W114/W115 chassis Mercedes Benz?

I've read enough reports to know these are nice & reliable vintage cars, but what's their value like, and what's the future look like for them?

There's a local old guy(flake, rumored drug dealer) who's had a nice mid-70's Benz sedan parked outside his mobile home for 5+years. I first talked to him about it not long after it arrived, he told me it ran but had fuel-system issues. I'm familiar enough with Bosch systems from VWs to know some of their pitfalls & who the specialists in the area are, so we chatted briefly then I asked if he'd sell it. He said "Sure, I'd let it go for 15." So I asked "Hundred?"..."No, thousand." Um, yeah ok. See ya!

I asked again about it a year or so later. By that point he said he'd got the fuel injection fixed, but the transmission was out. I inquired again about price, but he was dead set on $15k still.

Fast forward to yesterday when I drove past his place & he was working outside. I asked again about the car and received the same story about how he had more than $15k wrapped up in it, but this time he commented "...but I know it's not worth that much." BINGO - those are the words I wanted to hear!

Now, it'll probably still take a bit of work to get him to accept a reasonable offer, but I'd like to know what these are worth, what it might cost to repair, and what the future looks like for their values? Even after sitting outside all this time, I've not seen a cleaner/nicer example in person anywhere.

Maybe this'll help? http://www.benzworld.org/forums/vintage-mercedes-benz/1404244-w114-w115-whay-they-so-cheap.html#/forumsite/20548/topics/1404244

http://www.mbca.org/forums/mercedes-benz-models-chassis/sedans-coupes-w114-w115

I personally would only pay $1K max if it hasn't run in 5 years. A car that has sat can require a lot of time and money getting it running again.

$15,000? That is way too much from what you describe. You could get a immaculate w114 or w115 for less than that here in California.

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/ctd/4989909308.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/4999513762.html

$15,000 would fetch a really nice w108 or r107 around here. I'm starting to think I should be buying up these cheap rustfree Benz and sending them east.

They seem to not really be going anywhere value wise. It seems a good runner 6 cylinder is still max 10K and a really good 4.5 is 20K

Here is what looks like a nice running restoration project for inexpensive.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-Benz-200-Series-280SE-4-5-/111656150488?forcerrptr=true&hash=item19ff39a5d8&item=111656150488

Yeah, no one, nowhere, is paying $15k for that car. He's finally admitting that. I wasn't sure what a reasonable price would be, my initial thought was $1500, but I like $1k even better.

bmw88rider wrote: They seem to not really be going anywhere value wise. It seems a good runner 6 cylinder is still max 10K and a really good 4.5 is 20K Here is what looks like a nice running restoration project for inexpensive. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-Benz-200-Series-280SE-4-5-/111656150488?forcerrptr=true&hash=item19ff39a5d8&item=111656150488

That's a 108. The 114 and 115 didnt come with the m117 v8.

Old Benz prices are interesting, the jump from a $1500 parts car to a rough-ok grade driver is a pittance all things considered, then it's a huge jump (like double) for something really nice, then a huger jump for something museum grade. This is partially due to how expensive the parts are, though they don't fail often properly looked after.

So if you're just looking for something to play with, keep looking, buy a complete, turn key car with a few small issues, probably for less than $5k. You'll have the same amount into anything rougher once it's in the same shape.

Ask him Ifor the trailer comes withit for $15k

bgkast wrote: Ask him Ifor the trailer comes withit for $15k

His trailer, the 2-car garage, the 1/2 of a house on the lot next door(the other 1/2 burnt down), the shed, and all the crap he has hoarded still wouldn't be worth $15k!

Here's quick pic of the car in question.

Parked, on DIRT? For years? Did you look underneath it?

In reply to Kenny_McCormic:

No, and it's possible there's nothing left underneath, but usually around here you'll see rust bubbles in the rockers & quarters, but the topside is clean. This is a side-street that doesn't get salt either, so that's a plus.

I love this body style, but the only way I would buy one would be from some old Dr guy who kept it inside its entire life and has all the records. And a 240D or 300D.

My college advisor went to Germany one year, bought one at the factory, drove it all over Europe that summer and shipped it back as a used car.

These cars have really thick undercoating IIRC, you've gotta get under there and thump on things with a screwdriver handle.

I would make sure you really want it before putting much money into one of those. All but the best of them are worth nearly nothing, and the parts are very expensive, so having $25k in a $1200 car wouldn't be too hard to do.

In reply to petegossett:

Wow, that does look like a nice one.

In reply to Woody:

From a cursory walk around, it certainly does appear like it - especially for the middle of the rust-belt. I won't put a bit of faith into anything the owner says about the car, but until/unless he comes down to a reasonable negotiating price there's no point in going further.

A really nice one from Florida.

http://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/cto/5010248729.html

In reply to yupididit:

Wow, and a coupe too. Love the last shot of it dropped on those AMG wheels.