Thinking about buying a 240d with 410K miles. What do you guys think, is that too high to even make it worth it?

Here's the link: Mercedes Bentz 1977, manual, diesel

It looks like it's been repainted. Any tips on what to look for when I check it out?

looks like its in really good shape for having gone to the moon and halfway back. is that a crack free dash?
that being said, dunno about the $2k asking price.

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles

Yep, it's got some things going for it:
It's red, standard trans, interior looks good, possible crack free dash, all four hubs, no apparent damage to body.

If engine is workable and rust is minimal, you may have a winner.

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Codifex
1981 240D ChinaBlue (Got her running with a donor engine.)
1983 300DTurbo w/sunroof.
1984 300TD manual sunroof. (Electrical Gremlins)

Not sure what color that is...

I would offer $1200 and see what happens. With the high mileage its going to need all kinds of stuff soon if it doesn't already.

It depends. I paid $1500 for an 84 SD with 310k miles. But it had a new engine with about 30k miles on it. If the engine is original in that 240d and hasn't been rebuilt, price seems high to me unless you have a spare engine available to drop into it in the near future.

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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

This to me is where owning some 123s before helps in judgement. If the car has really been taken care of from a mechanical perspective over the years it might be okay. Many of the 123 buggies for sale claiming 200k plus a little milage perhaps have already exceeded or equalled this milage in reality.

Those pesky failing odometers and so easy to turn back. In this case if the seller had turned it back to 250k. Or the odometer had not worked or been replaced at some point. I wonder if you would be as concerned.

.Like any used car especially if older they need to be really checked out before buying. I have a 1977 123 5 cylinder that appears and mechanically is still in pretty good shape at suspected simular milage. I say suspected as certain wear indicates much high milage to me. I at the same time feel a lot of money was spent on it over the years. As soon as I see a worn or torn drivers seat bolster I automaticall figure more than 250k miles.

Just for the record, my bolster tore well before 250k miles. Around 150k. I think wear on the bolster is a measure of how many times someone entered/exited the car. Usually this is correlated with mileage but not always. Lots of short trips will result in low miles and worn bolsters.

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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

Very true. My 240D has 134k but the driver seat is in sad shape. I know the miles are correct since it is a family car.

Obviously the condition of the engine is going to be a prime concern. At this time of year even engines with poor compression will usually start easily, so starting ability isn't going to tell you much. There are probably three things I would look for: excessive smoke on cold start, excessive blow-by (test by loosening the oil fill cap while running, if it wants to blow off there and spray oil everywhere you are dealing with a lot of blow-by, have a rag handy), and low RPM torque.

The last one is tricky to evaluate without having some experience with these 4 cylinder diesels. It can show up in a road test: if you find that the car won't climb steep urban hills in third gear, or maintain speed on gentle freeway hills in fourth gear, then you've got a pretty tired engine. There's also a certain feel to a tired engine: they're kind of zoom-ey, if I can coin a term. They're slow off the line at the bottom of the RPM range, but then they do fine at the top end. My old engine in my 240D would climb freeway hills like a rabbit, provided you kept the throttle open enough to maintain 55 mph or better. However, it would feel like it was dying to start at the bottom of a hill and get up to speed!

The other thing to look into is the condition of the front end. It costs about $2000 for a professional to rebuild the front end on one of these 240D's, and it is common for an older, high mileage car to be in this condition. Don't ask me how I know.

Kurt

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- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).

At that age and mileage, maintenance and repair history is everything. If the seller hasn't got at least some meaningful documentation, it isn't worth anywhere near $2,000.

I actually had an '83 240d with about 400k miles on it. But it was one owner for nearly all its life and was kept up with incredible care (until it hit two jackasses the last four years before my hands). And the mileage was 80 percent open highway (the owner was a manufacturer rep who drove around the US).

But even with that care, it had a rebuilt cylinder head.

I can't see that motor not being pretty tired, if it hasn't had work done. A competent inspection, including a compression test, is going to be must-do here.

Good used OM616s are hard to come by. You need to be sure before you get into this.

The good news is that my car, with 400k, was still lovely to drive and I still miss it. But as I said, it had meticulously good upkeep for nearly its whole history.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

That car has been on CL for quite some time. I dunno, it looks pretty tired to me. It all depends on how much you're willing to put into it.

Don't forget, acquisition price, plus insurance, plus safety repairs, then other things. Personally, I'd bet you need $1000-2000 in repairs and other things to get that car right. That may include dropping a used OM616 into it.

Sincerely,

PE

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83 240D - 4 speed manual - Manilla Beige
189K miles, Tachometer mod, cool wooden shift knob from PeachParts, CocoMats, Original factory paint, manual windows, manual sunroof. Starting to add AudioWrap to this car too!

Find out whether the car has spent most or all of its life there in the valley. No exposure to winter salted roads is a plus (significant rust is a deal-killer). As others have written, service records are extremely important or you have to assume that too much remains to repair or replace, like that driver's seat cover.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Hey all, thanks for the tips. I decided to pass on the car (didn't even go look at it). The guy was sort of sketchy on the phone so I didn't want to make the 40 mile trip. He said he didn't have any records and gave me a couple of incompatible answers about where he got the car and how long he had it. He also said that he wasn't negotiable on the price, so . . .

Appreciate the tips nonetheless.

I kind of wondered if he'd be shady. The ad says it has a sunroof, but I can see on in any of the pics.

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