For sale/trade '84 Mercedes 380 SE

October 22, 2004, 04:14:58 PM

I know that this car isn’t up most of you guy’s and gals alley, but hey you never know.

I bought this car less than a year ago after leaving a government job that provided me with a car. I needed a commuter and bought the car because I felt (and still do feel) that it was a great value for the money. The story is one of those that will sound far fetched, but I can back up almost every piece of the story with documentation.

   The car is a Silver 1984 380 SE which was initially purchased from the dealership in San Antonio, Texas by a rather wealthy family from the Houston area. The car had to be ordered from Germany because the wife wanted a non-standard color combination, and quite honestly she is one of those ladies who gets whatever she wants. The car is silver, and in ’84 the Silver 380 SE came with black leather interior. Black did not suit the lady, so she ordered it with grey leather.

   I was told that the car has been in Houston ever since, and has really never even been on a long road trip. I was also told that for the last 10 years or so it’s only job was to take her to and from the country club, every day. I was provided with all of the documentation for the maintenance performed on the car, as well as all of the documentation from the original purchase including the original window sticker.

The car has never been wrecked and is in great condition. The only flaws I can think of are very minor. The original hubcaps are looking a little dated. There a couple of spots on the bumper that look like she may have rubbed up against another car or something. Rubbing compound or something similar might take most of it off, and a little touch up paint would make the bumper look good as new. I believe there is one small ding on the driver side fender approximately the size of a marble. Lastly there is one spot on the paint that looks like someone may have dribbled oil or something on the paint during service, it may buff out.

I can only think of a few minor mechanical issues. The cruise control doesn’t work correctly. I haven’t had time to see if this is an electrical system or if it runs on a vacuum, but I do know that the rest of the vacuum system is fine (door locks etc.). The car has recently begun to idle fairly high, I’m not sure if it is a timing issue, or if the fuel injection system needs adjusting, but I intend to have it adjusted before I sell the car. I recently had the valve cover gaskets replaced and have occasionally been smelling oil. I was told that the valve covers would need to be re-torqued after having been on for a while so I’m pretty sure that is what the problem is. The gaskets are less than 6 months old. Finally the car needs tires to pass Texas inspection, which I also planned to get done this weekend.

   Since I am actually returning to the same government job I previously held I no longer need the car. It is a great car, but I have 3 kiddos and quite honestly can’t afford to keep a nice car in the garage to only be driven when I feel the urge, especially when I am spending all my free time and cash on the bird. The car is in great shape, as I think you will see by the pictures I’ll post this weekend. I believe I bought it with about 106,000 miles and I think it has about 112,000 on it now but I will verify that. The car has never given me any trouble and I have taken it on trips as far as to northeastern Louisiana. It is bone stock.

What I really haven’t told you is why I think I got such a good deal on the car. Since I bought the car I have only had the valve cover gaskets replaced as well as the brake pads and brake pad sensors. When I bought the car the original owners had just had the annual service done. They did a full tune up, new catalytic converter, etc. to the tune of $4200. That’s correct – right before I got the car it had just had $4200 dollars worth of preventative maintenance done to it. The timing chain may also have been changed, I’m not sure, but I will check the records tonight. I can also provide you the number of the shop that performed all of the maintenance.

I had planned to list the car on eBay as soon as I got the items I listed taken care of, but if any one here is at all interested let’s talk. Please realize I am being VERY picky about the issues with the car. Most of them are probably not even noticeable, but I want to err on the side of saying too much. If you are interested in the car I would sell it outright for $4300. If you would rather get the steal of a lifetime and take care of these small issues yourself I would sell it as is for $4000. I believe it is worth much more, but I also need the garage space. What I would really like to do is a cash/trade deal for a nice 87-88 TC or sport.

   If no one is interested that’s cool, but if the wife has been hassling you to get her a nice car and you have some trade bait around maybe we can work a deal.

I’ll post pics this weekend.