For me, there is this constant back and forth between “They don’t make them like they used to” and “Newer cars can basically go forever with proper maintenance and repairs”. Today’s car falls in the latter half. Although I’m skeptical. Very skeptical. Why? In case you haven’t noticed the title, this is a 2007 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG with over 322,000 miles on the odometer. Yes, this 6.0 liter twin-turbocharged whale of a car that produces 604 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque has somehow racked up over 322,000 miles. According to the helpful Carfax, this car registered just over 29,000 miles in its first three years – a totally normal amount. Then the next five years saw the odometer jump to 200,000 miles. Six months later, 250,000 miles. That is 275 miles every single day for six months. How? Why?
Tag: S class
I’m fortunate enough to work from home or basically anywhere I have a halfway decent internet connection, so a traditional commute for me really isn’t a thing. When I think about it, the only time I actually have to be somewhere at an exact time is when I go to the dentist or get a haircut, but if I buy today’s car that can be eliminated because it might turn me into a penny-less bum who lives on the street. This a 2008 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG and it’s a giant sedan that does 0 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and sounds very mean doing it. One of these new would run you close to $135,000 in 2008, but now 11 years later, it is worth less than 20% of that. Why? Because it is a high-performance luxury sedan from a German manufacturer. The only thing that depreciates faster is the timeshare your crazy uncle bought on the Florida coast that gets leveled by a hurricane twice a year.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2008 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG on eBay
2 CommentsJust when you thought you’ve seen it all. Well, this 1982 Mercedes-Benz 500SEL has it all. This W126 had a life of excess and has all the paperwork to prove it. The story goes the car was ordered as a grey market import by a private owner in Chicago with a boat load of options then immediately shipped to AMG for more special touches. Those “special touches” you see above aren’t the work of a 17 year-old who bought this car from a Buy-Here, Pay-Here lot and a couple cans of spray paint. No, that is the work of AMG. I’m sure they were scratching their heads a little when this work order came in, but when someone offers up $20,000 (in 1982 money, mind you), you do what they say. An AMG body kit was added, all the chrome was painted black, the wheels were replaced with Rial alloys, the interior needed more leather, and the engine gained roughly 50 horsepower for the small price of $11,000. Total cost for this entire car, modifications and all? $62,656. For those keeping score at home, that is $164,234 today. I hope this owner loved this car.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1982 Mercedes-Benz 500SEL on eBay
6 CommentsThere is nearly always a “sweet spot” for everything. Not too little, but not too much. That perfect blend of everything. In the car world, having a sweet spot is something we’ve been chasing since Carl Benz back in ’86, 1886, made a little 3-wheel buggy that changed the world forever as we know it. From that point forward, it’s almost always been something that doesn’t make it perfect. It has to be reliable, safe, durable, make good power, look good, return good MPGs, be comfortable, and not cost a million bucks to fix. Well, good luck finding a car to do all that. Unless, of course…
The 1991 Mercedes-Benz 300SE. The last of the W126. For some, the pinnacle of all cars. Enough power to get out of its own way, won’t kill you in a crash, gets over 20 MPG with ease, and built to last literally a million miles. Nothing on this car will bankrupt you if something fails, none of the parts are too expensive, and basically anyone can work on this car if you are capable enough to actually work on cars. This example up for bid in Arizona is one of the better 300SEs I’ve seen come up for sale in a long time. It has just over 75,000 miles and is clean like you wouldn’t believe. I’m not just talking about the interior, either.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1991 Mercedes-Benz 300SE on eBay
1 CommentOne of the more interesting facts about one of the cars I own, a 1980 Mercedes-Benz 300SD, is that they were only made for the United States and Canada. That means there are no “Euro-spec” W116 SDs running around Europe or parked in an alley somewhere in Albania. A cool little piece of car trivia, but that also means that all of the 300SDs produced were fitted with giant 5 mph bumpers and quad headlights instead of the sleek European bumpers and glass headlights. Of course that doesn’t mean people haven’t got creative. As you might have realized, this is exactly what is going on with today’s car, a 1980 300SD up for sale in Michigan. This OM617-powered tank has all the little goodies and it surely looks like whoever owned this car had quite an affinity for it.