Well, party on the advice I got here, I decided to go ahead and make an offer on the car, signt-unseen. I offered about 90% of their asking price, and was flatly (but politely) refused without a counteroffer. The sellers are absolutely firm on the asking price which is just simply beyond my reach financially, especially when I'm looking at another $2K for maintenance and repairs right out of the gate (I always do a major service whenever I buy a used car). So, damn. For what they were asking I could pick up a nice W124 diesel with ~150K-200K miles, which is what I might just end up doing after-all to replace mine that just died. And I wonder after just putting 250K on a '92 300D turbo, if driving a 240D might be just a bit of a "down shift" so to speak. Nevertheless, thanks to everyone on this board with their help and advice. The never-ending search for good low-miles Mercedes diesels continues...

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1972 280SE 4.5
1984 300SD, 250K
1991 300SE, 89K
1992 300D (330K miles when KIA'd by mother-in-law 8/10/09 - still sitting in my barn)
1994 E320, 109K
1995 E420, 60K
Proud Member of the Mercedes Benz Club of America - Idaho Chapter