Are Multiple Sales at Auctions Usually Bad?

I'm looking at a 1984 380SL that, overall, looks to be in great shape, other than a fuel injection issue. For one thing, there is almost no sign of rust at all on it.

I got a Carfax report and it looks like it was in Coral Gables, FL from 1984 to 1994. It was sold at an auction in October of 1994, then again, with another 900 miles on it, in Feb. 1997. It was retitled with a new owner a month later. Then, in August of 2000, there was a title update in Rochester, NY with a loan or lien reported, and the same thing in July of

2002.

To me, so far, it sounds like it was sold, and may have been sold through a loan, so this doesn't bother me yet. (Although it was in an area with salty air, then up with snow and road salt, but there are almost NO signs of rust!)

It was sold at auction in June, 2003 with 115,000 miles on it (roughly

10,000 miles since Jan. 1997). It was sold at auction again, 2 months later, in August of 2003. A new title was issued in Oct. of 2003. It was sold again, at auction, in May of 2005. I suspect this was to the current owner, a dealer, with 10,000 miles more than in June, 2003. It passed inspection in August of 2005, but hasn't been inspected since. I suspect this dealer has had it on his lot since then.

I've noticed that it went through a couple auctions in a row since 2003. I know this dealer has a lot of cars on his lot that would give him a much higher profit than fixing and selling this one, so I think it's quite possible he has just given it a low priority. (I know I'd rather move a car I could sell for 2-3 times what this one would bring than work on the lower profit vehicles.)

Is the number of auctions necessarily a bad thing? Would that most likely be because someone bought it, found out there was a hidden problem, and dumped it, or are there other likely explanations? I know there is currently an issue with it running rich. Is it likely each of the recent dealers noticed this, thought they could fix it cheaply, and sold it when they dug into it?

Thanks for any comments. Overall, this car seems to be in great shape, other than the fuel injection issue. I'd love to get it, but not if the injection/running rich issue would cost an absurd amount to fix. I'm wondering if the multiple auction sales would indicate that as an issue, but also wondering, on a larger scale, if many title transfers is a bad thing or just something that happens some times.

Hal