The vendor of at present’s Nice Price or No Dice 380 SL claims it’s pushed ceaselessly sufficient to be thought-about a daily sight on San Diego roads. Let’s see if it’s priced for us common folks to drive.
Roller coasters, scary films, and bloody video video games all have one factor in frequent. Each permits us to enter a world of peril or journey with out the precise menace of bodily hurt. It’s the sizzle with out the contaminated steak. The 2016 Dodge Journey Crossroad Plus that got here beneath our adjudication yesterday represented the polar reverse. It was a smart and seemingly sturdy household automobile that supplied nothing when it got here to thrills or chills of any kind. Its solely modus operandi includes getting its occupants dwelling safely and in modest consolation. Could that place as primary transportation plus a bit extra be definitely worth the $6,699 requested for it? Well, in line with these of you who voted the Dodge to a 60 p.c Nice Price win, it most actually may.
Yesterday’s Dodge was designed beneath the auspices of German automobile maker Daimler’s possession of Chrysler. Little, nevertheless, of that marque’s legendarily stout construct high quality and engineering made it into the mannequin. Truth be informed, by the flip of the twenty first Century, even Daimler’s personal Mercedes-Benz fashions have been beginning to present indicators of cost-cutting and associated construct high quality points.
Two many years prior, issues have been vastly completely different, and that’s simply when this 1983 Mercedes-Benz 380 SL was constructed and bought. Many take into account the R107 SL sequence not simply probably the greatest automobiles ever constructed by Mercedes however usually one of many best-built automobiles on the earth. Solid, sturdy, and long-lived each in manufacturing years and to this present day as a fascinating traditional, the R107 has endurance belied by its diminutive dimension.
That’s to not say all R107s are created equal, and this 380 SL is maybe the least equal of all of them. Offered from 1981 by 1985, the 380 SL changed the 450 SL within the North American market, providing the smaller, much less highly effective version of the M116 V8 in an effort to enhance gas financial system and emissions. The downgrade is noticeable on each paper and on the street, with the 155 horsepower 3.8 giving up absolutely 35 horses to its brawnier predecessor. To add insult to damage, the three.8 additionally employed a much less sturdy timing chain design. That has gained a popularity for extra put on, ending in probably catastrophic engine failure. There is a repair to the difficulty, nevertheless it’s neither low cost nor notably straightforward to do.
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The advert for this 380 SL doesn’t present a lot in the best way of description or historical past, so it’s inconceivable to inform what kind of form its M116 is perhaps in. The vendor does observe some latest upkeep work however, once more, doesn’t go into element. On the plus aspect, the advert does declare the automobile to be recurrently pushed and to have a clear title and present registration with a passing grade on its smog check.
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Aesthetically, there’s some oddness happening as nicely. Overall, the automobile seems to be strong, with the English White paint displaying no main points on the whole. It’s the small print that don’t appear so as to add up. The fender lips and bumpers have each been painted in what seems to be to be bed-liner black. That crinkle-coat end is one thing extra anticipated on a set of slippery steps than on the fender arch of a Mercedes roadster. Why would somebody try this? Is it masking some type of unhealthy rust restore or different bodywork boogers? Mercedes Centra wheels sporting new tires underpin the oddly-sprayed arches, providing one thing to counter that unusual function.
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Also to be thought-about within the plus column are the 2 tops, each of that are proven erected and every trying to be in wonderful situation. The inside beneath additionally seems to be to have held up nicely, one other hallmark of traditional Mercedes high quality. The advert notes 155,000 miles on the clock and touts the inclusion of a set of aesthetic-improving European headlamps. All that comes at a set worth of $6,750 with the admonition that low-ballers needn’t trouble to use.
What’s your tackle this worst-of-the-best R017 and that $6,750 asking? Does that appear like a good deal regardless of the automobile’s flaws and considerably unusual paint trim? Or, is that an excessive amount of to miss such downsides?
You resolve!
San Diego, California, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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Source: jalopnik.com