560sl

I am presently looking at and comparing two 1986 560sl 's and have a question... One of the cars has the center high mounted stop light on the back edge of the trunk, the other has the light near the leading edge of the trunk, next to the top. Which is correct for the 1986, or are both correct ? I have run carfax on both vehicles and no crash/repair damage was noted on either car. Both reported the correct model year.

Any ideas?

Thanks...

Reply to
RM Smith
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Neither is correct.

JJ

RM Smith wrote:

Reply to
jeremy

  1. The light toward the leading edge is standard on 1986-1987 US cars. The more posterior placement is standard on 1988-1989 models.
  2. The car might be a 1986 European 500SL. The body style never had the centre light outside the U.S. Contrary to what most people think, Carfax will have records of grey market imports for model years starting around 1986. This is when MB changed their worldwide VIN format to a 17 digit code that is similar to (but not the same as) the format used on American market cars.
  3. Carfax isn't always a reliable source of accident information. Sometimes accidents don't get reported and even if they do, they don't always show up on Carfax. I was just in an accident where the car was deemed a total loss, and the report given to me (not Carfax) showed a prior accident that didn't come up on the dealer-supplied Carfax report.
  4. Maybe someone messed up the boot lid when trying to close an overstuffed trunk, maybe something fell on it. Those things don't usually get reported.
  5. Maybe someone just wanted to update the look of the car (although that wouldn't make sense 'cause your average bloke wouldn't know the difference anyway).
Reply to
Stradivari1688

Reply to
RM Smith

Thanks for the reply... I realize carfax may not report all the details. I have my suspicions concerning the car with the light more posterior... It has obviously been repainted. Used Car Dealer, of course, has no clue...

overstuffed

Reply to
RM Smith

I always thought that the center mounted stop light was standard on the '86 models and the thinner, longer light that is mounted on the edge of the trunk lid was standard on the '87 and up.

Reply to
Rockman59

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