1992 Mercedes-Benz 500-Series

500SEL Sedan

5.0L 8 Cylinder Gasoline Fuel

Automatic

WDBGA51EXNA021585

Gasoline

Power Windows

Thanks for looking! It pains me to sell this car. This car was garaged up until the date I bought the car. I bought the car as a daily commuter, and drive it for about 2 years (I have a long highway commute.) Here we have one 1992 500SEL. Purchased by me in July of 2008, the car had been used only one month of each year by a local Bay Area couple who drove the car one month out of the year, each year for 16 years. Their full time residence outside the United States, their Bay Area home was a second vacation home. The rest of the time the car was stored in their garage with a trickle charger (There is a high quality battery disconnect to prevent battery drain on the Genuine Mercedes-Benz battery.) So, when I received the car it was preserved much like a collector car. With only effectively 1,695 miles per year. While I know there are sellers who are embellishing how their cars ‘drive or look like new, this one is clearly one of the top 2% in the country. Inspections, and visits to look at this one are not only acceptable, but encouraged. The car drives (or glides) impeccably and is both tight and smooth. It is a true joy to drive. The odometer cluster is black, and the needles are Orange. Most of these cars have lost color, but this one is like new… sort of like stepping back in time. When you sit in the car, you get a smell of leather… much like a new car… not the old aged smell you would get in a 20 year old car. The leather is firm and supporting, yet soft to the touch. Looking around the car you would see all of the lettering as bright White on soft matte finish black as you would on a new car. No overly shinny slicked up plastic over coated by Armor All, only the natural sheen. The original wood is all consistent and dark in color. Even the top surface is free of clear coat haze and swirl marks from over aggressive polishing. It is optically clear and as new. The car pets are all original and still charcoal/Black as new. There was no need for any shampooing as the carpets were well preserved and kept clean. When I acquired the car, I went through and provided both a radiator flush, brake flush, and of course oil change. The car passed the strict California smog test without fail. Being an older couple there were a couple of small scratches, and a decent sized dent in the left fender. (The dent was more of a wave, similar to what might happen if someone backed up into the fender with another car… there was no underlying damage – it was only outer body sheet metal damage.) I brought it to the local Mercedes-Benz Certified collision center called Eurotech in San Carlos. Upon inspection there was suggestion that a dentless repair might take care of the issue in an acceptable manner. I, however, have access to Genuine Mercedes-Benz parts at wholesale, and being a very detail oriented ‘fix it right’ person I am elected to replace the fender for about the cost of what the straitening would have cost, and would be out the refinishing cost of painting and mounting the new fender. Right before I was to list the car, on my way to the dealership to have the car detailed for sale, a rather unfortunate event occurred. In the lane I was in, as piece of what appeared to be plywood had been kicked up in the air. Rather than slam on my brakes on the freeway, or swerve into another lane, I had no choice but to avoid it as best I could. The wood hit the front right corner of the car, and glanced off the fender and just lightly scuffed the door. The damage again was only cosmetic, but knew the buyer of myself would only be satisfied with 100% proper repair. This is where having AAA auto insurance was a true blessing, as they did not fight me along the way. The bumper, fender and door were properly stripped, and finished by a Mercedes Benz Certified Repair facility in San Jose called Pan American on Burke Street in San Jose. The only existing issues in the paint that may need attention is to refinish the rear bumper. The left rear coner has a small nick in the top coner, and the rear right coner has some fairly deep scratches. I will attempt to create a link to photos of the car and post them to the auction for you. During my ownership I have only had two issues. One was the Bose 7 channel amplifier which systematically was losing power to each amplifier. I had a very good shop who specializes in rebuilding or remanufacturing the more expensive parts in a Mercedes rebuild the amplifier for me. The other issue was the fabled Air Accumulators in the rear suspension. I replaced those with new Mercedes-Benz parts about 6 months ago. About a year ago I installed a new set of Michelin MXV4 Primacys. The mileage I put on the car since purchase were highway miles. I drive the cars with respect allowing large following distances to reduce wear and tear on the suspension, brakes and driveline. I and really intended to keep the car for many, many years, and recognize that one of the cars driven nicely would last decades, rather than years. I loved the car SO much, that realizing I was piling on the miles in my daily commute started looking for a second car. I found a nice 1983 Diesel that would be my miles driver that I know could pile on the miles for some ten years, and keep the 500SEL for weekends and special occasions such as sightseeing, going out to eat and such. My detailed and meticulous nature, got the best of me on my daily driver, the 1983 Mercedes-Benz 300SD. Since acquisition of that car, I have refinished the entire car, installed a full new leather interior, and remanufactured the entire front suspension. The remanufacture of the rear suspension is nearly completed – and I have come to the realization that I cannot have TWO favorites in my life… or at least that economically speaking I should really keep just one of the car. Having a LOT of money wrapped up in the Diesel, I am electing to sell the 1992 S-Class. You will not likely find another 90s era car in this condition both appearance and mechanically. That being said you could buy one of the less well cared for cars, and spend some $20-30K making the car as nice as this one. I have seen other cars that appear to have the same mileage (I cannot speak to condition, as I have not seen them in person) asking from $15-17K. While I have seen the cars that need reconditioning… the overhead would be impractical in comparison. The choice is yours. This is a rare find. While it is my full intention to see the auction through the end, I reserve the right to close the auction early for a motivated buyer. Phone calls are welcome at 408-529-6555. BenOn Oct-25-11 at 15:59:10 PDT, seller added the following information: Item PhotosJPEGbay.com - eBay picture hosting