I'm thinking of buying a used 1987 300TD wagon that's for sale by owner in oregon. in pictures it looks immaculate. 199,000 miles. the only things listed as wrong, and after i asked some questions, is the sunroof only tilts, not slides, it needs new tires, and possibly some power steering fluid leaking. all records from this owner of 9 years and the previous owner. i want to modify the fuel system to run on veggie oil and will put biodiesel into it before that. the asking price is $7250.00!! seems way too high as blue book was at about $3700.

i already own and work on my rabbit diesel pickup, though i am just starting to work on cars myself. i know that mercedes are supposed to go forever, but i wonder if i'll end up paying so much money b/c parts are so expensive. is it fairly easy to work on this vehicle i want to buy? anyone have any experience with this particular make and year? i want to know what mercedes diesel junkies have to say about it before i go ahead and buy it. i want to offer a lot less, like $5000 for it.

What do people think?
-would i be able to work on it?
-would parts be super expensive?
-is this a reliable year for mercedes diesels?

any input would be greatly appreciated! thanks - Meghan

First of all, a really perfect 124 wagon is worth $8000 but NO bad sunroof, good, cold A/C and vents that operate properly (removing the dash is a huge job to fix vacuum pods!) and for that price I would expect the transmission would have been rebuilt and the engine may have had a head replacement or at least a valve job and a new radiator and new cooling fans and thermo clutch all of which are crucial towards proper cooling, the devil of the 603 engine! If not, its not worth $5K, maybe not even $2500. Not running maybe worth $400? (my ongoing project cost me just that - see recent thread looking for help getting it running.)
Owning several diesels, including two '87 300D's (same engine as the 300TD) I can tell you from experience that a good running '87 is a great car, handling is excellent and there are safety features not present in the earlier wagons (123 chassis) like ABS and a drivers side air bag. And it goes like no other turbo diesels built up to that time and better than a few made since then!
I have to admit however the cost of parts and the extra difficulty in some work on the 124 chassis ('87 300TD) is going to cause you to pay more. Think DIY if you are experienced with working on cars with fairly confined spaces (not quite a ricer!) and you may want to have another vehicle to drive to fetch parts or wait while something is on order.
For $5000 you should be able to find a decent example of this car, which is pretty scarce as you probably already know. But don't buy the first one that you find!
Watch out for transmissions, they tend to go out before 200K on the odometer and A/C is another high ticket item to fix. Engines are sorta feared because of the cracked head syndrome, but that said I have one with 265K on the original #14 head and is as strong as any '87 300TD that rolled off the factory floor. It is felt by many that the heads fail because of poor maintenance and overheating as a result.
My 300TD 123 wagons have served me well on several cross country trips, they don't get as good a fuel mileage as the 124, but they seem cushy and more soft in the suspension so the comfort level is better in the older 123 wagons to me, as well as there seeming to be more head room. The wife's nephew learned to drive on one of my wagons and has adopted it. I learned that its a kind of a cult thing for students to go to school in an old Mercedes wagon here. I'd prefer the 124 for short trips in traffic where you have to make lane changes and need power to pass etc. On the open road a 123 suits me better (when I don't want to cruise at 105 MPH ).

Well, you could do like I did and buy two of each, a 123 and a 124 wagon! Just look at what people are paying for new SUV's and cars nowdays, and then watch them depreciate like mad. A older MB diesel, if you put a few $K into it should serve you very well (and let you run alternative fuels!) just have some money in reserve for things that fail. for example the sunroof, that is a bugger to fix and I suggest you leave that to an expert shop that has an experienced mechanic who knows sunroofs O/W it will cost maybe $1500 to fix or re-repair if you know what I mean
Also do a search for Baroque. http://www.mbclubcanada.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

i am far from being an expert, but i do own an 87 300 TDT. it is my first Mercedes and it is an awesome vehicle. i would recommend it to anyone.

one pre-purchase thing to do - if you happen to be like me and not sure how the climate control system is supposed to work - is to print out this section of the manual:

http://mb.braingears.com/124_DISC1/Program/Climate/83-601.pdf

and use it to make sure the climate control is functioning basically as it should. i wish i had done this before i bought the car we recently purchased. i have some work to do to make the system in my car 100%. the 87 300 TDT is extremely rare in canada, so i probably would have bought the car we have even if i had done this step before buying, but the climate control is very complex and costly to repair, so that would be something that would have to be perfect in an 8k car.

the prices of diesel vehicles are thorugh the roof right now, so i'd expect to pay above average, especially for an 87 which is a one-year car, and the wagon is always worth a lot more than a sedan. with any mercedes you are not looking for a bargain, you are looking for a really well cared-for vehicle. bargains are usually not what they seem, so the 8k price would not scare me provided the car is perfect or nearly so.

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punkinfair

Oregon seems to be the epicenter of the alternative fuels movement...
so I think that you probably pay a premium for diesels in that region?

Head south and grab a nice clean Cali car.

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'87 300SDL

dieselbenz

I would have to partially disagree. CA cars are fetching a premium here too. Most well worn cars with body damage start in the $3k range already. A W124? Try $4k to start with no AC, busted window motors etc. Even parts cars run $1200!

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1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

How true. I got my 124 in SoCal but I didn't make a special trip for it. I was down there visiting family and I came across the one I own by checking the local clasifieds. I saw it, liked it, got it cheap, drove it home. Mine does have issues but it made the 1000 mile trip w/o a glitch. It has cold A/C, a working cruise and a tranny that doesn't lurch on the first shift. It was worth what I paid for it.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

I shopped for my 87TD for many months and missed out on a few as I thought they should be priced <$6000, but realized that other people are willing to pay a premium for a nice example and tried to follow their lead. For example, there was a nice one in SoCal that I tried to buy for $9000, but was outpriced by someone local, and it had over 250k miles (but a new head and rebuilt tranny). Good thing I missed out and waited as I found my car local in just as nice condition for much cheaper, and luckily I was the first guy to respond to the ad.

The crazy pricing also applies to the w123 wagons w/the third row seat. I sold my really nice '85 wagon for over $8000 a few months ago to the first guy who called, and had two others that were waiting in line, they all planned to run bio or WVO.

Whatever you decide, make sure you have a MB diesel specialist do a mechanical pre-purchase inspection as well.

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1970 280SE Cab
1983 300D Euro 4-speed
past MB's:
1971 280SE 3.5 s/r
1981 300D
1985 300TD
1987 300TD

I wish I still had the car but it was having some issues that I thought were going to be a bit expensive so I sold it for 5k in Portland OR, had a few folks look at it. A mercedes fan and owner bought it.

It was going to need tranny work and some more repair to the rear suspension. And a/c repair etc... He thought it was a good deal but he was going to do the work on it himself.

It had good power and rode well even with the rear suspension issues. 248K on it. I was a bit worried about the overheating issues these cars have as I do quite abit of biz travel.

Now I have a 79 300SD that I am waiting to get a engine swap on... Miss the wagon...

Bio diesel is becoming a big deal here but if you look hard enough and are willing to wait there is a nice mercedes around the corner...

Here's another(?) 87 300TD FS in Portland OR.
http://portland.craigslist.org/car/111477930.html
They're asking $6500 and it has 202K

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012