[deadtrout]

Euro 280ce in NorCal

Hi,
I have a Euro 280CE 1982 I'm looking to sell but I don't know how to value it. If anyone has an idea of what this car is worth, I'd love to hear it. Also, it's my last chance to post pics of this car I've loved to own before it goes on to someone else.

The Details:
It's a 1982 Euro 280CE which was imported from Germany although I don't know the year of import. My wife and I bought it a little over a year ago from a doctor in San Francisco for a bit over $4000. This car was my wife's daily driver until earlier this month. It was broken into midday while we were in SF and the Stereo was stolen. There was no damage to the exterior of the car, but they scraped up the wood pretty good , broke and gouged the center console near the hole where the stereo went. Other than this, the car drives well and has been great to own.

Aside from replacing the two front tires and doing routine maintenance (oil changes) we haven't had to do anything to the car. It's never failed the California emissions test. I don't know how to gauge the condition of the interior but I'd say it's "good", not "great". The car runs well, doesn't have any electrical problems or need any finesse when driving it. The interior is in ok shape but shows signs of it's 27 years. The upholstry on the seats is wearing thin, the odometer stopped working, the glove box sometimes pops open and the air conditioning doesn't work (I've never even tried to figure out why).

When we bought this car I had visions of working on it and keeping it forever. Sadly, it's just not possible to keep it. We have a three-year old kid who has to ride in a car seat in the back and it's too difficult to get her in and out of a two-door car three or four times a day. We had just started talking about getting a four-door MB when the break-in happened and my wife took that as an omen that the time was right. Also, we moved to a new place a while back and I don't have a garage where I can work on a car. The garage doesn't matter much though because shortly after buying it my wife reminded me that tinkering with her daily driving car probably wouldn't be a wise idea. Especially with the said three-year-old kid in tow.

My wife was going to list it for $3500 on Craigslist but I thought I'd post here first and see if that's a fair price.

Thanks,
-Terry

 

[FratBoy]

How many miles?

FB

 

[deadtrout]

Doh! (slaps forehead) Yeah, that would probably be impotant, huh?

The Odometer shows 130k but it broke this winter. I'd guess it's probably been 2000 miles since then but if I had to estimate on a title transfer I'd probably say 135k just to cover my butt.

 

[ducatipaso]

hows the rust? the city can be hard on cars.

 

[vipercrazy]

i had to turn my monitor on its side, but a California euro should fit in that range

 

[20swrt]

Pardon my ignorance - I thought Euro's had full glass square headlights.

 

[79Mercy]

it must have been federalized

 

[cheapold280ce]

Pardon my ignorance - I thought Euro's had full glass square headlights.

They did when they left the factory but when they came to the states many of them had to convert to DOT approved headlights. They also didn't have cats they were force to add those and sometimes they even had to add a control loop.

Amazing thiefs could break into car without damaging glass but could pull out a radio.

the console is not particular to the car and it's a $100 salvage yard/Ebay part. You got the easy AC or at least least expensive AC. I guess new owner wuld have to put $500 to get back to your $4,000. I say $3,500 is fair to ask.

 

[deadtrout]

Thanks for all the good info, everyone!

The guy who sold it to me mentioned it had to be "converted to US specs" but didn't mention what that meant. I have always assumed that meant an emissions modification. Out of curiosity, does anyone have a pic of an unmodified Euro 280ce?

Rust? This car has never been introduced to rust. I've never seen any rust on this car. It seems like every other older MB on the road around here has rust holes in the quarter panels but this car has somehow escaped. I guess being garaged and kept clean counts for something.

 

[vipercrazy]

besides the rims this is the most original pic i have in my album

 

[deadtrout]

The square headlights don't look bad but I prefer the round ones. That red color looks great.

Arrgh! All this talk about 280ce's is making it even harder to get rid of mine. I think I'm going to list it on SF Craigslist for $3k and take the first offer over $2500. I hate dealing with Craigslist and that should be a fair enough price to sell it fairly quickly.