1986 Mercedes-Benz 420SEL Base Sedan 4-Door 4.2L

I recently purchased this 1986 Mercedes-Benz 420SEL with the intention of keeping mileage off of my primary vehicle. However. I need money to fix my other car so this. sadly. must go. It has a lot of miles on it but it still cranks and runs within seconds of turning the key. When it is below freezing the starter will sometimes whine for a quick moment but always fires up. Driving down the highway at 85mph is no chore for this car as it drives and tracks down the highway with no shake or shimmy. It is momentarily sluggish but once you get to a certain speed this thing takes off like a rocket. It is a huge. long. and wide vehicle but it handles pretty well for the age and size. The body is in good shape for being almost 30 years old. I looked everywhere for rust and could not find it. The previous owner refinished the top surfaces (hood. roof. and trunk lid) himself and did a very nice job. The sides of the car appear to still have the original finish. The body panels are straight and all the doors shut with the solid thud that one would expect from a Mercedes S-Class car. The car has the original wheels that are dipped in chrome. Three tires are the same brand and the driver's side rear tire is different but all four tires are in decent shape with a good amount of tread still on them. The brake pads and rotors on all four corners were replaced by the previous owner less than 500 miles ago with parts purchased from the local O'Reillys. The car does shimmy when the brakes are heavily applied at higher speeds. The previous owner replaced the brakes all around to solve this shaking issue but it turned out to the the guide rod mounts. Those will need replacing but the car can easily be driven with the worn guide rod mount bushings but it is a minor annoyance and you would want to replace those when you have the funds. The engine sounds smooth and doesn't make any strange noises or tick. The transmission shifts through all gears effortlessly and seamlessly. The one leak that I have noticed is somewhere around the transmission. It is probably caused by a seal or gasket. The size of a quarter if the car sits for a day. The fluid drips over the exhaust and on long trips you may catch a whiff of hot oil. Again. not serious issue but indeed an annoyance. I have not noticed any other leaks. The transmission fluid was replaced a year ago by the previous owner and isn't due for another change for a long time. I think it would benefit from a fresh set of plugs. wires. cap. and rotor as the previous owner had not done so in the 3. 5 years of his ownership. Otherwise the car runs smoothly for a car that is shy of being 30 years old. The central door lock works. the lights work. signal lamps work. both power front seats work and adjust a multitude of different ways. the horn works. and the original tape player AM/FM stereo works as well. An optional Alpine 6disc CD changer is counted in the trunk but I haven't tried to use it. It does come its own remote. There are tons of options I am probably overlooking that work. Now for the non-operable options. The sunroof doesn't open. It also doesn't leak so it is a non issue to me. It'd be nice to have though. It may be as simple as a faulty switch. The power windows go up and down but the switches are finicky and often require a hard hand to operate. The rear switches are fully functioning but the front window switches should be replaced or maybe switched out with the rear switches. Switches here on eBay are plentiful and cheap. The air works and the heat both work. The A/C gets surprisingly cold. The stalk for the cruise control needs to be replaced if you want to use it. The radio antenna doesn't come up but this doesn't bother me because I listen to music off my phone. The interior is to be expected for a classic daily driven vehicle. The front seats have cracks in the material indicative of use. The rears look much better but have a small crack or two. There is a dashboard cover. Some of the trim is rough. Interior lights all work. The netting on the backs of the front seats are sagging. Overall not too shabby for a car with this many miles. The windshield has a few dings in it but no major cracks. They are definitely small enough to repair with resin. The driver's side headlight has a chip in it. Again. I'm sure there are details I've missed but I believe I have adequately described my car. The car is located in Reno. Nevada. The car is sold as-is. I will be more than happy to meet up for test drives. I'm not a car salesman and feel that I've done my best to describe this beautiful timeless classic. Thank you very much for looking and please feel free to send me a message with any questions or comments. If you would care to see more pictures of the car please message me and I will send you the link.