See photos at: 1987 Mercedes-Benz 300TD Wagon

1987 300TD Wagon (Lindsay Wagner)
Located in Philadelphia, PA (19143)
Asking $3000 - Serious offers / trades considered

This is my dream car and I am truly loathe to sell it. The reason I'm selling it is because I don't currently have the skills, resources or time to restore and maintain it over the long haul (I'm a 32 year old architect starting my own business, if that gives you any idea). Although I cannot keep it, I have given it consistent maintenance and love over the year I've owned it. I have the car's complete history - from company car in Baltimore, to stock broker's trophy, to me.

The person who sold the car to me completely flushed everything, new fluids, new superficial stuff like wiper blades and so on. I put new tires on last year, have kept up on all correct fluids and filters, cleaning, protective coatings and so on. I have driven this car daily all year round and even took a few road trips from Philly to Chicago and back. If you've read this far, you know how freakin sweet these cars are for long road trips.

Odometer reads 217301 miles - BUT it has likely read this number since sometime around 2010. Car was driven very lightly from 2004 until I purchased it in December 2014. Again, complete history available.

EXTERIOR: (See pics, obviously) Exterior in decent shape, minor dings here and there, some rust around rear wheel wells as shown and the jack points are pretty dang rusty. I replaced the headlamp lens covers with new this year and started to repair the antenna, which needs replacing.

INTERIOR: (More pics) The interior is so sweet. Leather is in excellent condition throughout, dash is like the day she was born. There is one big chip in the poly on the center console by the shifting stick. All instruments work properly except the odometer. Clock keeps time perfectly. Contemporary radio / CD player with removable face plate.

HVAC & ELECTRICAL: AC does not work, I just lived with it. Heat works perfectly. All windows, sunroof, automatic seats (with position memory) work perfectly. There does seem to be a short in one of the rear door lights and I've been having some iffy performance from the left turn signal (it works, but does this spastic "there's a problem" flashing pattern sometimes).

ENGINE: Here's the rub. The car runs, but I have started to have some inconsistent starting issues. I have not had the problem diagnosed because I hit my limit on cost of maintenance.

Over the past year, in addition to regular maintenance and in chronological order from oldest repair to newest, I have worked on / replaced:

• transmission mounts
• shifter bushings
• steering damper
• multifunction relay
• rear suspension (replaced entire gas shock system, replaced tie rod assembly right side)
• all 6 glow plugs, intake manifold
• kickdown solenoid and some wiring (I think there's more to this issue that's causing the starting problems at the moment)

Private message or respond to craigslist ad to inquire. Thanks for looking!

See photos at: 1987 Mercedes-Benz 300TD Wagon

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assuming the car has the #14 head as soon as anyone here reads anything about engine issues the value drops precipitously. look for other signs of head/headgasket issues:
oil in coolant: wait for engine to be cold and open coolant reservoir (passenger side fender); often there will be oil migrating into the coolant which will be evident as a dark scum on the side of the tank.
pressure in upper radiator hose. again when vehicle is cold (e.g. after sitting overnight) try to squeeze the upper hose. if it feels hard (like there is pressure inside of it) it may be top end time. (also when you undo the cap on the expansion tank [cold engine] you will hear a noticeable hiss like opening a can of soda.

remember never to attempt to diagnose cooling system issues until the engine is cold...

might be worth checking to ensure you get the most for your car. if it is something simple that is causing the starting issue and it can be fixed inexpensively you might consider it (also to ensure you're not selling a car with a bad engine to an unknowing individual esp. on craigslist)

__________________
0o==o0

James 4:8

"...let us put aside the blindness of mind of those who can conceive of nothing higher than what is known through the senses"
-Saint Gregory Palamas, ---Discourse on the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ


Centrally located in North East Central Pa.

I would further add that the non-functional AC could well be a leaking evaporator, which are quite common on these cars. If in fact that is the case, you're looking at a flat rate time of anywhere from 14-20 hours to R&R the evaporator and all the related goodies, not to mention it's silly not to do preventative service while everything is apart such as replacement of all the ACC system vacuum pods, for example.

The cost of this job alone could easily exceed the value of the car.

Heaven forbid you've got the original cylinder head. If so, you should get what you can in cash and run away as if your hair is on fire.

Dan

don't fall for all the naysayers, I have a #14 head on my '87 300D and never lost a moment worrying about it (mainly because I have a #19 head in waiting in case it does take a dump)
My '87 diesel has been driven regularly for 4 years since I rebuilt it.
I think a lot of #14 heads failed because the radiator lost thermal efficiency as they do with calcification and owners were ignorant of engine temperature.
Only use MB antifreeze and change it every 2 years and you prevent deterioration in the cooling system. just my 2-cents
OTOH, the Rust is something that really reduces sellability.
DDH

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Hi all - thanks for the 'voice of experience' comments, I really appreciate them.

The #14 cylinder head was replaced in 2002 and I don't observe other signs of head / headgasket issues that you mentioned, Hogweed.

You're all making me think I should consider diagnosing and repairing her one laaaast time. My husband will not be pleased.....

When you replaced the #14 head, do you know the casting number of the new one?

The #14 head was replaced in 2002, long before I owned the car. I have the work order / invoice showing the cylinder head replacement, but it doesn't list an identifying number. I looked for the casting number according to this post, but couldn't figure it out.

Can you describe the starting issues it has?

I'm interested as my 300TDT got hit recently and was totaled, so I'm looking for another.

The cylinder head # is within 10 digits stamped on the driver side of the cylinder head almost directly under the intake crossover pipe. It should be visible standing over the engine without removing anything, but you may need a flashlight. Simply look next to the 2nd & 3rd injectors. You need the 7th and 8th digits from the left, should be in this form with "YY" denoting the numbers you're looking for XXX XXX YY XX.

Hi there, sorry for the delayed response -- I'll look again for the cylinder head number today.

We just had starting and stalling issues worked on and the update is that we fixed a leak in the fuel line that was causing stalling issues. Car starts fine now using diesel cold starting procedure.

Given that, we're willing to consider all serious offers. We'd like to start the conversation at $2500.