Seriously?

[Othen]

Originally Posted by loki_the_glt

The MoT info is interesting -the car is RED according to the Tax Status screen, and "BROWN" on the MoT Status screen.

It passed an Mot in August of 2019 and another in May of 2020 - odd.

Definitely one to watch (out for).

... so the only real evidence that the car has only covered 38,000 miles is the odometer reading - anything could have happened to it before August 2019.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

... so the only real evidence that the car has only covered 38,000 miles is the odometer reading - anything could have happened to it before August 2019.

.............. including a "fixed" service history............

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

.............. including a "fixed" service history............

Did that car come with a service history? I must have missed that bit, in which case I’m wrong and it does have some provenance.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Did that car come with a service history? I must have missed that bit, in which case I’m wrong and it does have some provenance.

I don't think it did Alan, i was just implying many unscrupulous dealers have "obtained" a service stamp with which to "rewrite" the service history of a car into a blank service book.

The giveaway on a car of this age would be the first few services as the STD codes changed at a certain point to gain the "1" as the 2nd digit. I know when it changed but if the service stamp includes the phone number it will be a dead giveaway the service history has been altered if the number doesn't change at a certain point.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I don't think it did Alan, i was just implying many unscrupulous dealers have "obtained" a service stamp with which to "rewrite" the service history of a car into a blank service book.

The giveaway on a car of this age would be the first few services as the STD codes changed at a certain point to gain the "1" as the 2nd digit. I know when it changed but if the service stamp includes the phone number it will be a dead giveaway the service history has been altered if the number doesn't change at a certain point.

Ah, I see Dave. That had not occurred to me - that someone would try to replicate a 40 year old service history - I bit like 'the dog chewed my maths homework' :-)

Many thanks for that Dave.

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Ah, I see Dave. That had not occurred to me - that someone would try to replicate a 40 year old service history - I bit like 'the dog chewed my maths homework' :-)

Many thanks for that Dave.

Alan

It's amazing the lengths they'll go to and people have forgotten that the 1 in STD codes wasn't always there...............

As for "the dog ate my homework" i had to use that once. Got the usual looks and then provided the (remains of the) evidence, complete with bite marks!

Couple of pages missing but the general idea was there.

Not sure if the teacher took pity on me or was so astounded that it was in fact genuine but still got a B+ for that essay!

[Othen]

I noticed this one, and thought it made quite good money:

http://https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333855610259

It looked like a nice car, hadn’t been used for a while but was running and riding with no rust. £3,250 was a good price but still sensible.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I noticed this one, and thought it made quite good money:

http://https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333855610259

It looked like a nice car, hadn’t been used for a while but was running and riding with no rust. £3,250 was a good price but still sensible.

That would be this one then Alan?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-240...-/333855610259

Something wrong with your link, took me to a Bitcon page!

Nice looking car, seems fairly sound and probably worth all of that at the moment!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

That would be this one then Alan?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-240...-/333855610259

Something wrong with your link, took me to a Bitcon page!

Nice looking car, seems fairly sound and probably worth all of that at the moment!

Well how strange is that Dave - I've just tried the link and it seems to work now, I can't explain the bitcoin page thing.

Yes, it looked like quite a nice car - some sort of barn find from a probate sale I should think. I suspect the seller picked it up for just hundreds of pounds from the estate's executor, did nothing to it and walked away with a bit of a profit (it looks like he is a dealer - see the PS). Still, it probably shows 244 sales being stable - we see lots of cars being advertised at silly money, but they never sell, and lots of rust buckets as well. This one looked like a fairly low risk car though (running and riding, no V5 - so probably no history) for fairly sensible money. The car won't be eligible for historic tax and MoT for another 4 years.

PS. The seller of that car seems to be a dealer:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-...sAAOSw-YVf~zZ5

... although perhaps not a car dealer primarily. Maybe he has just bought a job lot from a probate estate's executioner including the two cars?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Well how strange is that Dave - I've just tried the link and it seems to work now, I can't explain the bitcoin page thing.

Yes, it looked like quite a nice car - some sort of barn find from a probate sale I should think. I suspect the seller picked it up for just hundreds of pounds from the estate's executor, did nothing to it and walked away with a bit of a profit (it looks like he is a dealer - see the PS). Still, it probably shows 244 sales being stable - we see lots of cars being advertised at silly money, but they never sell, and lots of rust buckets as well. This one looked like a fairly low risk car though (running and riding, no V5 - so probably no history) for fairly sensible money. The car won't be eligible for historic tax and MoT for another 4 years.

PS. The seller of that car seems to be a dealer:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-...sAAOSw-YVf~zZ5

... although perhaps not a car dealer primarily. Maybe he has just bought a job lot from a probate estate's executioner including the two cars?

Very strange on the link Alan, i tried it 2 or 3 times to make sure i hadn't clicked the wrong thing. As you say, works fine now.

I noticed that Merc for sale as well, i believe that's the penultimate Holy Grail for Merc 190 fans with the 2.6 straight 6 engine, gives the 190E the engine it should have had at launch.
I understand the real Holy Grail is the Cosworth version, 4-pot with a Cosworth developed DOHC head, can't remember if it's a 2.3 or 2.5 but offers a big boost in performance over the standard 1.8 or 2.0 fitted to the lower spec 190E models.

Looking at his feedback he seems to have been dormant for the past 6 months so i'd be hesitant to label him a dealer, more of a dabbler that sees something every once in a while he thinks he can make money on, buys it and sells it on.