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Outside of some exceptionally rare or select AMGs, I don’t really feature a lot of new Mercedes-Benz cars. One big reason is that while this stuff is cool and all, they aren’t all that interesting to me. Another big reason being is that they are all quite common and you can just head down to your local dealer and dodge sales representatives until they figure out you can’t afford anything. After they realize that, their brain tuns to them saying ”Have you ever considered leasing a car?” while you scurry away. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with these newer cars, but for me, I enjoy my aged vehicles.
Today, I happen to come across a newer, non-AMG, C-Class that peaked my interest because of two things. First being it offers surprisingly great performance numbers and second, it’s amazing depreciation for being only a few years old. This 2015 C400 up for sale in Connecticut is probably the best bargin W205 on the market right now, if not the best bang for the buck newer Mercedes. Let me explain why.
Last week I checked out a cherry 1985 Mercedes-Benz 300CD that was had a few small issues, but I felt was worth the money. Sadly, it looks like the seller cut the auction short so we didn’t find out what the final selling price was. Today, I ran across another 300CD, but this one is a few years older and a little different. This 1979 up for sale in California uses the non-turbo OM617, which is a fine enough engine in itself, doesn’t have any rust and by some kind of miracle, has a functioning air condition. It also has a nice touch with the European headlights and the best part? It has quite the attractive price tag.
There is something to be said about understated cars. Look at the current offerings around the automotive world and it seems like every single car has to be edgy and aggressive just to move the needle a little. Hell, look at the new Toyota Camry. This was a car that was the almost the literal definition of conservative and blending in, but now it has so many hard edges and design quirks that you’d think the designers at Toyota have gone crazy. It isn’t just the Camry, it is almost every other new car out there as well. A new Honda Accord? Random lines and curves going everywhere. Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t anything really incorrect or bad about these cars, they are actually quite good cars, but subdued they are not. Sign of the times, I suppose.
That brings me to today’s car: the Mercedes-Benz W140 and this specific 400SEL up for sale in Canada. I’ve looked at more W140s that I can remember right now but this one has me looking at it a little differently for some reason. Maybe it is the Smoke Silver Metallic paint with the contrasting lower molding, but everything on the exterior of this car (outside of the hood star) just functions without any drama. The way that Mercedes shaped the end of the hood to cover up the wipers for less drag and a cleaner look. Even the taillights are molded the way they are because Mercedes studied how this specific design was easier to see as opposed to just a flat surface. All this is just the tip of the iceberg with the W140. I guess they didn’t spend a billion dollars to develop this car for nothing.
Update: The 300TE didn’t sell at the high bid of $48,000 but is now relisted by the seller with a Buy It Now of $52,000.
Of the hundreds of Mercedes-Benz I end up looking at a week, you wouldn’t believe how many sellers claim some kind of AMG connection to them. Sometimes they are as simple as someone throwing an AMG badges on the trunk lid (usually crooked), to some kind of dubious bodywork with an AMG logo stamped on it, all the way to just having nothing to do with AMG at all but throwing the association out there because the car is kind of sporty. Very rarely, actually almost never, do I come across a real pre-acquisition AMG car that has all the documentation along with all the parts still actually on the car. Well, never say never, because today we have one of those cars.
This 1991 300TE was built by AMG for subsidiarity AMG Japan as a M103 3.2 liter car with all the goodies, both inside and out. It has all the paperwork and maintenance records you could want. The best part? It’s already in the United States. The not-so best part? It is going to be really expensive.
Now that it is the middle of August and it could snow next week for all we know, I have to start thinking about my winter vehicle situation. My trusty Land Rover Discovery 1 that I’ve had for the past 12 years probably won’t see the flakes fly because I think some coolant is leaking into the cylinders and that is a problem. Because a Discovery with 180,000 miles that has been in Pennsylvania for the past 12 years is worth roughly the price of a used lawnmower, which I’m sure people on Craigslist will offer up for trade, it isn’t worth pulling the heads and fixing. This of course has led me to shopping for G-Wagens. The sensible decision would be to find a decent Land Cruiser/Lexus LX and never lose a dime on it while being 100% reliable, but the crazy person in me says go find a G-Wagen because that is what I really want at the end of the day.
During my search for the perfect G, I came across this wild example up for sale in Canada. You might notice it is quite a bit longer and has a few more seats. This W460 300GD was cut up and lengthened a massive 32 inches. This added room for another row of seats while still keeping a healthy amount of space in the rear. The fit and finish look great along with basically everything else on this G. But I have to ask, why?
