guess my mileage?

[merrill]

so, here it goes, I have a 66 230 sl, that my father bought in 78 in europe.
the first receipt I can find for this car with mileage is
date   km
Jan-79   96619

so, here is the question, in 13 years, in europe, is it more likely the odo rolled and the actuall mileage in 79 is really 199,619 km? or not.

This is a follow on to my compression test post on this car. Having an idea of the mileage would help understand where I stand with this
car.
ie,
compression 1   May-86   125499 km or 135299.4 km
compression 2   Jul-87   135110 km or 141066 km.

the compression on the car dropped basically 40 lbs in each cylinder from the first to the second test.  

matt

[J. Huber]

Hi Matt,

I don't really have an answer. However, its almost identical to my "dark ages" period on my car. My car spent its youth in Europe and the earliest record I have is from around 1978. The KMs were at about 85000 I believe. Since then, I know its exact history as thats when we got it. Yet, same question stands for me -- was the car lightly used to 85000KM over its first 15 years? or was it 185000KM?

Now here's my thesis: my car was not in too good of shape when we got it -- engine was shot -- body had signs of use. I am thinking the likelyhood of a pampered car (ie low miles) being this way is slim. So I am speculating it had turned over at least once. But who knows? (anyone out there in Holland once have a white/blue '63?)

James
63 230SL

[mrfatboy]

good question.

It comes down to math and gut.  Do you think the owner drove an average of 7432 km a year or 15355km a year?  If my math is right, that is an average of 12 miles a day or 26 miles a day respectively.  My car is a driver and I drove it 40 miles a day 5 days a week for work.

[JamesL]

Mine has a record going back to about 1980 and about 40,000miles at that point

Now at 108,000 but the last 68 all verified by service records and annual roadworthy certs (MOTs).

So quite likely to be the 80,000k mark - remember, Europe is much smaller than the US  

[Cees Klumper]

Based on the outcome of a poll a few years back, the most likely answer is that the PW drove 7,432 rather than 15,355 km's a year. If I recall correctly, 5,000 was the average then, with the median being even lower.

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

[merrill]

wow, thanks for the feedback, while i do not have any mileage records prior to 79, I do have the original mb owners record book.

both of the original owners lived in stuttgart.

maybe the od did not roll in the first 13 years.

thanks
matt

[rwmastel]

Matt,

Have you ever changed the timing chain?  They last about 100,000 miles or so.  The factory original chains did not have a master link (continuous chain) and when I pulled a chain off my car a couple summers ago it was NOT a factory original.  This gives a clue as to the milage on the engine.

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

[merrill]

Rodd,
I searched thru the recepts and could not find a receipt for replacing the timing chain.  I guess I will find out when I rebuild the motor.

thanks
matt

[merrill]

well, while going thru the misc parts for the car I found a high mileage badge for the car,  250,000 KM.   Guess the odo has rolled at least 3 times going on the 4th

Matt
66 230 sl - "white"
78 300 D - Blue
98 C230