Trip report: It is not every day you get to look over a 1987 Mercedes 190D 2.5 Turbo Diesel that is "...meticulously maintained and serviced, all records available. Truely in very fine condition. Illness forces sale, going into nursing home." The $7,500 asking price was somewhat higher than the $5,325 retail listed for this car by Kelly Blue Book. However, as prior posts indicate, a documented maintenance history has value. The gloss from the finish caught my eye as I approached the residence, and then it all came to naught.
20-year-old relative #1 was working another prospect as I arrived. After greetings and bumming a cigarette from my wife he returned to the other prospect #1 which afforded me time to walk around the car and observe the numerous spots where the paint had been touched up as well as those where it had not. The best that can be said of the work was that the touch up kit got the color right. The two front jack points were clearly rusty. The sheet metal surrounding the rear jack points was simply gone, having succumbed to rust some time ago. The right front headlight lens cover was cracked. In anticipation of the sale, the center brake light bulb had been replaced, but none of the crew could figure out how to reattach the cover plate. General Tire has been running some low priced promotional tires in this marketing area and that's what she wore, together with a more than liberal application of tire dressing.
The car had clearly been professionally detailed, but this was not going to remove some of the interior carpet stains (especially the bright red spot: front passenger). MB Tex fabric, dashboard, and other interior items showed well after the detailing. While the seats looked good, any remnant of firmness was long gone.
The engine compartment showed beautifully, consistent with the steam cleaning that it had most recently received. The rubber, fuel lines appeared recent and gave no indication of brittleness. I searched for, but was unable to locate the dreaded soot trap. An Interstate Battery of most recent vintage was installed.
Around this time 30ish relative #2 arrived to bum a cigarette from my wife, secure our acquiescence for prospect #1 to take the car for a spin, and unintentionally make off-putting comments about my wife ethnic group (nothing hostile: just offish). I volunteered that this would be a good time to review the maintenance records. Conceptually, this was a good idea except that the records were locked in a garage and the key was in the possession of another relative who was in Greece and would return at an undetermined time.
He was kind enough to share with me that he had a $7,000 offer for the car from a guy next door, but that the check was from an out of state bank and it took forever for his bank to clear out of state checks. I volunteered that federal law requires a three-day clearing period and that if I were in his shoes I would take the offer based on the condition of the vehicle. He further indicated that in addition to the prospect currently driving the vehicle he had 8 more prospects lined up to look at the vehicle. I think that another real live purchase may have been represented. I wished him best luck, and left a business card with a note indicating that I would like to look at the maintenance records when they become available.
At some point, relative #3 also introduced himself, but taken together, my sense is that none of the three were familiar with any aspect of the car's maintenance history. I have not ruled out purchasing the car, but the seller or I will need a better understanding of the market before we can come to terms. I had sufficient cash in my pocket to close on the spot, but the situation was not ripe for purchase.