Might look at this tonight. pictures appear very clean, supposedly runs well...
I'll review available records and have read the "buying a 123 sticky"

What else? Is a compression test neccesary if I can drive the thing and all seems OK? It's local so I can't see the harm in going to check it out....Anyone in greater Boston Want to help me assess a car????? Is there a local (cambridge, MA) mechanic that people could reccomend for any further pre-purchase evaluation?

I've never had a MB but have wrenched a fair amount on landcruisers/landrovers, and a '01 VW TDI

I'd sell the TDI (~11K$?) to buy a 300d @~3K$

Rob M Concord, MA
slowely/cautiously leaning towards MB diesel ownership.

At 284K it would seem to be nearing end of life to me. Don't fall for all those ebay ads where they tell you the OM617 will get to a million miles. With absolutely perfect maintenance I would think 400-500K would be more like it.
You will need to have good compression where you are. Unless you are only in it short-term or it has complete maintenance records, I would look for something with lower mileage at that price. If you do look at it, make sure to test it starting with a cold engine.

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)