Ebay 113s

[zanone]

Looking to buy an nice 280SL on Ebay and want to know if anyone has any opinions of cars sold by Schmitt Motors. They have top dollar cars which I'm willing to pay for an nice one but want to make sure they are  reputable other than positive feedback. I will fly to St. Louis before I buy and check the car myself. Thanks in advance, DZ

[Kenneth Gear]

I have no direct experience with them but have heard some reasons to be cautious.

I would place a call to the MO Attorney General's office.

[zanone]

quote:Originally posted by Kgear

I have no direct experience with them but have heard some reasons to be cautious.

I would place a call to the MO Attorney General's office.

They look like they have some nice 113s and have good feedback. I will fly there to see the cars before I buy. MO AG sounds serious. Thanks, DZ

[jbrowder]

There are 2 Schmitt Motors, Daniel and Charles, I think they may be father and son.  They have been in business a long time.  My dealings were with Daniel Schmitt Motors.  They always have a lot full of cars, and the inventory does seem to turn...so they must sell cars.  Most of their cars are auction cars, so there are some jewels and there are some pigs, buyer beware.

My experience was on a late model Porsche, and the car was alright, but the dealings were unsatisfactory and we never closed the deal.  You should check the BBB, and there also are several interesting stories on Rennlist.

Inspect the car thoroughly, and get everything in writing.

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by zanone

I will fly to St. Louis before I buy and check the car myself.

zanone,

You have only posted a few times here, so we don't really know your background and experience level.  Please don't be insulted, but do you know what details to look for with regard to originality for the specific model year W113?  Do you know particular techniques to use when starting & running the car to expose problems?  I'm not trying to insult you, just asking because I don't know your background and want to make sure you don't pay more for a W113 than it's worth.

Happy shopping!

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[zanone]

Rodd,

No insult taken, I appreciate the concern. I have restored one 280SL in the early 90s then sold it to buy a 57 T-Bird which I have sold and now have a 57 Desoto but am drawn back to the 280SLs as a keeper. Since I plan to keep the SL I don't mind paying top dollar for a nice one but will look at them closely before I buy. I'm bidding on a black 69 now and am high bidder. After watching the values on Ebay for two years it seems the nice #1- cars do sell and the ones needing restoration sell low. I got my money back from a #4 car that was going to cost more than $40K to restore from Bud's. Another reason I don't mind paying $30K for a nice #2. The #2s on Ebay seem to languish with bids going into the high teens and low $20Ks but not making reserves. This is just an overall observation and I may be wrong. Thanks for the input and any other input would be appreciated. DZ

[Cees Klumper]

Some have raised serious concerns about buying cars on Ebay - now I have never bought a car on Ebay but I have bought engines and other (also higher-dollar value) items and have never been disappointed. I think if one is careful enough Ebay should be an OK place to find a good Pagoda. Having said that I think I would always go and check the car 'in person' before buying, unless the whole story and photos are very clear (i.e. either it's a cheap fixer-upper or a very nice restored car with many detailed pictures etc). So it's the cars 'in between' (that could have been painted recently to mask problems for example, that does not show up on photos) that are the most likely disappointments.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[64sl_robs]

hi dz
i bought a 64 sl on ebay - not good!!
the lister was selling for a friend
the other bidders were the owner and an other friend!!
that said one very nice car was sold on ebay by a member here
beauti low mile one owner late model-definitely a buy
he posted here before he sold
so unless you can go look at an ebay car with knowledge
i would wait for someone here to post he is going to sell
then go have a look

[hughet]

Most of the cars at Schmitts are on consignment. There are lots of them and quite a few are listed at fantasy prices which means that you really dont know if they are for sale or not. I am not sure that schmitts is doing any any evaluation of the car and linking it to a reasonable price. I live in St. louis and went out there a couple of weeks ago with a friend who is restoring a 190SL. we wanted to see what a real good one looked like and they had one that looked like a show car in the ad and listed for a starting price of around 35k or so. It didn't look too good in person and is probably still there because nobody bid on it. The salesman didn't know much about it but unless he has had one apart, I wouldn't expect him to. I did notice a couple of fairly nice looking 280SLs. I didnt look at them up close, just eyeballed them.
 The bottom line is that the advertising is not always accurate and while I think that Schmitts has OK business practices, you are buying a 30+ year old car and it is still caveat emptor.
  Which one are you looking at?

Tom Hughes
65 230 SL

[zanone]

Tom,

I am looking at the white 71 280SL and the two silver SLs. I like the white especially since it is a January 71 build. Did you notice this car on the lot? Thanks for the help.

Dennis Zanone

[Ed Cave]

I began my search for a really nice 280SL about 9 months ago and found one of Schmitt's on ebay that looked really nice in the photos. I engaged a knowledgeable third party in St. Louis to inspect the car and, based on what I learned from him, the car was not nearly as sweet as it appeared in the online photos. He found lots of things that they were not about to point out. Naturally, I decided to pass on it and then began to realize how many they run through that dealership, mostly on ebay. I think they take some pretty good photos of some pretty average cars, if you know what I mean.

I would encourage you to consider ways other than ebay if you really want to find a good one. There are some very knowledgeable people out here who deal in these cars; Brian Peters at www.motoringinvestments.com (West Coast) gets his hands on some nice ones as does Alex Dearborn www.dearbornauto.com (East Coast) There are several others as well, you just have to invest the time in searching and watching.These people will be very candid with you and are very specific when describing the cars they offer for sale.

Good Luck!