Considering buying this 6.9

[sirmathrocks]

Hello Folks...First post here. Big MB fan here and own the 190sl, 300SEL 6.3 among other ones.

Talking to a dealer in Germany regarding this 6.9

https://home.mobile.de/MICHAEL-FROEHLICH#des_369509974

https://www.autoscout24.de/angebote/mercedes-benz-450-sel-der-beste-oder-nichts-zitat-db-benzin-blau-e985bd11-8758-486c-97da-7327513622fd

Does anyone know this car? Is there a forum member in the area(Dusseldorf) who can help with a Pre Purchase Inspection?
What do you folks think of pricing on this?

Thank you in advance!

[rumb]

Looks like a very nice low mileage car. European prices are a lot higher than here in USA. That would be #1 condition price here on a very good day. Car is a #2.

So you are planning on buying in Germany and importing to USA? Have you bee watching Bring a Trailer for 6.9 sold there?

https://bringatrailer.com/auctions/results/?search=mercedes+6.9

[sirmathrocks]

Hello... Yes.. Planning on importing to the US. I don't really like the US bumper styling plus I would like to get the higher HP euro variant.

The Euro cars just look better to me.

Also I don't think this has Abs as it was introduced in 78. How big of a deal is that?

What would you price this car at? There is also a 2.5% duty I think plus 5k I transport costs.

[BCK1963]

Hello,

As far as pricing is concerned:
The german sales site www.mobile.de  features a couple of 6.9 which are very highly priced:

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/search.html?c=Limousine&dam=0&fr=1970%3A1980&isSearchRequest=true&ms=17200%3B143%3B%3B%3B&od=down&pw=185%3A222&ref=dsp&s=Car&sb=p&vc=Car

Prices go up to appr. 100.000 € and in parts seem erratic and irrational. For 65.000 €, e.g., you can get the blue one in question with 66.000 km, another one with 190.000 km (cypress green over parchment velour, looks stunning) and one with over 250.000 km, the latter looking to be worth only half the price.

The market for cars > 50.000 € appears very narrow.
Given the low mileage of your blue choice, I'd rate this one a good offer in that price region compared to what has been offered in recent times, provided its story is straight and the technical aspects of the car keep up with the outer appearence.

The seller of the blue car, Michael Fröhlich, can best be described as an excentric bird of paradise in the local and german vintage car world.

https://www.schaufenster-mettmann.de/die-stadt/oldtimer-haendler-michael-froehlich-im-interview_aid-67496519

His reputation is naturally 'mixed'.
In 2006 his car shop burned down and 50 cars were destroyed, a loss of 10 Mios. He put new tires, windows and suspension rubbers on a severely damaged RR Silver Shadow and kept on driving and using the burned thing:

https://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/rolls-royce-burn-emily-burn-fotostrecke-36405.html

Regardless of the personality of the seller, you should never purchase such a car for such a price without a detailed on-site inspection, if money still has some importance for you.
Unfortunately it is located too far off from my place, I'd love to see the car, which happens to have the same color combo as mine 

     Good luck Bernd

[sirmathrocks]

Hello Bernd.. I appreciate the detailed response. A pre purchase inspection would be great and would give me a lot of confidence.
Is there anyone in the Duesseldorf area who can help with that for a fair fee?

[sirmathrocks]

Hello Folks...this car that I am looking at has had its odometer replaced about 10k KM ago. Michael says he has the old odometer but I have asked for documentation of the work done and the date etc. He says it was done at a Mercedes Benz service center. He got a bit defensive and slightly upset when I asked him about this documentation. I thought this is standard especially on lower mileage cars when you change odometer out to establish provenance.
Not sure how this deal is going to go after this but I am not going to go forward unless there is solid documentation on the odometer swap.

[daantjie]

Usually this would be a walk away for me for sure.  Even though the 6.9 M100 is very stout, you do not want to get stuck with one that has done galactic miles when you think it has done less than half that for example.

If the seller will provide a compression test, with hot and cold motor, then I would say it might be worth persuing, if of course the numbers are nice.  If he balks at this then walk away.

[BCK1963]

Stay away from this car, whatever Michael may come up with.
His reaction is in line with a comment that I found in the net about his reaction on being asked for a check of the undercarriage of a car on a lift.
Providing the documentation you asked for is in fact standard ... with a honest seller. Experiences like yours as early as they come in this case would mean a clear go away for me.

[sirmathrocks]

Yes Thank you for that. The car looks to be on consignment and I find it surprising that Michael would react this way to a very standard question especially for a car that is being sold as "premium" and at the top end for that model. He said he will ask the seller for the odometer swap documentation.

The search continues...

If anyone has a lower mileage nice Euro 6.9 for sale please let me know. I am a Benz collector and promise to be a good next custodian.

[sirmathrocks]

We have 2 more contenders

https://www.sportwagenhaus.at/fahrzeuge-kaufen/oldtimer-mercedes-benz-s-450-benzin-limousine-db3d9afb-5afa-402c-9d32-2e78a8255293/

And

http://www.classic-sterne.de/en/cars/car-details/mercedes-benz-450-sel-6-9-w116-4.html

Both these cars at their asking price would probably set a world record.

The YSL car has a leather interior...Kinda rare for euro cars. Any thoughts on these two?

[Jan S]

The second car on your list was for sale here in Norway summer of 2018. Asking price EUR 38.000 (today's exchange rate). Now they want EUR 99.000 

Here's the link: https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=122826392

I nearly bought it.

It is a german car, model 1978, outstanding original condition. Imported to Norway in 1982. Had 3 different norwegian owners -- when I saw it here in Oslo -- before it was sold to another norwegian in summer of 2018. What happened after that I do not know. Probably exported. Too bad 

[sirmathrocks]

I am thinking hard about this one

https://www.sportwagenhaus.at/fahrzeuge-kaufen/oldtimer-mercedes-benz-s-450-benzin-limousine-db3d9afb-5afa-402c-9d32-2e78a8255293/

What would be a fair offer for this car?

[Randys01]

Make sure amongst a 100 other things that those tyres are in fact 215  x 70 x 14.

start at E60K and meet around E68K.

I reckon a good acid test is hot engine oil pressure at idle. 1.5kpa at 750.rpm
 
It seems you are having to do this deal with out seeing the car so they could tell you anything.

Once you've made your mind up, I would fly to see the car 1st hand

[Eyeman]

Do you know about auction websites like bringatrailer?  https://bringatrailer.com/search/?s=mercedes+6.9

[sirmathrocks]

Hi..

Make sure amongst a 100 other things that those tyres are in fact 215  x 70 x 14.

start at E60K and meet around E68K.

I reckon a good acid test is hot engine oil pressure at idle. 1.5kpa at 750.rpm
 
It seems you are having to do this deal with out seeing the car so they could tell you anything.

Once you've made your mind up, I would fly to see the car 1st hand

Much appreciated. Will check for all of the above. 68K will make it one of the more expensive 6.9 to be sold but glad that you deem it fair.