My friend is wanting to jump on the diesel benz bandwagon. We looked at a 1982 300sd owned by my friend and local MBCA president's brother.

The car presented well; black with beige interior both in good condition. Euro lights and rare euro 16" wheels, I'm guessing from a later W126. I did notice a less than silver dollar size bubble beginning to for on the left rear quarter, but the rest of the paint seemed in pretty good condition. The interior was the high point of this car, it looked nearly showroom. The front seats were replaced from an '85 500sel and look great.

The mechanical history on this car was very suprising. The brothers bought this car in 1999 with a broken timing chain at 150k. They immediately replaced the top half of the motor, as well as the transmission a few years later. The brakes were new, AC serviced and converted in 2001, and the car had almost no blowby. Barring a bad rear window motor or ?regulator? (not sure this is the right word) and a nonfunctional power driver's seat, the car was well sorted out and showing 220k on the working odometer.

Driving the car was a pleasure. Very even acceleration, excellent braking and turning. The suspension was also very soft, unlike my lumber wagon diesel needing new suspension. The car behaved just as well, if not better than my nice W123.

A few bad points I noticed were the slight over shaking of the engine at idle probably requiring new motor mounts and the tires seemed rotten. My friend the seller had a lift at his shop, and we got a good look at some scary looking jack points in the process of collapsing, but I believe not initailly from rust, though they are now corroding? It was enough to make me nervous standing under the car. The rest of the underside looked very clean. It seemed rather unusual for a car as solid as this.

Any theories on the cause of the jack points collapsing or opinons the car in general? They are asking $3,500 for it, which seems fairly reasonable, barring the scary jack points. His brother's plans for the money consist of a downpayment on a used CDI or new C class.

I'm kind of on the fence with this car and my friend is as clueless as I was 6 months ago. The jackpoints would need to be adressed immediately, and new tires. The price is firm and they just decieded to sell the car.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

I guess I would ask myself if I could do any better for that much money. Remember it could sell quickly. Then it's too late. Prices on half decent examples have been rising.
The fuel cost crunch might hurt for awhile but people will adjust and prices will continue to climb. My best example is my cheapest cost unit. The circumstances caused the price. If I had gone looking for that quality of car in it's condition it probably would have been nine times higher than what I paid to find one if not more. It kind of practically fell in my lap. Not something to count on.

Seems pricey with the rust. Has he tracked the prices on ebay? I don't think a car with that description would go for 3500 on ebay and usually that will be the high end for prices for mercedes diesels IMHO.

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Kevin

1978 300D
1979 240D

I don't think the price is on the higher end for Mercedes Diesels in general, but I do believe it is slightly overpriced. The fact that the transmission and heads are new makes a huge difference in my mind. Without that little fact, I probably would have encouraged him to walk.

I do think a less educated buyer would jump on this car for the price, not noticing the jackpoints.

I would say the most any reasonable person should pay for a 150k to 250k Diesel Benz 617 sedan is $6,000 if its near perfect example. That's my opinion, though there are many examples of people who paid alot more or less for them.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Not a bad price, thats what we paid for both of ours.....depends on location etc....

W126's are so much more comfortable than W123's.....it was so relaxing to be back to driving my car after using the 300D for a few weeks.

*Flame suit on*

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I agree, I had an '84 300D for a brief period before going to the SD.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Rust at the jackpoints = run away. Sign of lack of body integrity - a deal breaker for a used car.

Think globally --- not locally

Go to SoCal and buy a better one. Most of them have no rust problems.

The ones in Flyover country, like Kansas and Missouri, usually do.

check the buyer's guide at www.mbcoupes.com

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I agree. I would never buy a rusty car, but this W126 could be a very nice driver for my friend. Are jack points repairable?

I'm thinking he should wait it out, see if the car sells, and offer $2500 if its still around in a few weeks.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

sounds like someone stuck a floor jack under the floor instead of the correct place, and did some damage. Damage could be hidden and on a broader scale. I'd walk.

look at the one I just got... only issue is tranny has no forward gears... maybe simple. my transmission shop owes me plenty...
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/pts/625769728.html
NO rust to speak of, parked for 7 years, tires badly cracked, MINE!!! bwoHAHAHA

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I have some experiance from living in the rust belt, Those forward unibody frame rails dent fairly easily, you should poke around abit to see how rusty they are, but i did 60K miles on one with some rust and dents, If they are rusted out, its a parts car.

A W126 and W123 are quite different in this area, A w126 uses High strength steel, From your description it does sound like someone used a jack in the wrong point, I would probably not worry to much about it if the rest of the car was solid.

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1984 Euro 300SDC, (4spd standard)
1986 Toyota Landcruiser Diesel HJ60 5spd X2

Gone but not forgotten (some sold, some stripped)
1983 300 SD, 1985 300 SD, 1983 240D, 1986 300 SDL, 1985 300 SDL, 1983 300 D, 1984 300 D, 1985 300SD, 1987 300 SDL, 1983 300 SD, 1985 300 TD Euro, 1983 380SEC, 1990 300 D, 1987 300D, 1982 300D, 1982 300D, 1994 E420, 1987 300 TD, 1987 300 D, 1984 300 D

I saw this car in the salvage yard recently. Apparently the guy tried to change the oil himself, but wound up draining both the used oil and fresh oil. I wonder how far he made it before the engine seized.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Sounds like the price is too high. It would have to look and run almost like new for that kind of $$

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Somebody's not reading the whole thread... or checking the dates. We passed on it.

Back in April, or whatever it was, prices for these cars a was still fairly high. The bubble has burst.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

I wondered why you had seen it in the salvage yard.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine