As expected, RNM. This should be the poster child for how not to auction a car. The seller made claims they never backed up, the title is a mess, etc. Too bad, it's not a bad car for the most part, at least not based on what infomration we got out of the seller, which was minimal at best.

In my world even with adequate information this is a sub-$6000 car, mainly due to the complexity. If you want to drive one of these and enjoy it, you better have deep pockets or be an accomplished mechanic with the tools and facilities to service it.

I'm sure that MBM will be glad to let him "test the waters" all he wants...

Strangely very high reserve price for a rebuilt salvage title?

Any rust issues on the car?

Question for the seller, would you consider transaction involving Keyssavvy or Escrow.com for out of state buyers once this auction is finalized? 

Which city is the vehicle located? 

I love bens I have the C class and the E class, I hope this v12 be in my garage ❤️

@KingKitty I'm a bottom feeder too and also have 3 V12s at the moment, and a very nice 09S550 I got recently for really cheap, all bought at 95-98% depreciation because they are very complex cars and needed work that is not cheap if you have to pay someone to do it.  But I enjoy doing the work and keeping them alive.  The way this car sits I might go $3k on it AFTER doing a deep scan on every module and seeing a detailed history on it, knowing the history that has been disclosed and taking a big risk on it. 

The shill bidding was most curious as well, I had actually thought about tossing a $2k bid to start and see where it went then saw that one pop up and just laughed.

Oh well, it's been fun watching and reading.  I hope the seller is happy with whatever happens, but it ain't hapnin with me.

@zachmac First of all, the numbers are irrelevant. If you've owned "LOTS of V12s" then you also know that they depreciate like a lead balloon, mainly because the cost of maintaining one is well beyond what the average owner is willig to spend. I have owned at least six V12s, coupes and sedans, from the 2001-2007 era as well as those models with ABC, so I've got a bit of cred here, too. Nearly every one of those cars retailed at or around $200k in today's dollars. Most of them were acquired for under $5000. Why? Because the owners couldn't deal with the cost of maintaining them.

The seller appears to be clueless about auctions, or online selling in general. You can't make claims as they have without supporting documentation, unless you want everyone and their brother to question your credibility. I think this is the major point that others, along with myself, have been trying to impress upon the seller. That, and the confusion over a salvage versus a rebuilt title is also suspect unless the seller can substantiate the change. I've done this several times myself, and it's a process with nearly every state I've done it in that is well-documented.

I was absolutely interested as I know these cars well and understand their value and complexity, as well as having the ability to repair them, but without some hard and fast evidence as to the claims being made, I wouldn't touch it. That, and someone coming out of the gate with a $4500 opening bid just screams shill bidding, in my opinion. Anyone with a shred of experience and understanding of an auction would never come out that strong on a first bid. Ever.

Yup, I'm a bottom feeder and I look at a lot of these as well as other cars.  I'm going to expect details on the condition as well as ask hard questions because lack of knowledge, especially for things like ABC, can be a many thousand dollar mistake/repair. If you've owned the cars as you claim, you know this, too. I'm not bidding/buying unless I can get ahead of the value. It rarely happens, but when it does, the payoff is excellent for me.

@Awsbaraa - No one is talking trash about the car. The issue is your lack of information to back up the claims you've made. Whether it's a Toyota Camry "stripper" (a car with almost no options) or this car, if I make statements like "everything works 100%" but have nothing to prove it, people are going to challenge those claims. You got a good deal on a very high end car last year. You're looking to make a buck off of it. If you're going to do this, present facts, don't make claims that you have nothing to back them up with. It puts you in the realm of a  "buy here, pay here" corner car lot. That's all that's being asked. There's nothing wrong with saying, "I don't know." An alternative? Take the car to a trusted independent or dealer and pay for a PPI and post the results. That might set you back a couple hundred bucks, but at least people will have the information they need and not have to trust someone they don't know and have never met. And just having tht information can easily boost the value to more than cover the cost of the PPI.

Used Car Selling 101, man. That's all it is.

Having said that I would also add that I would need a better answer on the title. Cars don't get issued rebuilt titles for a "minor accident with a few dents."

OMG, I can't believe all the nonsense on this auction. The current bid is less that 3% of original MSRP. I've owned LOTS of V12 Mercedes including an 07 S600 Designo Espresso Edition as my current daily driver.

@Awsbaraa you have stated "every single button works" and that a dealer told you "everything is perfect". Simply add a commitment here that you will either fix at your expense or cancel the sale any issues the buyer finds at delivery, excluding cosmetic and normal wear issues of course. Any non-working factory function or mechanical aspect.

Everyone else, if he will do that then bid or shut up! These cars were about $160k new. They can be bought dirt cheap but when they break they are $160k cars. If you can't afford a $10k repair then you shouldn't be buying an S600. Even the4 best maintained example in the world can break tomorrow. Everything on every car works until it doesn't.

Just my 2 cents but as I said I've owned over a dozen V12 MBs.

@Awsbaraa Hardly. Tires and an alignment are a normal wear and tear item. Someone who drives a car knowing that the tires are bad and it's out of alignment either doesn't care about maintenance or doesn't want to spend the money for what should be normal upkeep in my book. An owner who ignores the basics for maintenance and upkeep is a good "tell" about how this car has been cared for. Or not.

I've seen dealer maintained cars that went to an owner who didn't maintain them at the same level and in a year or less they're seriously degraded. That's amplified many times over when it's a model like this with all of the options. And I'll let you in on a little secret - the dealer didn't check out the functionality of all of the option on the car when they went over it - they did a visual and ran a scan in Xentry to see what was up, if that. When I inspect a car for purchase it takes me a good two hours to go over it. The dealer doesn't. Now, if you had paid for a PPI (pre-purchase inspection) they would have, and you would have a detailed, 3-4 page report that identifies everything on the car and it's condition.

@Awsbaraa Not unless there is far more transparency on this car. Too many unanswered questions at this point. I'm also waiting for some addtional information to come in from other sources. Right now, with what I can see and I know, no way. Not with a ten foot pole.

And the tires are shot and it needs an alignment, too. Tough to ignore based on the wear patterns. You've had less than a year and it hasn't been aligned? That tells me something, too.

A correction on my part - I quoted the wrong number on the insurance report. I know what the car sold for at auction, too. It was more than $2200, but that's all I'm saying.

@Awsbaraa Certainly. Here's a link to the auction:

https://plc.ua/en/auctions/lot/mercedes-benz-s-2007-vin-wddng76x97a114040-3-037828530/#

And another:

https://bid.cars/en/lot/0-37828530/2007-Mercedes-Benz-S-Class-WDDNG76X97A114040

There are others out there as well, these are just some of them. Part of doing my due diligence when researching a potential purchase. Maybe the dealer bought it and resold it?

I've been buying and selling Mercedes' for over 30 years, and I'm very thorough in my research. I've got a VMI for it as well. And no, I'm not sharing it.

@Awsbaraa Public auction records from insurance auctions. The car was sold in Nashville, TN in October of last year by Farmer's Insurance for $2200. VIN confirms the sale. If it wasn't you, it was a flipper/broker who then sold it to you, most likely.

I'm a little confused as to why the listing says "rebuilt Texas title" when it's a salvage title. Maybe that's an MBM issue?

I just have concerns about why an insurer would total this car out when it's book price in best condition is far above that amount. There seems to be pieces missing from this puzzle which are concerning, that's all.

Additional photos have been added to the gallery. 

@Awsbaraa Thanks, looking forward to it. Can you give some background on the auction you bought it from in Tennessee? Looks like you purchased it back in October of last year for around $2200? I'm still trying to figure out why Farmers Insurance would have totaled this car for what little damage we can see. (I'm smelling a flip here...)

I may have missed this, but the current owner bought the car in Nov-2023 and has only put ±2500 miles on it since then? Undercarriage pics would help as well.

@pcarri and @KingKitty - You guys are on point! I'm interested in this car, but not without something to support the claims being made. This is a very complex car and if it hasn't been well maintained it can be a total nightmare to repair and run you into bankruptcy in one visit to the dealer.

@Awsbarraa - Please post copies of ALL paperwork you have on the car. And a lot more pictures, too. Thank you!

@pcarri You nailed it! To @Awsbaraa - we've said this enough that hopefully it's sunk in - if you have ANY documentation regarding the condition, service, or functionality of the vehicle, post a copy of it here. I would guess that you've never sold a car online, as the one thing that will make the difference in whether or not your car sells is how much and the quality of the information you're providing.

In other words, "too much is not enough," you might say. If you have documentation, post copies. I'm sure the folks at MBM will be more than happy to help you with that if you have difficulty. You can't make (verbal) claims or statements if they can't be backed up - I don't know you from the next person, I have no idea as to your credibility. That's not an issue if you have the records to prove your claims. Otherwise, people are buying based on "as-is, where-is," meaning they come into the auction with no expectations that the car is as described because the seller has no credibility. There is a reason why you have yet to get a bid, even a low one.

There's no reason for me or anyone else to call you if you don't have proof of your claims or aren't willing to share them with everyone. Put it up here where everyone can see it, and far more people will take an interest and become potential buyers. It can only make the auction/car more attractive to potential buyers. Otherwise, this devolves into a sale with a puffy shirt guy on a used car lot. By providing as much information as possible, you might sell the car. If not, I can easily predict that this auction will end with reserve not met.

@Awsbaraa there’s no information that I would want that everyone else here wouldn’t also want, so I would prefer to continue communication here for the entire community to see the same thing fairly.  Again, either the Mercedes Service Record stating that they went through it and found no problems or, more preferably, the VMI.
FYI, a few more pics wouldn’t hurt.  Most cars here and on BAT can have hundreds of pics, there’s less than 40 here and this being a Mercedes enthusiast site, we all like more detail.

@Awsbaraa You said: "Me personally did not have any major problems with the vehicle. "

That implies there were problems with the vehicle. What were they?

The point here is that if you've done as you said and had a dealer check everything out, you should have the paperwork from that visit stating this. Making statements that, "everything works %100 (sic)" but not being able to back this up with documentation is questionable at best. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but if you're going to make a claim like this, you need to have proof.

If you can't produce this information, I would highly advise you to ask the dealer for a "VMI", a Vehicle Master Inquiry. Any Mercedes dealer can generate this for you and it will show every time the car was seen by a dealer, no matter how minor the issue, from the date it was delivered up to the present. If you took the car to the dealer for service as you state, that visit and the work performed will be on it as well. Some dealers are reluctant to give these out, but as long as you're the owner they should at least let you view it if they don't want to print out a copy. Ask your service writer for it, and if they push back, ask for the service manager. The only resistance I've ever seen to getting one is if the party requesting it isn't the owner of the vehicle.

There is no better documentation of how a Mercedes was maintained than the VMI, short of the owner having all the service paperwork.

@Awsbaraa if you took it to the dealer and “everything is perfect” they should’ve given you a maintenance record saying what you’re ask was and what they found.  Can you post a copy?
Agree with what everyone is saying here, a CarFax isn’t going to cut it. 

@Awsbaraa True, but do the seats all work, for example? These are some of the options that tend to "die" after10-15 years. Also, did the dealer go completely - and I mean COMPLETELY through the ABC system?

Please provide copies of the dealer's serice report from this inspection, if you would. That would go a long way in confirming the condition of the car.

I would highly encourage you to return to your dealer and ask them for a VMI on the car. You're the owner, they should have no problem giving you a copy via email or just dropping in to pick it up. This will show every instance when it was at a Mercedes dealer, any Mercedes dealer, no matter how minor the reason. I wouldn't buy a model this complex without seeing the VMI.

CarFax reports are pretty much worthless other than to get information for insurance, such as damage, or odometer reports for DMVs. Anything in the way of service on a CarFax is reported voluntarily, meaning it's not terribly accurate. I would never rely on a CarFax for purchasing a car, but I would look at one to gather information while doing my due diligence.

Thanks!

@Awsbaraa  You're going to need more than a CarFax for provenance on a car this complex. Try getting a VMI from a dealer, that might help. 

Again, can you please respond as to the functionality of the options - all of the options?

In fairness to the seller, it doesn't take much to total a car like this, mainly because of the cost of repairs.

That said, the the way this car is optioned out, you've got a real nightmare of maintenance to deal with, especially since it's got ABC. Having owned cars with ABC, I would caution anyone who thinks this is a "deal" to be prepared for some major expenses unless they get a PPI done - which I would highly advise. It's right in the age/mileage range where some major ABC repairs are on the horizon if it hasn't been properly maintained. If there's no provenance to support maintenance history, I would run away from this as if my hair were on fire.

I'm mildly interested, but before I would put $10 down on this I would want confirmation that ALL of the options are working. Seller, you want to address this? Are every one of the options listed fully functional? Has the ABC been checked out?

@Awsbaraa the car was totaled for 2 dents?  Do you have documentation or paperwork around that?  I think we need details and artifacts here if we’re going to believe this.
Not trolling, seriously interested in this vehicle but something doesn’t add up.

A good cleaning might make the car more presentable 

What was the cause for the rebuilt title?