The 1985 300TD wagon has 56,000 miles. One owner. Service records from day one. Garage kept and pampered. The car is from Ohio, in a city with a salt mine so there is a little rust on one rear fender lip. The deck lid has some minor surface rust below the window. Other than that, the body is perfect. The frame looks solid. No rot. Undercoating intact. The white paint shines like new. Chrome is perfect. Tan leather interior is nice. No rips.

I drove it, and a 1980 300 Turbo Diesel sedan with 72,000 miles. The sedan is spoken for.

The wagon started right up (about 30 deg here today). A little smoke when cold, but not bad. Tranny shifts firm; no slip. Took it on the highway up to 70 mph. No shakes. No funny noises, knocks, or rattles. This is the first Mercedes of this vintage that I've driven and, to me, the steering seemed to have a little more play than I thought it should have. I drove the sedan and it felt a bit tighter, though it could be that the wagon is way heavier. The climate control seemed to work, though, given the outside air temp, I wasn't able to verify operation of the air conditioning. All the windows go up and down, as well as the power antenna, and the cruise works. The oil pressure gauge goes from about 1/2 scale at idle to full scale when driving, perhaps even pegged. The tach doesn't work; the clock and radio do. Tires fairly new.

The car is owned by an 80 year old woman. The wagon was her late husband's and she drove the sedan. She's not able to drive any longer which is why she's selling the cars. Ebay lunacy aside, what is a car like this worth? Kelly Blue Book for a "Nice" example with 54,000 miles says $1,725. A couple of 1985s on Ebay right now look like they might make about $4-6K. I figure the rust repairs will cost $1,500 to $2,000. What's a fair price? Thank you.