Used Car of the Day: 1994 Mercedes-Benz E320 Cabriolet

by Tim Healey

Published: December 11th, 2023

used car of the day 1994 mercedes benz e320 cabriolet

Today we bring you a 1994 Mercedes-Benz E320 Cabriolet that can either be a parts car or a project car.

The seller is getting rid of the car after 13 years because the reverse gear has given up the ghost. The car can still drive forward, however.

In addition to repairing or replacing the transmission, there is other work the car needs. This includes a window regulator for the driver's door and hydraulics for the top.

If you're interested in a cheap convertible, the ask for this North Carolina-based car is $2,500. Click here to check it out.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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5 of 33 comments

RHD on Dec 12, 2023

One of the red flags here is the brake dust on the front wheels. The owner doesn't bother to wash the car... or do preventive maintenance, such as rotating the tires.
You can count on having to do a very deep detail and complete tuneup, fluids changes, brake pads and the last 50,000 miles' worth of preventive maintenance, on top of fixing the top, the nicks and dents on the body and the other obvious mechanical issues. If you're a fan of MBs of this generation, and you love a project, then offer him $1,500 and maybe get talked up to $1,700. Then put aside double that for the stuff that needs fixing - as long as you do the work yourself.

2 Reply
- 28-Cars-Later on Dec 13, 2023
  
  Yup, this is a $2,500 bill for $10K.
  
  Like
28-Cars-Later on Dec 13, 2023
1. Rear bumper is jacked up.
2. Scratch on rear unibody.
3. Roof aftermarket or still factory?
4. Do the roof motors and folding mechanism parts still exist?
5. Do techs still exist to repair the roof (or is this still a period of very simple roofs with no sensors?)
6. Transmission needs rebuilt or replaced.
7. Motor needs, a lot most likely.
8. Muffler rusty which means the exhaust is as well, and probably rotted underneath (need check wheel wells).
9. Listed miles are conspicuously absent, so assume 200,000.
$500 as it sits, assuming its not completely rotted underneath probably worth messing with to the person who could just leave the roof down permanently and only drive on sunny days. Putting this back together properly may not be possible at this point (i.e. roof related unobtanium).
1 Reply
- See 1 previous
- MaintenanceCosts on Dec 14, 2023
  
  There are still shops rehabbing the top on these, so that shouldn't be impossible, just expensive. The rest is a matter of a thorough mechanical freshening, which is why this is a car for someone who can do that themselves. If they can there is potentially decent profit in it - these have a lot of fans.
  
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- 28-Cars-Later on Dec 14, 2023
  I didn't know that, good to know. I have barely seen these in my entire life so they may be very valuable when in clean condition, but knowing what I know from the Volvos sorting this would be a labor of love and even when complete financially I'm not sure it would be worth it.
  I see four of these on Autotrader:
  
  '94, 65K, $17,9
  '95, 90K, $20,0
  '95, 42K, $22,4
  '95, 34K, $26,8
  Even in the hands of a Mercedes tech -and assuming no OBDI codes- I imagine the non roof or body related work is several grand. Then of course the roof is a big variable, I see rust on the rear wheel well similar to my Volvo so that needs repaired but suggests more rot underneath. Then the example has to be north of 100K otc, and is probably between 100 and 200K. So you sink at minimum $5K into it, pay $2K for it, and are sitting $7K with your own labor and what's it worth? $10? Most collectors are going to buy the examples on Autotrader with much fewer miles and use (that '94 is probably the best value buy with the 42K '95 being the best overall buy IMO). Unless you are a Mercedes master tech (or expert otherwise) from this period and know exactly what's wrong to price accordingly, this is a black hole of money and time which I doubt will be recouped later on resale - unless resale is 20+ years from now.
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