Cars From Warm Places: 1995 Mercedes-Benz E320 vs 1999 Chevy Cavalier Z24

Welcome back! As I sit here on Tuesday evening writing, it’s dark out, and I can hear the freezing rain hitting the windows. By tomorrow morning, the city of Portland is likely to resemble an underrated Metallica song. I spent most of the day struggling in the cold replacing the starter in my stranded truck (successfully, I’m happy to report). I’m sick of this polar vortex crap. I want to look at some cars for sale in warm places, so that’s what we’re going to do.

Yesterday’s vote on a pair of would-be Euro-killers went about as I expected. My beloved Cimarron went over like a lead balloon, and lost big to that jumped-up Granada with a Ranger engine. It’s fine. It’s good, in fact, because it means that sometime in the future, if I come across the perfect Cimarron (don’t roll your eyes like that), it’ll still be nice and cheap.

Or will it? Between the Radwood effect, and the naturally high attrition rates of mediocre quality items, the cars I love from my youth are actually climbing in value. I won’t find another $500 Chrysler Laser XE like I once bought, or $800 Quad 4 manual Olds Calais. I saw an ’86 LeBaron sedan for sale the other day for $4,500 – and it’ll probably sell. J, K, E, and N used to be my go-to letters for humble affordable transportation. Those days are disappearing.

But hey, what the hell. I’ll throw another blue J-body at you today and see if you bite. I also found a decent old Mercedes wagon, if you’d rather. Let’s check them out.

1995 Mercedes-Benz E320 wagon – $1,950 plus CA back fees

Engine/drivetrain: 3.2 liter dual overhead cam inline 6, four-speed automatic, RWD

Location: outside Palm Springs, CA

Odometer reading: 228,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives, but has been sitting

I specifically chose cars from warm places – this one is from Palm Springs – but ironically, my appreciation for the Mercedes W124 began in St. Paul, Minnesota, on a snowy day. I had just completed a radiator flush on a maroon 300E at the service station where I worked, and I was sitting in it with the engine idling, watching the temperature gauge, watching giant snowflakes settle on the windshield. We were under strict orders never to touch a customer’s radio unless it was to turn it off, but I didn’t want to; it was on the classical station, Handel or Vivaldi or something with lots of strings. It was a nice quiet moment in the middle of a chaotic day, and I’ve been a fan of the W124 ever since.

This one technically is an S124, being a station wagon. This is a seven-passenger model, with the fabled “way-back” seat. It’s powered by a twincam inline six and a four-speed automatic, both buttery-smooth. This one has been sitting for a long time due to the owner’s medical issues, but they say it starts and runs just fine. It will, of course, need at least some work; cars don’t like to sit, and they always need something afterwards. If it stays in California, it will need something else as well: “several years” of back registration fees. Unless you tell the state you’re not going to drive the car for an extended period – what they call “planned non-operational status” – you are liable for whatever registration fees it accrues during the time it’s off the road.

It has a ton of miles on it, but these cars are world-renowned for longevity. With proper care and feeding, you could probably double the reading on its odometer. The limiting factor might be the wiring harness; I know that some Mercedes models of this era had issues with the wire insulation degrading and causing shorts. I don’t know if this is one of the affected years.

The mechanical bits aren’t the only parts of these cars that wear like iron. Mercedes upholstery simply doesn’t age, and this car looks  nice inside considering it’s approaching a quarter of a million miles. There’s a little tear in the armrest, but that’s all I see. Outside, it’s sun-faded, but straight, and it might look a lot better after a wash and wax. And it has a Cure sticker on the tailgate, which may or may not be a good thing. (Personally, I am of the opinion that they only had one really good album, but it’s really good.)

1999 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 convertible – $3,300

Engine/drivetrain: 2.4 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, four-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Port Orange, FL

Odometer reading: 144,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives great

The Cavalier was Chevy’s bread-and-butter small car for a long time. Millions of ruthlessly ordinary four-door sedans and two-door coupes provided basic transportation, but for buyers looking for something a little special, Chevy offered a convertible version starting in 1983. And in 1985, the Z24 package arrived, with more power, bigger tires, stiffer suspension, and some visual touches. But the hot ticket was to order the Z24 package – on the convertible.

This third-generation Z24 is powered by a 2.4 liter twincam engine, a descendant of Oldsmobile’s Quad 4, instead of the V6 of earlier Cavalier Z24s. It sends 150 horsepower to the front wheels through a four-speed automatic, not really enough for any violent acceleration, but enough to introduce you to the concept of torque-steer. It runs and drives great, according to the seller, but I’d check the front brakes; there’s a lot of brake dust on the front wheels. It has a new battery, air conditioning compressor, and top seals, which tells me someone cares about this car.

It’s a sharp looking car, with the white top, but I don’t think that blue is original. The seller refers to it as “Bahama Blue,” but I can’t find a reference to that color. There’s a “Dahlia Blue,” but it’s a little darker, and metallic. A repaint on its own wouldn’t be much of an issue, and it’s a great color, but the presence of a little rust bubble on one rear quarter panel brings the work into question. It’s worth a little more investigation, and some questions.

Inside, it’s, well, a ’99 Cavalier with 144,000 miles. These also hold up pretty well inside, but that’s because they’re made of the same plastic as Fisher-Price toys. Four-year-olds can’t hurt that stuff. And it’s nice of them to include both top-up and top-down photos, to show it does indeed work. The seller also makes a point of mentioning that the original owner’s manual is included – always a nice touch.

Cheap cars come in all shapes and sizes, and the great thing is that since they’re cheap, you’re not stuck with one. Want a wagon? Buy a cheap wagon. Fancy a convertible? Get a cheap convertible. Which one grabs you today?

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)