I just made a deal for a TD w/ 246k, and a similar situation. Stock engine, but lots and lots of recent work, owned by an MB tech. I got a very good feeling from him and he sent me tons of information and receipt copies and stuff, and the price was right (2400$) but I have to ride a train for 16 hours and then drive for 9 hours to get it home. :D

So don't expect any reassurance from us!

You sound like a similar person to me.. I fixate on a topic and just go nuts with it. In the last few years it has been hydroponics, aquarium fish (built my own stands and filters), motorscooters (still holding onto that one), mountain bikes (rebuilt my GT during that period), beer brewing (just had some more the other day), distilling (to take care of the bad batches of beer...), computers (I've got 5 now, macs, PCs and 'others'), power tools (hollowed a workshop out of my basement), fire breathing (still enjoy that one), cooking (still on that one, just bought a second wok the other day, gf said, "Why do you need a wok? Why do you need TWO woks?" she doesn't understand..), biodiesel (went to some workshops, made lots of test fuel and a condensor for methanol recovery, even before I had a diesel), electronics and microcontrollers. I mean damn, the list goes on.

Each time I find something good I read about it until my head explodes, and then blow a bunch of money on it. Like I just did with my TD... ;)

But you know? I've never had a hobby I regreted later. My interest comes and goes in things, but I haven't known the meaning of the word 'bored' in years, I never feel like I have to waste time watching TV, I spend lots of time with my friends working on projects, and my house has lots of neat stuff in it. Usually my interest peaks, and then trails off to a standby level. I've still got fish and I still grow my own vegetables, I just don't obsessively read about them and fiddle with them anymore. And it will probably be that way with diesels too, I'll be obsessed for a while, then as I get used to having it I'll relax to a maintainence level and just enjoy having it. Of course, then something will break or I'll want to upgrade something and the whole thing will flare up again..

Anyway, blah blah blah. About your 300sd, it could be a good deal, but I echo everyone elses advice to see why the car is being sold so soon after a new engine.. 3700$ seems a little high unless the car is exactly as being represented, which may be unlikely given the circumstances. Keep talking to the guy, and see what your feeling is, and see if you can figure out why he's selling.. And if something doesn't feel right, pass it up. There is no such thing as a once in a lifetime deal, and another SD will come along shortly, maybe a better one than this!

Remember, "I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"

Peace,
Sam

Put it this way: I sold my last diesel (I had three, and was randomly offered too much $ to pass up on all three) nearly a year ago and I still spend way too much time every day lurking about this forum. I have found that no car has the personality of an MB diesel and no people have as much personality as their owners! :cool:
-Matt-

...the 125 mph speedo...a possible explanation?
 

Many Mercedes speedos are marked in both MPH and KPH...it is possible the "ton-and-a-quarter" speedo reading remembered here refers to kilometers per hour?

If you do your own work, that might be a good car for you. What year SD is that? With a rebuilt engine, that could be worth it, even if it's a high mileage specimen. Ask for details on what was done on the engine. I bought mine with 220K, nice car all around and all service records from new(the PO was a CPA who did the books for his friend that owned a MB dealership in Springfield, mass) It had a little blowby at the time. By 300K, it had a lot of blowby. I parked it when it developed a serious transmission problem. Now it's back on the road with an engine I completely rebuilt myself, right down to the cylinder liners. I still liked the car and figured I could keep it another 10 years or more. Still happy.

off topic but...........

phidauex


I used to have an Aprilia 50 extrema...............49cc would haul all 190lbs of me at the time at 70+ mph (120+kph) of course that was on Italian roads. Thats where I owned it. Would run that all day nearly everyday and fill up once every couple weeks.

Need more like that here.

That's like 75mph. That's not a big exciting deal. There would have been no hoopla about that. Commonplace speed. Maybe these things could really move when new. Anyone here ever had a new one for comparrison?

It's a 1983.

I believe he said it was factory new.

not too likely
 

Based on the info you gave about the year, make and model, it is highly unlikely that you got up to 125. MB 330sd's simply aren't that fast. In my experience they top out at just over 100. The manuals list the top speed at 106mph.

I am new here, but I am a mechanic and a fellow diesel enthusiast.

I think you can get it up to more than 125 mph, but then words such as terminal velocity come into play. :D

Yeah, or just something that a little punk elementry school kid mixed up for fact. Who knows, maybe we got it to 105-110, and my mom let off the throttle and said something like, "wow, I bet we could have gone 125," and now that's all I remember.

Damnit, there goes that childhood thrill. :mad:

Yes, memories do have a way of being distorted over time.

But I'm only 20-something! 25 I guess....

Still your concept of things as a kid is different than as an adult. You understand things now that were absract to you then.

You may have Juvenile Alzheimer's...
 

Let's just hope its the kind that goes away in 24 hours.

I hope so. My memory has really gone to hell in the last couple of years. No kidding. It is rather scary.