[Old Otto]

im contemplating a purchase: theres a 95 s320 w/104750 miles on it for sale for $$12k. its at a dealership, black w/grey leather and im waiting to talk to him b4 i trek the hour and a half to check it out.

anything i should be concerned with this car in particular?

im gonna run the vin and see if the guy will send me a couple of photos.

 

[bdonkersgoed]

I'm not sure if the wiring harness is an issue or not with the '95's . . . if so, you would want to check that out. Make sure that the vaccuum assist works on all doors, trunk, and for the power locks. Check to see if the radio is working (problems with the amplifier in these cars). Check to see that the fans/blowers and A/C work.

I have had my '93 for 1.5 years without any major problems. The only problems was a blown blower regulator ($200USD) and an amplifier gone bad (in the process of being fixed). mind you, my car had only 25,000 miles when I got her. The car you are looking at has a bit higher mileage, so you might experience more problems . . .

Good luck!
Bryan

 

[bc2885]

On the 140 body, you should be very conscious of the head gasket which blows on that body with the slightly underpowered 3.2 6 cyl. My dad has that year and a few others i know and the heads are a problem. Count on a $1000 to 1800 bill for that one.
You should consider it only if it has extensive records, otherwise buy one with more miles on it thats had the majors done on it. And yes, wire harnesses will go bad on the 95's as well....A $800+ repair. These were some of there best cars though!

 

[jcmbz]

some said buy a 97 or later....
have OBDII, plus upgraded wire...
but still has head/gasket and eva problem

 

[ychachad]

I'd pass. For $13-14k you can get an S420 with similar mileage. The V8 is guaranteed to be a LWB and is more reliable than the S320 (maybe SWB).

Old Otto - 4/17/2005 5:27 PM

im contemplating a purchase: theres a 95 s320 w/104750 miles on it for sale for $$12k. its at a dealership, black w/grey leather and im waiting to talk to him b4 i trek the hour and a half to check it out.

anything i should be concerned with this car in particular?

im gonna run the vin and see if the guy will send me a couple of photos.

 

[bdonkersgoed]

What is wrong with teh S320? I've never heard of any reliability problems specific to the S320.

The S320 is more economical on gas, and is supposed to be very comparible in power to the S420 due to gearing rations or something. . .

Regards,
Bryan

 

[jcmbz]

The heads, eva and the costly repair and some said it is garanteer to fail sooner or later... it happens on both W124s and W140s

also w140 has so many fancy options that may bring you problems (maybe not big, but i do feel bad when i found out one of the options was going south). And W140 means not only S500/420 but also S-classes....

These cars are big! be prepare for the ADS (if equipped), the suspension, joint and brakes

 

[S500L]

Up to model year 1995 and some 1996 examples ALL S320 do suffer from the wiring harness issue. If it was replaced by the fixed updated part, then it should be O.K.

ALL W140s up to their last day of production suffer from A/C evaporator failures (very expensive to fix $$$) and also from door close assist pump failure (not very cheap to fix either).