i'm going to look at a 420sel later today (though i may postpone until tomorrow) and the owner told me that the only things wrong with the car are 1) broken sunroof cable and 2) rough idle that his mechanic said was due to a bad/dirty air intake valve.
my questions: can the air intake valve give you a rough idle by itself? how much does it cost to fix? what about the sunroof cable -- is this a pricey job? otherwise, the car seems to be in great shape, and the price is (almost) right....
Air intake valve? Is that near the glove box filter? Maybe it is a faulty installer valv...
Air intake valve? Is that near the glove box filter? Maybe it is a faulty installer valve caused by a worn unobtanium piece in the jacuzzi injection system?
O.K. all jokes aside. Has the mechanic looked at the intake valve? I would imagine if you have a valve that has crashed causing it to go bad it would create a whole bunch of trouble. Your rough idle is probably a vacuum leak or the CIS needs an adjustment.
If its just the sunroof cable it shouldn't be too expensive. Unfortunately, when the sun roof becomes stiff with age or lack of use, quite often the cable damages the tube it runs through which is alot more expensive to fix.(both parts and labour)[xx(]
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I decided to pass on the 420. The owner was asking $3600 (negotiable) for an '87 with 12...
I decided to pass on the 420. The owner was asking $3600 (negotiable) for an '87 with 122k miles; timing chain, shocks, brakes recently serviced (service records available) and interior in pretty good shape with upgraded stereo (casette only though). Car was fine, except for dampness in trunk, broken sunroof, and a slightly dented front grille. The owner also mentioned a rough idle, but it's either an intermittent problem or he's way too sensitive, because the car ran fine.
I was really on the fence about it -- it seems like a good deal, but I don't really need another w126 (I'm still looking for a w123, though). My mom was going to use it since her current car is a '90 Camry with 258k miles on it, but she didn't really fall in love with it and was concerned about future repair costs.
If anyone in the NYC area wants to look at the car, though, I recommend it (and no, I'm not the owner's friend/brother/cousin, he just seemed like a nice guy). Here's the car's pic; you can find details on AutoTrader.
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