buying my first mercedes. wanting a 1982 300CD coupe that i found for around $3500. black interior and exterior, runs and drives well, no smoke really decent body and paint, automatic, all options(cruise, air, power all).
i know nothing about diesels and want something my wife can drive and rely on while running on B100.
-good buy?
-anything to look for?
-good, solid car that will be driven from washington to N. carolina in with the family?
any input will help.
thanks.

The price is fair if the car checks out, but have a PPI done by a qualified tech familiar with diesels. Depending on how big your family is though you might want to consider a 4 door rather than the coupe...

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

what is a ppi?

It could be from what you said, but how many miles? rust? service records? history? inspection by a mechanic you can trust? I love my 300D sedan and I'm a mechanic with a back ground in engineering so I knew what not to get and I'm not dissapointed! If it is in good shape, you will love it and they are dependable. C oupe's are harder to find than sedans.

Pre Purchase INspection. How many miles does it have on it? Does it have a detailed maintenance history? How many previous owners? Did it spend its life in the rust belt?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

right at 200,000 i just found out. no rust, originally from so.california. no records included but was checked out by a mechanic recently.

keep in mind that some coupe parts (door/window specific ones especially) can be much harder to come by than sedan parts

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1992 300D 2.5T 249k - Parked with a bad transmission
1981 300SD 142k - Daily driver

Decent price, as the previous post states, some parts rare, read expensive. However, those parts are accident related, usually. A friend has a '79 CD, some kid, probably, threw a rock through the rear windscreen, quite an effort to replace, but was done. I'm rather fond of mine, currently 114,000 miles. There is one at my closest pick'n'pull, same color as mine, the sight did startle me. Agree with nhdoc about the family aspect. Good luck.

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83 SD

84 CD

Heh my 4 door saloon euro doesn't have seatbelts in the back. Not family friendly either. But thats a rarity at best.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

I bought an 85 300cdt three months ago and absolutely love it (200K, $2500)

I was told to check the a/c because that is like $1000+ to have to replace.....

ALso the transmission would be another high dollar area to have looked at.

And like the other posts say... rust. look under the carpet at the floorboards. I guess these cars have a predisposition to leaking water....

If it is turbo charged... that could be another area to make sure it is sound.

By the way I am getting around 28MPG. Very fun to drive, solid and heavy, same length as the 4 door but a little lower in height.

LEt me know if you have any questions.

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85 300CD Turbo "Das Polluter" 230K sold for $3,000

98 BMW 323is

Hey,Nice car.
i've got a few 300CD's myself,and love them to death.They're great cars.One's a turbo car,and the other,my baby,is a 79 non-turbo car.I've got a few projects going on right now,and always on the lookout for parts and cars.