On 3/26/07, E M <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The few I've seen at the dealer are WAY above what them seem to go for in the market, and they weren't even anything extra special.
Might be worth it, considering that new-car dealers tend to keep only the best trade-ins to sell themselves and auction the rest off. A 140 is definitely the kind of car where the "buy the best one you can afford" rule applies---no way are you going to be able to save money fixing up a neglected example like you might with a 123. Where I live I bet you could find a tired 500SEL for $8,000 or a really nice one for $18,000 (just pulling numbers out of the air to make a point, but they're probably close enough). Either way you would end up spending $25,000 total when you'd fixed what needed to be fixed. The difference is that the car that cost less originally is going to be a lot rougher around the edges---when all's said and done you have a nice-driving but ratty car for the same price as a nice-driving, nice-looking one. (I am half-seriously shopping for an E34 chassis BMW right now and finding pretty much the same thing to be true. Prices range from $2 -10K, but the $2K ones need a LOT more work.) Alex Chamberlain '87 300D Turbo '93 Isuzu Trooper
