HELP QUICK: Reliability low mile 1992 '92 500SEL?

I have a chance to get a 1992 140 body 500SEL with 65K miles, one owner (CARFAX), Texas owner, dealer serviced car with evaporator, pump seal recently replaced. Price is around $16K. Need advice on expected repair costs and future if big stuff already replaced.

BACKGROUND I noticed several older threads (Google search) indicating that 1992 was a terrible year for this car. Question arises: Does the car become stable after big items replaced?

GOALS I want a reasonably priced, fairly reliable work car for the long commute (40 miles). I do not mind some maintenance, and preventive maintenance, but do NOT want to spend $2K-3K or more a year on repair maintenance (unexpected, unplanned). Have been an Camry and Odyssey kind of family guy.

QUESTIONS:

1. Were there cars pretty much uniformly bad, or were some OK after the evap and pump seals were replaced?
2. After some of these types of things were replaced, they settle down into good cars, or did they requires constant repairs? IOW, if I look at service records and see that many items (ball joint fix for shimmy, evap, etc.) were done, can I expect it to be a good car, or can I expect to spend K or more for maintenance every year I own the car?
3. Any other good advice or something I should know?

I really like the look and performance of the car, but if my pockets were THAT deep, I'd buy an new one and pay for the maintenance, too.

I have a chance to get a 1992 140 body 500SEL with 65K miles, one owner (CARFAX), Texas owner, dealer serviced car with evaporator, pump seal recently replaced. Price is around $16K. Need advice on expected repair costs and future if big stuff already replaced.

BACKGROUND I noticed several older threads (Google search) indicating that 1992 was a terrible year for this car. Question arises: Does the car become stable after big items replaced?

GOALS I want a reasonably priced, fairly reliable work car for the long commute (40 miles). I do not mind some maintenance, and preventive maintenance, but do NOT want to spend $2K-3K or more a year on repair maintenance (unexpected, unplanned). Have been an Camry and Odyssey kind of family guy.

QUESTIONS:

1. Were there cars pretty much uniformly bad, or were some OK after the evap and pump seals were replaced?
2. After some of these types of things were replaced, they settle down into good cars, or did they requires constant repairs? IOW, if I look at service records and see that many items (ball joint fix for shimmy, evap, etc.) were done, can I expect it to be a good car, or can I expect to spend K or more for maintenance every year I own the car?
3. Any other good advice or something I should know?

I really like the look and performance of the car, but if my pockets were THAT deep, I'd buy an new one and pay for the maintenance, too.

Sorry for the multiple post - was fussing with the firewall and multiposted before I could see success. Sorry ;-(

I love MBs but I can't in good faith recommend that you buy a '92. This year has had many problems, some of which have been fixed on the car you are looking at....but there will be more to come. Since you commute 400 miles a week, (20,000+ miles a year) you probably would be much better off with a smaller economy car. Put the miles on it...get better gas mileage, and use your savings to buy a MB for cruisin' on your fun time.

Thanks for the practical advice. I know nothing about this stuff, but I'm beginnning to get the idea that with respect to reliability (not saftey or fun or handling, etc., but all out reliability) MB has not really made very reliable cars since the 1990

500S. Below are the numbers I get for total cost of annual ownership for say a 1992-1994 500SEL. So, what is the year for a 500S(EL) before the Camry-like bosy change (IOW, buying a W140 body car), do we know what the best year is for reliability (electronic goodies and all)?

Car purchase (12 year old 1992) $16,000.00 License $ 1,040.00 0.065 Truck xport to owner (non-local) $ 600.00 $17,640.00

Annual Costs: Annual miles 14000 fuel/gal $ 1.55 MPG 14 Annual fuel cost $ 1,550.00

Insc $ 1,500.00 Maint (preventive) $ 1,000.00 Repairs (Unplanned) $ 2,000.00 Depreciation (per year over say Honda or Toyota) $ 1,200.00 Annual cost $ 7,250.00 Loan payments $ 550.00 months 12 Total Loan Payments $ 6,600.00 Annual Total Cost of Ownership $13,850.00

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MB has not really made very reliable cars since the 1990

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The very best MB sedans were the 1986 thru 1991 420/560 SELs. These were the last of the MBs built by the engineers, not the marketing dept. The 1998 and newer models seem to be pretty good. The drivetrains and engines are solid. The problems are coming from all the "toys" that they are putting on the new cars. This is a problem with all makes, not just MB. For example if you have to replace the automatic, fly you to the moon, rearview mirror you are looking at about $1,000. Even a new key costs $100 and takes 3 days to order thru the dealer after you pass the security test. Surveys show that about 65% of the new car buyers trade the car the minute the warranty runs out. Smart move. And if you do buy a used MB be sure to get it from a dealer with the StarMark warranty. It pays for itself very quickly.