OK, looking for some input to help me make a tough decision here guys. I have recently been searching in earnest for a good diesel commuter to do duty on my 100 mile a day round trip.
After driving w123's, w124's and w126's, I've decided that the w126 300SDL is the one for me. If I'm going to buy a Mercedes, I want it to be the big bad limo.
Two specimens have risen to the top of my search, and I present them here, with as much detail as I currently have, to see which way the more experienced oilheads would go. Both cars are about 3 hours from me, in opposite directions.
Specimen A:
Extra pics
1986 300SDL. $9000. 130,000 miles. Cabernet red over black leather. Pristine inside, and very good outside. One barely perceptible door ding and 5 or 6 stone chips. Good records to 86,000, sporadic after that. One owner until Spring 2003, and one more since. Both traded it in on another used Benz at the same original selling dealer (and salesman for that matter). Nearest other MB specialist is about an hour away from the dealer, so getting an inspection might be tough.
I drove this car for about an hour today. Everything works. ACC blows cold and hot as desired. It is still R12, and was serviced last September after the owner reported a lack of cold air. Tranny shifts as it should. ABS kicks in properly. No strange noises. Started instantly from cold. In short, it felt like a time warp car. I did notice in the records that the most recent owner complained of it using 2 quarts of oil in 1500 miles and shuddering under braking. Mercedes reground the valves and did a complete brake service as a goodwill gesture, but he still traded the car in 4 months later. Comes with brand new Michelin Arctic Alpins mounted, and some generic (Aurora?) brand all-seasons in the trunk.
Specimen B:
Extra pics
1987 300SDL. $5100. 175,000 miles. Black over grey leather. Not so pristine. Dash is cracked in three places. Both front seats have tears about 6" long, although it does come with two other front seat bases in the trunk that are better, but need to be redyed to match. Sunroof is inoperable. Resprayed in black unknown time ago. Body looks straight, with the exception of a couple of dings in the passenger door, and a 6" scrape in the rear drivers side fender. Exhaust is new-ish. Bottom engine cover is AWOL, and the hood padding is torn and starting to disintegrate.
Haven't driven this one yet. It has no records or history. It was bought from an unknown source by a retired guy who runs a small sales lot for fun. If you look at some of the other pics, you'll see he has quite a variety of vehicles. My friend who took the photos for me says that he has no knowledge at all about MB's. A good independent MB specialist is about 10 miles away, and the seller says he has no problem with them conducting a PPI.
So there you have it. I'm torn. The red one is truly a time warp car, and feels like it could have rolled off the line a few days ago. The guy is asking a premium price for it though. The black one is obviously not as pretty, but the $4000 price difference (and I think the black one could be negtiated down a fair bit) could buy a lot of prettying up. Also, if I'm gong to be using it as a daily monster commuter, that extra cash buys a lot of repairs that might crop up.
Opinions?