I am now thinking of parting with my W123 300D because I have too many cars (5). Two months ago it really was running sluggishly, because I had stopped keeping up on its technical edge. The car had always been excellently maintained, but it ran cold at 10 mph before it warmed up. It had anemic performance.
WORSE, I once ran the engine down to 1 quart of oil when I started to troubleshoot it and plugged the breather tube. After that it smoked and lost a quart of oil every 150 miles and rattled badly.
One month later, the car runs excellently! I just refused to give up on it. I sunk hours into it. I know when oil loss is catastrophic and when its not. The oil loss stopped! I replace the injectors, solved all the vacuum leaks, retimed the pump and, cleaned the banjo fitting, tuned the ALDA. And it runs quietly.
The Car has Freezing R134 AC and 4 new Bilsteins and rebuilt brakes and new ball joints, bushings, a new Chain, new injectors, and great paint and new tires..rebuilt brakes, new alternator,everything....
The problem is, what do I tell buyers. That the engine once ran to low oil? As a lifelong buyer of used cars, I found out the hard way that most people tell you nothing and that used cars brings out the darker side of people. Even if your car was old, would you sell it if it ran perfectly?
I have no problem telling people about the low oil incident. The problem is most buyers might not understand what its ramifications are. On top of that how do I price this car? If a single mother with three kids wants to buy it vice a 19 year old Avation Tech, do I treat them the same? Should I refuse to sell it to the single mother? What if a snake oil buyer tries to buy it, should I give him a sucker punch?
I need some advice from people I respect...I know its always best to be honest..this issue is more perplexing than rebuilding an engine..