I have found a '93 SD with 171k on the odometer. The car has been sitting for three years. According to the owner, his wife drove the car. It needed brakes and he began to notice it losing water. He said that he never could see it leaking water until one day while it sat in his driveway idling he noticed water dripping from near the water pump.

I am very well aware of the stigma these engines have ( I owned a '91 350SDL and it used a quart every 1k miles). I asked about oil consumption and he said that it would always be a quart low between changes. He said the change interval was 5k and he used Rotella (dino). The car is parked on a fairly steep hill so the oil level was just barely to the middle of the bottom red indicator on the dipstick. The coolant expansion tank was empty, or course. The head is a number 20 from what I could read.

He claims to have paperwork showing where the AC system had "extensive" (his word) repairs done before he bought it. He claims that the car never gave he and his wife any problems. He says that his wife wanted another car and so she ended up with an SLK. The car was parked to the side of his driveway on the grass and it has sat there for about three years. He said that he went to move it a few months after he parked it there (wanted to cut the grass) and the battery was dead. He said that he had no interest in dealing with it at that time and so it was placed on the low end of the priority list.

The interior is intact. Its not a rag. It's dirty but will detail nicely. If I purchase the car I will have to trailer it home. The tires are still good from what could be seen. The owner is an older gentleman. The neighborhood was very nice. Nice home, nicely kept. Kinda hope that carries some merit. He has owned numerous Mercedes and shared his #14 head story of when he owned an '86 300D. Maybe I just want to believe that the man is sincere when he says that he just parked it when it exhibited the water loss, needed brakes and his wife wanted another Mercedes. It's kinda hard to tell these days when someone is trying to "take you for a ride." I offered him $800 for the car and he accepted my offer pending he finds the title. I plan to go get it unless y'all talk me down from the ledge.