it's as nice as I say it is, if not nicer.
NOTE: Due to the srong sunlight and my crappy camera, the interior pics make the seats look almost black and kind of bleached out. Trust me, they are rich blue and look perfect.
Thanks all for listening and helping!