FOR SALE FS: 1993 500E, 040 Black/Black, 73kmi, Atlanta, GA

[gsxr]

040 Black, no photos, no price, no affiliation:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=304529053

VIN: WDBEA36E6PB982931 (very late model-year 1993 build)

Offered by FIAT of South Atlanta, McDonough, GA 30253. No info on their website yet.


UPDATE 1:
Back on AutoTrader for $15,499 as of Sept-2011:
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=306261145

UPDATE 2: THREAD CLOSED - PLEASE SEE NEW THREAD AT LINK BELOW FOR CURRENT STATUS:
For sale again at $21,900 as of April 2013:
http://www.500eboard.com/forums/sho...993-500E-Black-Black-81kmi-22k-(Cleveland-OH)

 

[gerryvz]

No prior record of this car.

Indeed a VERY late 1993 build -- May 1993 to be exact.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[VS70]

Hey all - I bought the car.

I purchased a Lotus Elise about two weeks ago and am hardly in the financial position to get this, too, but the price + mileage combination was unbeatable. After seeing a clean Carfax and AutoCheck I went down to the dealer just to have a look at the car and was blown away by the fact that everything completely worked, the car drove perfectly, and everything sounded and felt good. I offered $10,600 and they took it without batting an eyelash. Unbelievably as I was test driving I found the original maintenance book with stamps going back to late 1993 and even a stamp for the pre-delivery inspection from September 1993.

To me, the only thing the car needs is tires (I'll have a mechanic look over oil and brake pads) but aside from that it'll be a nice daily driver and garagemate to the Elise, which is my new weekend toy. As I was signing the papers the sales manager told me they received 8 calls about the car today, each of which came from a different part of the country.

To say I'm excited is an understatement! I will be selling my clean 67,000-mile W210 E55 AMG if anyone wants one - it's been my daily up until this point but the 500E is (to me) much cooler!!!

Doug

 

[sheward]

Way to go! Sounds like an exceptional buy. Please post some pics and more information when you get the chance.
I'm glad the car went to another enthusiast, and local as well.

btw... did we meet at Road Atlanta at the Mitty? I was parked next to your e55 with my silver 500e.

drew

 

[TheDrivenMan]

Hello Doug,

This is awkward, but I actually bought that 500E yesterday morning. They have my money. I spoke to them over the weekend and bought it first thing Monday morning. It did take them 1/2 the day to give me the routing number.

Would you please call me?

Joe Bryant, the General Manager at the dealership, knows all about this. His attitude towards me is "tough crap". He knows it was after 2:00PM when he gave me the routing number and he knew the money was on the way, but he is hiding behind that to make a few more bucks. I paid $8978.

Would you be interested in making a little money now to back away and I will give you a written right of first refusal to buy the car from me for whatever I have in it when I decide to sell it some time in the future. This means you could own the car later when your finances are better and for less money than you are paying now.

thank you,

Robert Hall
931-510-0087

 

[illinilee]

2 Owners, one car.

That more than a little awkward?!?

 

[bing]

Oh dear! I hope you guys can agree on something.

Total wanker (as we say in england) of a dealer!!

 

[bendover]

Oh my good! Good luck to you two! And may the dealer burn in hell.....!

 

[TheDrivenMan]

Hello Doug,

Since I have not heard from you on the 500E I'll assume that is a lost cause. Please do let me know when you are ready to sell it.

On another note I am still looking for a 4 door hot rod, so tell me about the E55 if you are selling it. I had one a few years ago and it was awesome. Contact me directly since I won't be spending time on the 500E owner's forum unitl I get another 500E.

Thanks

Robert 93I 5IO OO87
I'm in TN

 

[ross]

Oh this is a first on a forum........the dealer is a douche for doing that but its prob not the first time.

 

[VS70]

All,

What an interesting turn of events...

After purchasing the car and snapping some nice pictures the following evening with a photographer friend, I dropped the car at my favorite local mechanic and left town on business. I only picked the car up yesterday (several thousand dollars later, though my mechanic swears it's now perfect!) and returned here today to see the thread.

Robert in Tennessee - I am so sorry for what happened! While the dealer informed me there was interest, he obviously never told me someone had made a deal to buy it. Of course he didn't, since I paid more and he wanted to make a little extra on it! By now, of course, the check has long cleared, I've had the car for a while, and I've put some money into it, so unwinding any deal is a lost cause. Actually, now I'm a bit nervous about getting the title - I probably shouldn't have done any work until after I had it, though I've never had a problem like this before.

The E55 is for sale here, though I've got the price a bit high to see about any initial interest. Frankly, though, I just want to move it because I only have parking for 2 cars, and I go to bed a bit worried every night about whichever car I choose to leave on the street (lately it's been the 500E! ). I have some neat pictures with my Lotus, the E55 and the 500E but I feel a little guilty about posting them now considering the situation... I don't mean to brag, and I definitely did not intend to buy this car out from under anyone.

Hope all is well with everyone. My apologies, again, to Robert...

 

[VS70]

Way to go! Sounds like an exceptional buy. Please post some pics and more information when you get the chance.
I'm glad the car went to another enthusiast, and local as well.

btw... did we meet at Road Atlanta at the Mitty? I was parked next to your e55 with my silver 500e.

drew

Drew - nope, not mine! I only picked up mine in May. Same color though - and your 500E looks nice!!

 

[gerryvz]

Too bad what happened. Dealer sounds like a real slimeball. That said, it's clear there was no malicious intent, just a greedy dealer.

I hope Robert got his funds back and can apply them toward one of the wonderful cars that are for sale out there. The good thing is that it continues to be a buyer's market for the E500E, and there are many for sale at all levels of condition and quality. Dr. No's car is still for sale here in Houston, last time I corresponded with him. It's a pristine 50K-ish DB199 over gray leather car.

Hopefully no feelings hurt and sensitivities will go away quickly for this situation.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[VS70]

Some photos - I couldn't resist! Started raining tonight so I took the 500E out... it's such an amazing car! So competent, even all these years later, and after a full weekend spent driving the Elise it's so much fun to sit in something so comfortable and stealth. These cars are direct opposites, but perfect complements.

 

[VS70]

Believe it or not, I've already decided to sell this car.

After $2,700 in work to get the car in 'perfect' shape - then another $700 to fix the A/C, which worked only intermittently - the car is now almost perfect. Unfortunately I've decided my daily driver should be something a bit more economical, more dependable, and not as "special." So I'm keeping my E55, which I had planned to sell, and will be selling this instead. It's a sad decision but unfortunately the right one for me now.

 

[choe420]

pm sent, thanks,
Michel

 

[DerFuror]

Believe it or not, I've already decided to sell this car.

Flip. Gee, that was fast. TheDrivenMan must really be luvin' you now.

 

[JordiC]

Flip. Gee, that was fast. TheDrivenMan must really be luvin' you now.

LOL yeah really, especially considering he thought he had bought it for under $9k. Maybe the car lost its amazingness in less than 2 weeks of ownership. IMO that W210 will just continue to depreciate and it certainly won't be any cheaper to maintain than the 500E as the miles add up.

 

[gerryvz]

My observation has always been that cars lose the largest amounts of amazingness the fastest, after wallets are thoroughly emptied.

The good thing is that this owner did invest some money to improve the car significantly. I have always said that ALL E500Es carry at least $5K (and generally $10K+) in deferred maintenance to get them into proper running order. This owner spent $3,500 and I'll bet there's probably more work to be done.

That said, for $15.5K, that's pretty good money in today's market so hopefully this car is not wanting much. Often times cars priced at this level and above do sit for some time before being sold. Perhaps the selling dealer will take it back.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[VS70]

All,

Trust me, it's not an easy decision to sell the car. It is a beautiful vehicle and the privilege of driving it for a month is something I'm not taking for granted. The financial portion of the car's running cost is actually of less concern than its overall dependability. Over the last two weeks I've taken a long, hard look at what I want in a daily driver and simply decided if my "weekend toy" is going to be British, having a daily driver that is also liable to spend 2 or 3 days in the shop per month simply doesn't make sense. While I still prefer the 500E's abilities to those of my W210 - and I truly believe it's every bit as fast in a straight line - it makes more sense to let the 500E go than the E55.

 

[gsxr]

... having a daily driver that is also liable to spend 2 or 3 days in the shop per month simply doesn't make sense.

I'm not sure what makes you think the 500E would spend 2-3 days in the shop per month? Maybe per YEAR.... not per month!

 

[gerryvz]

I have to agree with Dave. It must be a hellishly unreliable example of the breed to spend 2-3 days a month in the shop. Having owned my own E500 for exactly 8 years, the ONLY time my car has spent in the shop has been for major maintenance (B (15K) and C (30K) services), and when I had my nitrous-oxide system installed back in 2004, which was a very involved process that took the better part of a week.

In fact, since moving here to Houston exactly three years ago this week, my car has spent exactly one day in the shop, in January 2009 when my EZL died and we had to diagnose it. It came in in the afternoon, it was diagnosed, my spare EZL was Fed-Ex'd that night, and it was installed the next morning and I was on my way.

Having put 46,000 miles on my E500 in the last 8 years, I have to say that it actually has been the most reliable "daily driven" MB that I have owned. And my stable has included: 300TE wagon (S124), E320 wagon (S124), another E320 wagon (S124), 380SEL (W126), 280SE (W108), 450SEL 6.9 (W116), 300SEL 6.3 (W109), 560SEC (C126), 560SL (R107) and E500 (W124).

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[szvook]

+2 with Dave and Gerry. I have owned my 500E for over 6 years and only took my car to the shop one time for something that was actually wrong - and that turned out to be only gunk on cables, so nothing has ever broken. I have taken the liberty to change a few old wear-and-tear rubber bushing in the suspension, but those would have to be replaced later on anyway. This is the most reliable car I have ever owned (which includes my old 300E) and my 500E is my daily driver in all types weather, and even sees track days in hot summer weather...nothing.

 

[bing]

Liable to spend 2 or 3 days in the shop??

If it's about reliability and not leaving you stranded, I would agree with Dave/Gerry/Steve and I'm sure most owners here would. However, like most old things in life, our cars require regular attention as bits fail or break as they age. I think it's important that you prioritize work that needs doing and not to be obsessive. Otherwise if you're not careful it can easily clean you out!
And as Gerry mentioned, you can lose the amazingness of the car.

I've had niggles here and there but none that left me stranded, especially the amount of long trips I've done. More recently on a 4000km road trip which included up and down the Alps and high speeds on the Autobahns - the Beast did not miss a beat and no fluids consumed.

Bing

 

[gsxr]

Back on AutoTrader now for $15,499:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=306261145

Immaculate 1993 500E! Only 73k miles. $3,400 in recent receipts to get car mechanically PERFECT. Service records from new, no accidents (Clean Carfax & Autocheck) and everything works exactly as it should. I purchased this car just a month ago to use as a daily driver and immediately turned it over to my mechanic for a complete inspection. He performed than $2,700 in work including new rear brakes (pads & discs), a new water pump pulley & drive belt, new transmission shifter bushings, a new power steering pump and a new tie rod assembly. Soon after I replaced the chirping and sometimes unreliable air-conditioner blower motor for $700. The car is now mechanically perfect except for older tires and wearing rear shocks, which (per my mechanic) still have considerable life and aren't worth replacing for a while. My plan was to drive the car daily but I've decided against it, choosing something more economical - and less "special" - instead. In addition to power windows, power locks, power mirrors, power seats with memory, heated front seats, a power rear sunshade, an AM/FM/cassette player (with working power antenna!), power sunroof, fog lights, alloy wheels and leather upholstery, the car also features nearly ALL service records FROM NEW including the original pre-delivery inspection at RBM Mercedes in Atlanta in late 1993 and even the original $81,700 window sticker. This is a beautiful car in unusually nice condition and has a clean Carfax and Autocheck, a sharp body and interior and no accident history of any kind.​

UPDATE: This car is for sale again as of April 2013, details are in this thread.

THREAD CLOSED: Please see link above for current status... ^^^^

 

[gerryvz]

Just for cross-reference, here's an article on Jalopnik that refers to this saga. It's apparent that the buyer took a little bit of .... uhhh .... editorial license in recounting the story in his Jalopnik piece. I do fail to see how folks here "turned on him" -- seems overall that folks (including myself) were angrier about the dealer's tactics than the buyer.

http://jalopnik.com/here-s-how-i-once-bought-a-rare-mercedes-for-half-its-v-1672812142

This goes into this particular car's history file.....