Well it's probably 4 really.

And this sucks, I wrote this out and it dissappeared. I'll try again, abridged.

I previoulsy posted a thread about a $1500 beater I saw. I'm new to diesels and to mercedes. I can DIY, but really DIM since it's myself, but then I seem dim...

All cars look nice. No rust or dents. Typical rock dings and scratches, but still shine nice. Look much better than you would expect for 20 year old cars. All have good glass. All windows and sunroofs work. None had power doors locks that work (do the 300d's even have power locks?) No rips in leather. None smoked that I could notice, but wasn't really looking. Glanced at back of car and didn't see anything, so I said, "no smoke." No puddles under cars, but all were a little oily in the engine department. Guess that's normal.

83 300sd, 158K, Drives Great. Gold with grey (don't remember doesn't matter) leather. 2nd owner, never owned anything other than diesel mercedes her whole life. She bought from an older couple. Selling becuase she bought a land cruiser for driving in the winter mountians. No service records, but will give me number to mechanic who she says will vouch for it up and down. Says can cruise at 100mph, and does great up mountain passes as long as you keep the revs up. Says 38mpg on highway, I said BS. Will need tires soon. ACC and cruise work. Stock radio. Asking $4200, could get for $4K, don't know if will go much lower.

85 300d, 130ishK, Drives good. Seemed a little "jerky" compared to the others. But still smooth and strong. Grey/silver with blue leather. One family car that was bought by a broker and is now cosigned to a dealer. Broker says just had it "tuned up," and "turbo adjusted." New tires and wheels. New dash cap to cover old cracked one. I think the ACC was converted as well. Broker showed me driver door is slightly off color (accident?) but car fax ok. ACC and cruise work. Stock radio. Dealer asking $4800, get for $4k maybe?

83 300d, 160K, Drives Great. Pretty good get up and go. Seat seems kinda saggy towards the door. Grey/silver with blue leather. 2nd owner bought at 135K miles 4 years ago for teenage son who "never got a ticket and is pretty conservative," says dad. Son went to college and car has been driven only occasionally since. New tires, brakes, shocks, glow plugs, tranny rebuilt at 140K. Owner under the impression that they must be rebuilt every 150K (sounds like a shop line to me.) Dash cracked all over. This is the only one I stuck my hand under the exhaust and I saw a slight whitish color to it. By my limited knowledge of diesels, this seems normal to me. Really Nice radio. ACC and cuise do NOT work. Asking $5k but I said no way, I'm looking at other for $4k and he said ok for me. We work at the same company.

I really liked the way the 300sd drove and looked, but it's the one with the least history work done to it that I know. There are no other sd's for me to look at except the $1500 beater.

Now, I wasn't even looking for a car until the jerk above drove his car to work with the for sale signs in it, and I've been looking ever since. I already have a reliable vehicle, a Toyota truck, so I don't even need a car. But I'm sick of bouncing over everything, flooring it up every hill and to maintain highway speeds (4 banger.) So the 4th choice is:, should I even get one. Rationally I should invest my money since cars depreciate. Are these "good" deals or "run of the mill, average, you could find a car like that at that price anytime" kinda deal?

I have a few pics of a couple of them if necessary, but just think nice car....

wow, is this as long as I think it is?

They all sound a little over-priced to me.

it'll be interesting to see what other members say as I'm fairly new to MBs too.

I bought a super nice 300td , a harder to find car, for $3500 and probably could've found one just as nice for less than that but was tired of waiting. I looked for months.

Great cars--good luck in your quest and let us know what you get.

Cheers,

Bill

You need to ask the one how you "adjust the turbo", I'm real curious what his answer is.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

BTW--could some of the more senior members tell me how to adjust the turbo??

Maybe there is a turbo adjustment but I can't imagine what kind of "adjustment" you could do--bend the blades maybe

Cheers,

Bill

Aw bonehead--ya type faster than me...

Cheers,

Bill

I think they just messed with some throttle screws. He said it makes the turbo "kick in faster" or something to that effect.

Probably adjusted the ALDA.

The prices sound a little high to me....... if they had great records and were in really good shape then maybe. The $1500 one might be ok if it's not too beat up. (I didn't look at your other thread)

__________________
1985 300D Turbo ~225k
2000 F350 (Powerstroke) 4X4, SWB, CC, SRW, 6spd ~148k
1999 International 4900, DT466e (250hp/660 ft/lbs), Allison MD3060 ~73k

These cars do have power locks, but a lot of times the vacuum hoses that run them deteriorate/crack/become brittle. In my case, it take a long time for the locks to come up...
Btw, these cars have plenty of power (make sure you buy one with the kickdown switch working), but you'll still have to give it plenty of throttle to maintain speeds uphill, at least with my 300D you do!

If you like the SD then look hard at that one. Talk to the mechanic and then get a second appraisal from an independent mechanic. They all sound a bit high but tough to say without seeing them in person. If the SD is average and passes an independent inspection with no glaring faults I would offer $3500. There are still enough nice old MB's around that if you can wait it may pay to be picky. It took 2 years to find my 300D but its exactly what I wanted. RT

__________________
When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

They are all in really nice condition and don't have many miles on them compared to what I've seen other people buying on the forum or on Ebay. But rwthomas1 is probably right. I can afford to wait. So I probably should until I find the "perfect" one. The 300sd with 150k or less and all records. And for $100, now that would be nice . But if I wait for that, I think I'll be waiting a long time.

By the way, what's a kickdown switch and an ALDA?

The 300 SD is worth $4K if the following conditions apply:

1) It has no rust
2) It has no climate control issues. Meaning that all the vents work as designed and all the a/c functions work as designed.
3) You have the transmission serviced by a competant shop and they agree that the original fluid is not still sitting in there!
4) You take one of the wheels off and check out the front end to determine if any of the components have been replaced. You don't want to spend $2K on front end parts right after you buy it.

and, if you have the time:

4) get a compression check on the engine.

If the above points are met, you will have a decent vehicle that will not kill you in the first two years.

My SD was exactly $4K. I rolled the dice with it on e-bay. Turns out that it was well taken care of and had a factory rebuilt transmission in it. It also had 150K on the clock when I bought it 2 1/2 years ago.

You can hold out for the SD with all the books and records, but, these are getting harder to find, and, you still should determine all of the above points, regardless.

wastegate spring

__________________
'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

Ok--Haven't had that problem yet

Thanks...

Cheers,

Bill