BAT for the proletariat! 1992 400E, Pearl Black / Gray

[a777fan]

Finally! [emoji3]

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1992-mercedes-benz-400e-3/

(No affiliation)

VIN = WDBEA34EXNB735198

No Reserve: 1992 Mercedes-Benz 400E

This 1992 Mercedes-Benz 400E shows 155k miles and is powered by a 4.2-liter V8 paired with a four-speed automatic transmission. It has been with the seller for the past 18 months, during which time it has served as his daily driver over a 40-mile commute. Recent maintenance included an ignition tune-up and oil change. Within the past 10k miles and three years, service work included rebuilding the transmission, replacing the upper wiring harness, air conditioning evaporator, engine and transmission moiunts, and more as outlined below. The car is now being offered at no reserve with three years of service records, a clean Carfax, and a clear Oregon title in the seller’s name.

This W124 retains a stock appearance, with lighter-colored body cladding and un-tinted glass. The factory 15” alloys show some minor curb rash. The seller indicates that some minor scratches and assorted blemishes are present in the paint. Headlamps have been converted to European specification with color-matched headlamp wiper delete panels. A chip is present in the Sigla windshield, which has been professionally filled. Close-ups have been provided in the gallery below.

The light grey leather interior features dual airbags, power seats, and a sunroof. The original radio was recently reconditioned by Becker and an auxilary input jack was added that time. A few electrical issues inside are present, including nonfunctional front seat heaters, power headrests, left-rear window regulator, as well as a partially-inoperable changer. 155k miles are shown on the odometer, approximately 8k of which have been added by the seller.

The 4.2-liter M119 V8 was factory rated at 275 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque and comes paired with a four-speed automatic transmission. A slight thud from the rear is present on hard acceleration, which the seller believes to be the result of worn bushings.

Service records dating back three years are included with the sale, and within the past two years and 10k miles the following work has reportedly been performed:

• Transmission rebuilt by Sun Valley Transmissions
• New shocks and struts
• Replacement driveshaft flex discs
• New exhaust hangers
• New engine mounts
• Replacement power steering hoses
• New front wheel bearings
• New front brake rotors
• New brake flex lines
• New serpentine belt and tensioner
• Replacement upper wiring harness
• New air conditioning evaporator

​

 

[a777fan]

Eeps. Looks like some rear end accident damage has slowed the bidding and comments considerably!


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[gsxr]

Eeps. Looks like some rear end accident damage has slowed the bidding and comments considerably!

I noticed that. But... seriously... it's a clean 400E, and beyond the point of being a serious collectible (miles too high, etc). I don't understand why everyone is wringing their hands over a rear-bumper-bender. They're acting like it's an 036. If I were in the market, I would not care one ioata about the rear wrinkle - except hoping the peanut gallery would fuss enough to keep the bids low, lol! I feel kinda bad for the seller who most likely had absolutely no idea, and is probably wishing he hadn't been so diligent with his trunk photos.

The car looks like a very nice daily driver, has ASR & heated seats, and would be a darn good deal at the current price - IMO anyway.

 

[mikeym]

I saw this yesterday, the same options as my car except it is missing rear sunscreen.

 

[lowman]

Poor seller,,and that site looks like a total "waste" of time if selling a car.They should have left out having a friggin "comments" section.I think the car looks like a very nice example

 

[500AMM]

Poor seller,,and that site looks like a total "waste" of time if selling a car.They should have left out having a friggin "comments" section.I think the car looks like a very nice example

+1 Stefan
What's the point having a commentary on a sales ad?? I guess we see a parallel going on FB where the armchair experts ruin the sales.

 

[LWB250]

I see the comment section on BAT as a double edged sword. Having sold on BAT a couple of times, I believe the comment section helped my sales to command a higher price and/or get the bidders worked up to be more aggressive about their bids. I also think many of the comments bring up information or observations about the car that might not be apparent to the uninformed or less knowledgable observers/potential buyers.

When there are "negative" comments it seems like the defenders swoop in and negate them many times, or they get flagged and dropped. For example, I have made less than complimentary comments about Type II ACC (servo) systems as well as retaining the original Becker radios over later model aftermarket radios in some older cars, and been summarily thrashed over it. Sort of a "If you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all" attitude.

A couple of weeks ago there was a W114 up for auction and people were trashing the Zenith carbs, talking about how the first thing they would recommend the new owner do is yank the Zeniths and put in Webers. When I pointed out that the Zeniths, when properly set up and maintained, work perfectly and are trouble-free, I got beat down and my comments were eventually flagged off the section. Go figure.

Dan

 

[500AMM]

I say +1 on your statement as well, Dan.
The commentary is beneficial especially for the uninformed buyers, as well as for uninformed sellers who want to be honest. But it can quickly turn the other way when someone find something they just don't like, and the audience get hooked on and follow. So IMO it's like a lottery & luck/unluck for a honest seller.

 

[ace10]

Sellers who are forthright and have a decent car on offer are rewarded with higher-than-typical selling prices. IMO

Scammers get smoked out pretty quickly.

Both of those things are good for the market.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a seller having to answer for damage on their car after it has been discovered by the commenters on BaT. Whether the seller was not aware of it, or was attempting to conceal it... it's very good that bidders are made aware. Yes, sometimes the commenters dwell on really, REALLY stupid things, but the key is to read, absorb and keep the big picture in mind.

The USA is so large, that having a forum which can put virtual eyeballs on a car, in lieu of a physical inspection has tremendous value, at least to me.

I'm not fan boi of BaT. They look the other way on some really scammy stuff, and also miss very obvious things when they are considering cars for auction. Usually documentation-related. Skipped Titles. Importation discrepancies. Etc.

This past week, there was a disgusting situation which BaT tried to gloss over. Their response was pathetic and I do hope they lost some business because of it.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1994-ford-taurus-sho-3/
It's a little hard to follow, but the seller listed the car through a bogus shell account and then engaged in overt shill bidding. BaT played right along. They got their fee.

 

[gsxr]

This past week, there was a disgusting situation which BaT tried to gloss over. Their response was pathetic and I do hope they lost some business because of it.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1994-ford-taurus-sho-3/
It's a little hard to follow, but the seller listed the car through a bogus shell account and then engaged in overt shill bidding. BaT played right along. They got their fee.

OUCH!!!

 

[LWB250]

In both of the sales I made on BAT I had issues with their copy editors. I provided very detailed copy, written in advance, to highlight the cars' features and condition. They pretty much ignored a great deal of it and the things they added were superfluous or unneccesary. On one sale I had sent them some initial photos with the application to list that were pretty much "quick and dirty" photos. I then provided many very detailed photos for the listing. It took them three days to understand that the initial photos were not to be used in the listing, which we had already discussed at the outset. I had to go through and tag each one of the undesirable photos from the list and request that they remove them before we went to press.

While it's a great venue for getting the most out of your sale, the rationale they use to determine whether or not to list something is a real mystery to me. I have submitted other cars for sale that they didn't accept, and could never get a response from them as to what they didn't like or found undesirable about them.

Dan

 

[a777fan]

I also have mixed feelings about BAT and I don’t disagree with anything everyone has already said here. But since I’m sitting in an airport terminal waiting for a flight I’ll throw in my own rant.

BAT is entertaining for sure... although I’m always surprised by the little details that sneak by the listing department editors. Incorrect wheel sizes, wrong horsepower figures etc. Things that I (as a novice enthusiast that is not ‘in’ the industry) notice. Surely people who work IN industry would be able to catch this stuff. Behavior like this re-enforces the appearance of a purely cash driven business. SHO link non-withstanding.

(Enthusiast side note: the mk 1 SHO still has one of the best looking engines out there... its too bad it didn’t come in a more appealing wrapper)


Then the comments section. The internet really makes men out of mice. The combination of confidence and absolute idiocy is really quite breathtaking at times. I mean, granted, thats what makes it popcorn worthy, but there are some real a** hats out there that apparently have nothing better to do than ensure that the rest of the community is ‘enlightened’ by their vast knowledge and expertise, which always seems to be either partially or completely wrong. In my opinion its the guys that show up with the ‘nice guy’ attitudes and demeanors that dont get all bent out of shape that really add to the value of the site. Its a site dedicated to hobby enthusiasts! I think we’d all be better served by taking it down a notch at times.

After spending a fair amount of time on the internet i think we all get our BS meters calibrated fairly well, and its relatively easy to tell when someone is attempting to be up front and honest with descriptions or information. This seller seems to be doing all the right things in my book. I think Dave is right. I doubt he ever even knew about the damage prior to listing, and is now doing his best to support any queries he might get on the subject.

So., with that out of the way... its at $3400. What’s everyones take on a fair price for this guy? (Dave, your ‘bun warmers’ appear to be inop)

Oh- PS. BAT and other enthusiast sites like it makes me very thankful for this ‘family’ we have here on 500eboard. I haven’t met many of you in real life, but I feel like I know that I can trust all of you for an honest opinion/help, and that if we ever did run into each other we’d have a great time over a couple beers. Ok, smaltz over.


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[Klink]

Looks like a nice well-maintained 400E with ASR and bun warmers. Obviously, photos can be deceiving, and they are not extensive, and all the coverings are still in the way, but I don’t see anything inside the top of that trunk well that gives me the slightest concern. The trunk lid fit is probably simply adjustment related. I’ve seen lots of them like that, and had to adjust many of them into submission over the years. Maybe they even accidentally snapped the photo with the trunk lid not latched. Looks like the Muppets may be mucking this one up...

 

[stevenstevensteven]

Looks like a nice DD to me. I must be blind, as I can't see evidence of a fender bender.

 

[TerryA]

I’m w/ Klink on this one. It looks like a nicely well maintained driver to me. It’s obviously had some sort of rear ender in it’s past but appears fixed cosmetically at least to me. It’s not a collector car nor should it be a garage queen. It’s just a driver for someone.

Come on for $3.5K to what $4.5K just buy it and enjoy it. There will be deferred maintenance to consider also.

Just my $0.02

 

[ace10]

Sold for $3800 (plus 5% vig)

 

[gerryvz]

Sold for $3800 (plus 5% vig)

I think ... nicely bought for a daily driver / cosmetically excellent 'track rat'.

 

[LWB250]

Sold for $3800 (plus 5% vig)

I think that's pretty reasonable for the car as represented. Amazing when something on BAT doesn't get run up to a stupid price.

Dan

 

[Harv]

I think the seller would be quite disappointed with that figure. $3,800 seems like a real bargain.

 

[gerryvz]

Generally speaking, that’s the market for .034 and 6-cylinder models.

The 400E is probably the biggest bargain in young-timer Benzes today.