Help my brother, for I am his keeper, and his Mercedes 190 hath descended into mechanic's hell...

It looks like it probably ran and drove fine. It had a current registration and inspection sticker on the windshield that was good until 2015. There was some rust on it though and especially behind the rear wheel wells where it looked like the rear floor was starting to rust out a bit. Plus the rear bumper was pretty rusty. But still, like you said, as long as it moves and will pass a safety only inspection (not that hard), it is worth at least $500. You could probably pull the engine and sell it for at least that if it ran fine.

That's an '80's smog era small block so naw the motor wouldn't be worth $500. But as a running driver yeah the whole car would have been worth $750. Oh, well; that's life.

Well, if you guys seem to like old domestic wagons, what do you think about this one that is close by to me as well that I found on eBay?

1983 Oldsmobile 88 Custom Cruiser 4 Door Wagon Light Gray V8

Bid 900 and not a dollar more. He's dreaming with the B-I-N.

Sell the MB on ebay, lick your wounds, and ride in style in the Olds.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: He's dreaming with the B-I-N. Lick your wounds, and ride in style in the Olds.

Yeah, no crap... I know it is low miles and there is hardly any rust for a NY car, but over $3k for that is a crack pipe for sure! lol... I was thinking if there was any way to get it cheaper (like around $750 or something), but people get awfully offended for some reason if you try to tell them what their car is worth or offer them less money than they are asking for it.

Case in point, this guy has a 1994 Ford F-150 2WD Straight-6 truck with a manual transmission out in CT on eBay that I spotted. He has an initial price on it of $1,000. The truck has over 200,000 miles on it and it is pretty rusty looking, although he claims it is still a "good running truck". I E-mailed him and offered him $500 cash for it right now. He responded that the minimum price for it is $1,000 and he won't sell it any cheaper than that and got an attitude about it. Fine, keep your rusty-a$$ $hitty truck then for all I care... Obviously you like it and don't want to sell it then...

So, long story short, I doubt that I could get that Olds wagon any cheaper than $900 right now. If I wait for it to end and no one bids on it, I doubt he'd consider taking any less than $900 for it since he wants over $3,000 for it on the BIN price... What is wrong with people?

I get offended when people tell me what they think my car is worth. I don't get offended when people make me a reasonable offer. There's a difference.

I've also gotten to the point where haggling over $150 isn't worth it to me. If there's a car I want, and the price is fair, I'll pay it.

I hope that one bid is yours if so congrats on your new wagon.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: I get offended when people tell me what they think my car is worth. I don't get offended when people make me a reasonable offer. There's a difference.

Here in lies the problem. What you think your car is worth and what some one else things is a reasonable offer can be very different.

I don't tell people what there cars are worth I tell them what I am willing to pay for there cars. If they don't like it no hard feelings. If you get bent about my offer I probably don't want to do business with you. People take it personally when it really is a simple business transaction and they have the right to not accept my offer.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: I get offended when people tell me what they think my car is worth. I don't get offended when people make me a reasonable offer. There's a difference.

Well, you are also more reasonable when pricing a used car to begin with. I can't tell you how many old, super high mileage, rusted out bombs of vehicles I have seen people try to sell for $2,000-$4,000 because for some reason they have it in their head that their car is worth it. Like the one guy I talked to about his truck who told me that ANY truck, regardless of mileage or condition as long as it runs it immediately worth $2,000 and then the price goes up from there depending on the condition of the truck. Yeah, okay...

So, I'm assuming MOST people who try to tell you what your car is worth are people trying to steal the car from you, hoping that you don't know what it is worth. For the most part, I'm trying to explain to people that their junk car isn't worth $5,000 and offering them something reasonable and they don't even want to haggle and come down into the middle somewhere, they just want top dollar for their garbage.

Check what NYS requires for inspection. I don't think they sniff test cars that old, so you may be able to disable all the smog crap and wake that 307 up. But makes sure you check before doing anything. That engine has a carb, too- a quadrajet if I'm not mistaken. Hope you got it.

EDIT- yup, it's more than 25 years old, its emissions exempt in NY

http://dmv.ny.gov/inspection/inspection-requirements

moparman76_69 wrote: I hope that one bid is yours if so congrats on your new wagon.

Yeah, I was debating it over lunch and thinking if it was worth the risk to just let the auction end and then try to offer the guy $750 for it, but then I figured he's probably going to be pissed enough that his car sold for more than $2,000 less than he WANTED to get for the wagon and, as my brother said, sometimes it's not worth trying to haggle over $150-$200 on it and if you want it, just buy it. I need something ASAP to end up saving me $1,000's in the long run over renting a car until I can get my mess sorted out with all of my vehicles. If I can get this car registered and on the road this week, then I can return my rental car and save another $250-$300 next week now that I won't need to rent a car to get to work. So, to me that is definitely worth an extra $200 or so.

Plus, I have seen at least two other auctions for Olds 88 wagons that are over $1,000 already and the auction has a few days left on it already. Granted, they are for the kind with the faux wood-paneling on it, so maybe that is more desirable right now? I also saw a guy trying to sell his Chevy Malibu wagon for $1,500 in New Jersey. He hasn't had any bids on it yet, but... Still, under a grand for a decent runner isn't TOO bad, I guess...

So, yeah, basically I closed my eyes and hit the button to bid on it with less than 5 minutes to go on the auction and I won it. So, I guess I'm the new owner of an Oldsmobile Wagon! ((shrug))

What you need is transportation. Who cares about wood paneling. Rattle can that sucker and stick some decent tires on it. A buddy of mine here in MD just scrapped an identical wagon, I think he still has a set of Boyd Coddington wheels that'll fit it. They might even have useful tread on the tires.

Good luck. Maybe start a new build thread here if you need any help? Also, might try selling that 190 on the GRM classifieds. A 5 speed 190 checks a few boxes for the cognoscenti here that can wrench on 'em.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: EDIT- yup, it's more than 25 years old, its emissions exempt in NY http://dmv.ny.gov/inspection/inspection-requirements

Well, as far as I know, NYS doesn't sniff test ANY cars for emissions. At least I'm not out in CA!!! My truck is right on the border as it is a 1996 that it has to be plugged into the DMV computer and if there is a check engine light on or you disconnect smog crap or are missing the catalytic converter, then you won't pass. It is also $21 for that inspection where they have to plug into your OBD II on your car. My Mercedes as a 1985 was more than old enough to get away with a safety only inspection, which is only $11, and doesn't require your car's computer to be plugged into the DMV computer to check for anything. (Plus, most cars that old don't have OBD connectors anyways.) You can also sometimes get away with deleting the cat if you know that your mechanic isn't going to check for one, although I think it is still technically required by comrades Cuomo and De Blasio in NY... (I can still make fun, even though I don't live in NYC...)

Just gut the cat. Ditch the emissions crap and you'll pick up power and fuel economy. If it were me I'd rip out all the underhood A/C stuff, too. You don't need it in NY. ;-)

volvoclearinghouse wrote: A buddy of mine here in MD just scrapped an identical wagon, I think he still has a set of Boyd Coddington wheels that'll fit it. They might even have useful tread on the tires.

Why did he scrap his car? Was it all rusted out and beyond repair or something? What do the wheels look like? I never heard of Boyd Coddington wheels before. Are those like race or at least rallaye style wheels or something? Yeah, I'd be interested in them if the price is right and he wants to get rid of them... You'd probably have to pick them up for me though as you are closer...

Wheel company started by Boyd Coddington, of the American Hot Rod Coddingtons.. http://hotrodsbyboyd.com/

In reply to 06HHR: EEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

So you got the Olds wagon. There ya go! It's exactly the same as the Chevy, probably even has the same motor just painted blue. Make sure the brakes are in good shape (I hear horrible things about y'all's Yankee rust on brake lines etc) then drive on.

Curmudgeon wrote: So you got the Olds wagon. There ya go! It's exactly the same as the Chevy, probably even has the same motor just painted blue.

Well, the body is pretty damn close, yeah. Same chassis, most of the same body panels, just different badging, grilles, and hubcaps. The interior trim is slightly different as well. The Olds I believe is supposed to be slightly higher-end than the Chevy, but probably about on-par or a slight step below a Buick. The engines are different, but pretty close. Chevy's use a 305 cid V8 and Olds' have the 307 cid V8. IDK where the supposed extra 2 cubic inches came from, if it has a slightly larger bore or a slightly longer stroke than the 305, but otherwise, yeah they look identical on the outside.

That car was built back when GM got in a lot of trouble for mixing and matching powerplants without telling the consumer, there was even a fairly sizeable lawsuit over it. If it says 307 on the underhood sticker more than likely it's a real Olds engine. Quick ID: Count valve cover bolts: 4 bolts = Chevy motor, more than that = Olds. Both okay motors by the standards of the time.

Awww... That sucks. I just talked to the guy tonight about the wagon and I asked him since it wasn't very clear in the auction listing, if he still had the headliner for the car and he just took it out for some reason. He said that he has the dome light that came out when he removed the headliner, but he doesn't have the headliner for it anymore as he threw it out. Oh well... It looks kind of bizarre without it, especially since the rest of the car, including the interior, looks to be in really, really good shape. Kind of a shame.

In reply to MailmAn:

307 is the Olds 307, the last of the Olds V8 engines.

Not that it really matters any, pretty sure the car should have a THM200-4R transmissions with the dual pattern bellhousing, so SBC bolts in if needed.

Yeah, I was gonna say the same thing, the car should have the 307, if its the original engine, and GM didn't accidentally 3-0-5 it. Either engine's pretty gutless, but like I said, they wake up OK with some de-smogging. Keep oil in them and they live for quite a while.

It does have the 4 speed OD, which is nice. Just don't try to tow too much with it. They used that transmission in some Suburbans and that was kindof the upper end of it's power/ weight limits. An external cooler for it would be a good idea.

Forget the headliner, he probably cut it out with an exacto. Stock headliners on those things drooped. Either learn to ignore it, put up something custom, or pay a shop $200 to put in something new. I have to imagine a gray headliner is a pretty simple operation.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: It does have the 4 speed OD, which is nice. Just don't try to tow too much with it. They used that transmission in some Suburbans and that was kind of the upper end of it's power/ weight limits. An external cooler for it would be a good idea.

Really? Huh... I thought in 1983 that car still would have had just a basic 3-speed auto in it, not a 4-speed overdrive unit. Of course, if it is anything like the 904 Mopar transmission in my Fury, I would be better off swapping it for something beefier. A THM400 might be a BIT overkill, but... Did they make a heavier duty 4-speed that would fit in it, besides a 4L60E like what is in my truck? I couldn't really put in an electronically controlled transmission in a car that old, right?

You could swap in a 700-R4 or an early 4L60 (notice no "E") but TBH that 200-4R is a pretty solid transmission, they lived behind Grand Nationals and GNX's and shouldn't have any problem moving that wagon around. They can be built to be stronger than an equivalent 700-R4, and some would say they are better transmission stock for stock. Don't confuse them with the old "metric" Turbo 200's.