I have bought two Mercedes diesels... I wish I had waited and bought from listmembers. Keep an eye on the for sale forums and buy there. Patience is key... don't get Jones-ing on the idea of a 300TD and buy the first decent car you see w/o a thorough once-over. My cars both were solid mechanically, but were too far gone rust-wise to mess with. The $ I spent on them was a total loss. Lesson learned!

Good luck finding a nice TD. They're out there... just be patient!

Chrisd

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1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

I would be very careful with this one. I bought mine on Ebay and have been pleased as punch with her. BUT, it was a 2 owner car and I had the records. I makes a difference. Just my .02.
Charlie

This after noon I went with a friend to check 87 300TD (wagon of course) that he wanted to buy here in San Francisco.

Here is the story of the car. It was bought on ebay for 6500$ and from the pictures everything looked nice. The car was in New Hampshire (sp) so shipping was 1000$. The new owner (very nice and up front lady) took it to the local shop for inspection. The car was in the shop for about a month and now it is for sale. Here are the issues that were NOT disclosed buy the dealer:
1) He told the buyer that it has a passenger air bag which of course it didn't
2) Master cylinder needed to be replaced.
3) Vacuum issues with the transmision
4) Stiring box with too much play more than 5 inches of play.
5) Rear passenger side door opens only half way.
6) The car started very rough (warm engine) after some time it got better
7) Soooo much rust !!! the walls that support the front shocks where too rusty.
8) A hole under the driver side that was patched and covered. (Was difficult to find)

The list goes on.
The lady put 2k$ fixing master cylinder and brake lines and transmission issues.
I guess that it will take another 1.5K$ to fix engine issues at the dealer (she can't do oil change by herself).

And then there is the rust issue.

Just be aware, when the car is so rusty many issues will surface.


This dealer had good feedback on ebay. So be aware.

i had a very bad experience buying a car on ebay. drove 600 mile to get the 300td the seller could not be found and would not return my calls tracked the s-- down using gps and map quest. had to have the law make him release the car had to file a mech lien on it. so be very careful as they like to sell these car three or four time and leave town and you never get your money back good luck

I agree completely with this.

If the seller wants a deposit, give him a Paypal deposit with a credit card. DO NOT send him a money order.

For the balance of the funds, DO NOT send it to him. Go and pick the vehicle up and give him the case, ONLY if the vehicle is as described.

If you can't get there to pick it up within a reasonable time, don't bid on it.
The typical five days for full payment is normally a bit of a problem for most of us.