Euro 123: Buy, or don't buy... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

ImBroke · #1 12-16-2012, 09:46 AM

That is the burning question.. There is one for sale (that I've seen before and wanted it), and I'm trying to justify it. Definitely a Euro, complete with antenna on front fender. Needs work (don't they all), but he's done some things. Major work is a head gasket. Nothing I can't accomplish, but I'm not sure I'm in a position to spend the money on a car I can't fix right away. Then again, when an opportunity presents itself, do you just let it go by? It's been repainted in a period correct color, but not the original color. Take a look. If nothing else, wondering what I can part it out for, but I really don't want to do that.

barry12345 · #2 12-16-2012, 09:56 AM

Standard or automatic. If standard they may become really scarce soon enough. Depends on price and condition basically.

I suspect this one is cheap. There are two items with the money issue and life. You do not comforatably have enough money to buy what you want at a given time.Or you have enough money but never seem to locate what you really want.

Stevo · #3 12-16-2012, 12:32 PM

I'm always suspicious of a repaint. If you can be reasonably sure its not covering up a bunch of rust, plus the new head gasket is something just a bit odd on these cars that I would look into. A cloth interior is harder to bring back if you should need seat or door panel replacement/repair. If its a manual tranny and no climate control , that would be a big plus. From the pic and description, it looks like a nice car.

Fattyman · #4 12-16-2012, 01:06 PM

Lose the Bundts, tow hitch is a must!

Stretch · #5 12-16-2012, 02:09 PM

If you have dry safe storage buy it and take your time getting to know it. With out the dry and safe storage it will probably become a liability => essentially buy it if it has useless trinket status - then it is fun rather than a burden.

sleepstar · #6 12-16-2012, 04:12 PM

what color is the interior? i saw a euro once that had a really weird and great green interior. if its green on green, i'd say buy it

ruchase · #7 12-16-2012, 04:39 PM

I had a similar situation last year. Came across this '78 coupe 300cd in silver, with blue interior that an older lady was selling in Los Feliz (2nd owner), complete with 1984 LA Commemorative Olympic Plates. Went to check it out with the wife - it needed a few things; most pressing the brake booster was out and it had a slight coolant leak where the coolant pump housing mounts onto the block.

Strangely the wife loved it way more than I did. So after some deliberation, I decided to low ball her, hoping she would reject my offer and I could just move on with life and enjoy my 1980 euro 300d 4-speed, 300sdl and 88 BMW 535is. Well she accepted the offer. So I picked up a relatively clean, nice looking 300cd for $2k (these go for around $4-5k in SoCal). The car's grown onto me, and I've put in quite a bit of work to make it reliable enough to drive daily. However, if I need to sell it, I'd probably make out ok, since my break-even cost is relatively low as I bought it low (I also factor in straight-line depreciation on all my cars). Just my $0.02

ImBroke · #8 12-16-2012, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepstar

what color is the interior?

It's green on green, with an auto trans. 250k miles. Manual climate control, windows, sunroof. Has the leveling switch, but I didn't see any purple vac lines under the hood. There is a small amount of rust I can see, jack holes are solid. I can get it for less than a grand, which is why it's so tempting. There were cooling issues (still is) with a bad radiator, and now there is a turbo radiator in there with a pressure bottle, but it's rigged. Just like the ford solenoid for the glow plug relay. (I have like three of those relays around here). Another good buying point for me is the inclusion of the spring compressor tool. I'll probably let it go, since I have other things I need to get taken care of.

sleepstar · #9 12-16-2012, 11:41 PM

i looked back and didnt see if you mentioned it was a 240 or a 300... if a 300 with an auto thats fine.. looks like a buy to me

vstech · #10 12-17-2012, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImBroke

It's green on green, with an auto trans. 250k miles. Manual climate control, windows, sunroof. Has the leveling switch, but I didn't see any purple vac lines under the hood. There is a small amount of rust I can see, jack holes are solid. I can get it for less than a grand, which is why it's so tempting. There were cooling issues (still is) with a bad radiator, and now there is a turbo radiator in there with a pressure bottle, but it's rigged. Just like the ford solenoid for the glow plug relay. (I have like three of those relays around here). Another good buying point for me is the inclusion of the spring compressor tool. I'll probably let it go, since I have other things I need to get taken care of.

...
which compressor? the Klann is really worth some bucks!

TnBob · #11 12-17-2012, 04:32 AM

For under a grand and you are asking if you should buy it ??

ahhhh..... how about .... Y E S

Air&Road · #12 12-17-2012, 08:49 AM

This seems like a great place to point out the top three criteria to be considered when buying ANY used car:

1. condition
2. Condition
3. CONDITION

BTW, I have two Euro parts cars: a 1980 bottom trim level 4 speed 240D and a 1984 medium trim level 4 speed 240D.

vstech · #13 12-17-2012, 11:52 AM

yeah, it sounds like the car may have been corrupted by poor maintenance... look it over REALLY well.
the lights and the bumper are nice to have, and the interior is different enough to have. (I have 3 sets of euro cloth interior, and I love them)
just be understanding of the mercedes mantra... NOTHING IS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN A CHEAP MERCEDES!!!