Advice on selling damaged, beloved sl

[LFrank]

Yup, and sad that this is my centennial posting!

Front right headlight, partial grille, fender stove in in an attention lapse last week.  Wife adamant that no further $$ go into the investment -- especially when I told her I could probably sell parts of an otherwise fine-running car for more than I paid.  (I'm recalling the $4k red Tennessee rollover of a few years back...).

Any suggestions from the group on how to proceed? (New wife not an option.) eBay? Paper? Local Merc junkyards?

Really have no idea, and any suggestions would be appreciated. It's presently at a body shop.

LFrank
Washington DC
65 230 sl - auto
DB334/Hellblau

[bob66542]

sometimes, wives must be ignored.pretend you didnt hear. pretend your alzhimers is kicking in, and you forgot. repair the car, she'll get over it.

65 SL 230 4-sp. purchase 12-08-03

[Kenneth Gear]

Sorry to hear it..

I would suggest posting some pictures of it in its current condition..maybe you'll get some interst from this site.  It's always hard to set a price for a damaged car but you could start with the body shop's estimate to fix it and work back from there ...that is assuming it's a shop that specializes in older cars/restorations as opposed to a run of the mill body shop.

I would think it may be valuable parts car for someone in the restoration business as well, you may want to contact some of the better known w113 restoration shops.

Again, sorry about your predicament

Ken G
1971 280 SL
Silver/red

[LFrank]

Ken --

Thanks for the friendly advice -- you too, Bob.

*sigh*

LF

LFrank
Washington DC
65 230 sl - auto
DB334/Hellblau

[BABAK]

Send me pictures i would ge interested.

[waltklatt]

Hello LFrank,
Sorry to hear of your misfortune.
How bad is the damage on the fender?  Is it rubbing the tire when you turn?
Hood still in one piece or crumpled?  Bumper?
Maybe I can take a look at it and possibly repair it for you.
Did that same repair for another friend, replaced the hood, headlight, radiator, grille and other small parts.  
Let me know.
Walter
1967 220SL-diesel

[bsimaz]

I bought a wrecked pagoda ~2yrs ago.  It was advertised on this site.  Front end crash and plenty of rust but it was just what I was looking for.  Took me a while to fix it up but now it runs and drives great.   I'm sure there is someone who would be looking for something just like yours for a project.

Bill Simaz
'66 230sl
Back on the Road

[LFrank]

Bill - thanks for the words of encouragement!
Walt - now I'm glad I bought you lunch!

I'll send out some pictures tomorrow, as I'm going to pay her a visit...again, *sigh*

LFrank
Washington DC
65 230 sl - auto
DB334/Hellblau

[Chad]

Suggest that it can't sell well until it is repaired.  Repair it as an "investment." Then enjoy while always having the car for sale.  After all, everything is always for sale.

Don't give in yet.



1967 230SL

[Benz Dr.]

Some parts move quickly but a lot of stuff will turn into door stoppers. What you will have is boxes of spare parts that no one wants and a car stripped of anything valuable. I know how this works......

Only time you part down a car is if the value of the parts exceeds the value of the car by at least 5 times or the car isn't repairable nor has any real value as is. Just remember though that once you start removing parts from it the car quickly looses value and will often find that no one wants front sub frames or other rarely needed parts. Grill, soft top frame, early rear tail lights, front head lights and a few other parts move quickly but the rest of the car.....

Dan Caron's
 SL Barn
benzbarn@ebtech.net
 slbarn.mbz.org
  1 877 661 6061

[Chad]

Also, I find parting out of the good older cars to be a saddening thing. Sure, it circulates a number of in-demand and useable/needed parts, but it takes that VIN off the road to not return and also reduces the ever shrinking population of interesting older cars driving around out there. It's nice to see the nice looking older cars on the road, it is industrial art - this is gone from modern production for many years.  From what you describe it seems like your car can be put on the road again, for some $$$$, but perhaps reasonable amount.  Only you can decide and only have the right to decide. For these reasons though it seems sad to me to see good cars become parted out, or very good cars become garage queens and never be driven on the road again because the owner thinks they're too valuable to drive around.  In both cases it takes them off the road. They are meant to drive and be fixed and drive some more.  

Best of luck whatever you do.

1967 230SL

[Kenneth Gear]

So the way I read your situation is this... wife says "Sell Now" freinds in this group say "restore and then sell (or try to keep it)"..

So what's your next move?  




Ken G
1971 280 SL
Silver/red

[J. Huber]

Lfrank. I know if it was me, I'd be so depressed and generally forelorned that sooner or later my wife would say "ok -- fix the dog-gone thing...". (in the meantime, get busy lining up shop & parts -- as you sit quietly whimpering in the dark garage...)

James
63 230SL

[waqas]

I completely agree with Chad-- it would be a great pity to deprive this car from further life on the road... so I would either fix it, or sell it as-is to someone who might restore it. Last year, I myself bought what appeared to be a parts car, but then realized the car is restorable, and should probably be kept on the road. The only problem is now I have to live with less car-space until this one is all fixed-up or sold  :evil:

I'm certainly not suggesting anything here, but I recently saw an ad on craigslist for a very decent 108 wherein the seller stated "Must sell quickly-- wife needs brain transplant!"  

WAQAS in Austin, Texas

[Kenneth Gear]

It just occured to me that we could probably generate some sponsorship revenue for this group by allowing divorce lawyers to advertise here.. fertile ground indeed!

Ken G
1971 280 SL
Silver/red

[Shvegel]

My wife is a divorce lawyer which makes me an optomist in my book. It's a good thing we spent more on her education that I do on my Pagoda.

[Cees Klumper]

OK, now for the joke of the day:

Q: what is the definition of an optimist?
A: someone who has not been given all the facts yet!

quote:Originally posted by Shvegel

My wife is a divorce lawyer which makes me an optomist in my book. It's a good thing we spent more on her education that I do on my Pagoda.

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[cth350]

A friend in WV is looking for a car needing this kind of repair. Drop me an email if you're still considering selling her (the car). -CTH