1981 Mercedes-Benz 380 Series

3.8L 8 Cylinder Gasoline Fuel

Automatic

wdbba25a4bb001502

RELISTING WITH LOWER RESERVE and BUY IT NOW This is much too nice a car to be sitting in a driveway. :'( She belongs on the road and she should be driven by someone who will love her just as much as we have. :) SO - We have lowered both the Buy It Now price and the Reserve Price. If you are thinking "green" - remember that this car's gas mileage surpasses many and rivals most 2012 mid-sized cars! And it does it without sacrificing power or styling!If you are the type of person who recognizes and appreciates beauty, style and functionality in one classic package, then this is the car for you - don't miss this opportunity! I've been as thorough as I know in describing this great car. If you have any questions - PLEASE ask before bidding. 1981 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class 380SLC coupeAstral Silver body with Blue leather interiorThis is a Mercedes 380SLC with low miles, no accidents and no rust on body, no dents, no oil leaks and a clean and dry under carriage.Silver paint is in good condition for its age with only minor scratches. Lots of little touches like valve stem cap covers, license plates and holders emblazoned with the familiar silver star logo, European headlights and chrome fenders have been added. The chrome is solid and shiny. Leather seats are in good shape with very minor fading and no tears or rips. Leather on dash has been protected with a fitted dash cover since before we bought the car. Wood veneer is in very good condition.Everything inside works as it should including the door locks, power windows, power sunroof, the ice-cold air conditioning, and the cruise control. The door lock also locks the trunk and fuel door. The sun roof works flawlessly. Heat and air - just set the thermostat at your comfort level and let the system take care of the rest. And DO set the cruise. Without it, the car runs so smoothly on the interstate you can easily find that you have gone far beyond the speed limit before you know it. Of course, that never happened to me! ;)We live in the mountains so even interstate driving means more uphill pulls and twists and turns than in flat country. On the open road we usually get fuel mileage in the mid 20s. And with the cruise on, it handles these grades without the annoying and constant upshifting and downshifting that some cars do.The original Decker radio was replaced but is still in a box in the trunk.The car has all books and manuals.This is a car that has been lovingly cared for and comes with a documented history of all major mechanical work performed. One major mechanical problem inherent with this vehicle was the monoplex timing chain. There was never an official recall since there were so few vehicles made and the problems were not apparent for many years. The original timing chain was replaced with the stronger duplex chain and the transmission was removed and rebuilt by the original owner at 77,830 miles in February 2000. Shortly after I bought this car in 2005 I checked its value on NADA and was pleased to see I had paid a fair price and that it had an average retail of $10,800. I ran another check before placing this listing and the average retail value now shows as $15,300. I bought the car because it is beautiful and a Benz! I fell in love at first sight from the photos. My husband fell in “like” with it because of the reputation and reliability of a Mercedes Benz. I think he fell in love with it when he saw it for the first time in person as it rounded the corner and as he says “the hood took 10 minutes to round the corner before the rest of the car followed!” It definitely is a car that gets attention. As you can tell there are many positive things about this car. Unfortunately, there are a few drawbacks - the louvres (as you can see in the pictures), the tires and an exhaust valve. The louvres on the rear window on the passenger side have peeling. It was like this when we bought the car and is a drawback on most of these cars. The tires were new in 2005 and still have plenty of tread, but they are beginning to have tiny cracks on the sidewalls. The car was due for routine service, so my husband (a retired mechanic) drove it to the auto parts store to warm up the oil and get oil and filters. Being in a small town, he left the motor running as he went inside. It suddenly started making a clicking noise, like a lifter pecking. He immediately shut off the motor. The car was started one more time to see which side the clicking came from. We towed the car home and removed the valve cover and found the exhaust valve on the front cylinder passenger side stuck in the open position. Since this is an interference motor, we determined the sound came from the valve hitting the piston. We have not started it since. The car was turned off with the key, and the motor is NOT locked down and would start and run again. Even though it would start back up, we recommend the winning bidder make arrangements to tow the car to its new home. We have five other cars and just purchased a motor home for long trips, so we really don't want to spend the time or money to have this one fixed. We have drastically discounted the price to reflect what the repairs should cost. We have really enjoyed this car. When it comes time to take a trip, we are really going to miss it, but wonderful as this car is, you can't cook or sleep in it. Overview of the Mercedes-Benz 380SLC1981 marked the final year of SLC production by Mercedes.The 380 SLC was a US Model only produced one year, 1981Only about 1,500 were built.This model was lighter than the 450SLC and over 200 pounds lighter than the SL Roadster produced that year.The original ticket price for a 380SLC was $46,638 in 1981.Industry insiders say the price has been climbing, steady since about 1998.According to NADA, the average value in the fall of 2005 was just under $11,000. Today, the current value is just over $15,000.