Do You Believe This Car Has Only 112609 Miles? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Rich300TDMBZ · #1 01-03-2006, 03:37 AM

Do you believe this 1987 300D Turbo has only 112609 miles? If it has that milage, the last owner must be a wrecker! I have seen many cars with unbelievable low milage with really bad interior & exterior. As a matter of interest, is it easy to move (change) the numbers on the odometers of W123 and W124 cars? I heard that they are delicate and need special tools.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2F4600476390_W0QQamp%3BsspagenameZhQ3ahQ3aadvsearchQ3aUSQQcatre fZC5QQfbdZ1QQfclZ3QQflocZ1QQfposZ94582QQfromZR6QQfrppZ50QQfsclZ1QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQfssZ0QQftrtZ1QQftr vZ1QQnojsprZyQQpfidZ0QQsacatZQ2d1QQsacqyopZgeQQsacurZ0QQsadisZ200QQsargnZQ2d1QQsaslcZ0QQsaslopZ1QQso focusZbsQQfviZ1&item=4600476390

t walgamuth · #2 01-03-2006, 04:00 AM

like a lot more miles than that.

like 300k or so.

tom w

#3 01-03-2006, 04:10 AM

i agree with tom, but carfax shows the mileage to be accurate, but you never know. maybe the car was not well cared for and or the driver was severly overweight?

#4 01-03-2006, 04:28 AM

Not to disagree with T Walgamuth, but mabee the seat is like that because the po left the window open when it rained (and was severely overweight

)
causing the material to degrade faster. Car has lots of dings and stuff but certainly could have all happened within 112k and 18 years. Montana is a long way to fly to find out for sure how it runs+drives. Whether the odometers are easily altered I can't say. I know it is very easy (and for me to say this, it is VERY EASY for just about everyone) to swap in/out the entire instrument cluster on 123, probably 124 cars, meaning if the right low mileage car was at the junk yard because it was rear-ended, for $50 or less a car with 290k could be made into 112k, assuming congruent carfax report or a buyer who does not check it. The odometers look easy to alter, thanks to the webpage by dieselgiant. That gave me the confidence to try and fix mine, at a later date possibly.

Mitch H · #5 01-03-2006, 06:14 AM

I don't know about 126/124 odos, but I've repaired 116/123 odos, and it takes longer to remove the speedo/odo from the car than it does to take the wheels from the odo and rearange them any way you please.
Some newer cars (like my 1989 Plymouth) have very fragile ink/paint on the wheels, touch them with your bare fingers and they go blank.

I've got a 190e with accurate odo, a 190d with dead odo and probably about the same actual miles(+/- 10k) as the 190e. I want to put the engine, diff, and speedo/odo from the 190d in the 190e. Should I set the odo to match the 190e, the previous owner's estimate of the mileage on the 190d, or just set it to zero and start over? Engine, tranny, and suspension will be rebuilt when I assemble the car. When I title the car in Michigan, the state will ignore any mileage statement and print "exempt" on the new title. I found that out the hard way with a 84k 1986. Wish I'd photocopied the old title with the original owner's signed odo statement before I turned it in to the state for my new title.

the tenor man · #6 01-03-2006, 07:51 AM

I have a 1987 300D Turbo and the odometer hasn't worked for over three years....it shows 98,+++ but I'm sure that it has at least 145,+++...

It may not show on carfax unless they can see that it has been turned back from documentation...if it hasn't worked for years...no one could tell.

Hope this helps..

the tenor man

ImBroke · #7 01-03-2006, 07:52 AM

If you polish a turd, you still have a turd. Broken headlights, dents all over, cracked windshield, where was this thing stored, a rock quarry? Says stored since 95, and since carfax verified the milage, I wonder if the title hasn't been changed since 95, hence the milage? Or is it currently registered with that milage? At least this guy is showing the damage to the car, unlike a lot of Ebayers. I give him credit for that.

JamesDean · #8 01-03-2006, 09:11 AM

my 300SD has 120,000 on it and its an 82.

R Leo · #9 01-03-2006, 09:15 AM

Buy-it-now $5100! ROFLMAO!

Hatterasguy · #10 01-03-2006, 01:43 PM

Look at the other cars on the lot, this is a junk lot. Everything is less then $5k or 10 years old.

I suspect that car was ridden hard and put away wet. Probably an around town car for someone who was pretty heavy.

Look at the pics of the mountains in the back though!

#11 01-03-2006, 02:33 PM

I'd stay away from Montana cars, they tend to live a hard life. I was looking at a 300SD from Montana a few years ago, and that thing was so beaten up, but it ran good...

braverichard · #12 01-03-2006, 02:35 PM

Due to the overall condition of the car, I will only believe the claimed mileage once I see service records that prove it as well as the CarFax report which several people have mentioned here. But if they claim the car was just sitting for several years, then, well, that will be tough sell to folks like me as a low mileage car.

bhatt · #13 01-03-2006, 02:59 PM

That car looks like it has about 2-3x the mileage of my 300SDL (I have 200k miles on mine). I'd guess somewhere around 300-500k miles on that car from the condition.

I have seen cars trashed/dented/banged up, but even the beat up 300k mile cars don't look that bad.

I wouldn't assume unless PROVEN otherwise by receipts/service records, that nothing has been done on that car. I think I saw a trap oxidizer under the hood too.. too hard to see from the pictures, but how can something that has been under warranty for 10 years still be on the car? Has it not seen a shop in that long?

Neal

Rich300TDMBZ · #14 01-03-2006, 03:12 PM

The trap oxidizer is still there! The buyer can get a new turbo and exhaust system, but it also means the car have not being to a dealership for a long time. I do not trust Carfax as it may not reflect miles driven if the milage is not reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles. In California, milage in diesels are only

reported when there is a change in ownership or the car is involved in an accident. Diesels in California do not require smogging - that's why gas cars milage are more accurate as when the car is smogged, the report is sent directly to the Dept of Motor Vehicles, and will be reflected in Carfax in due time.

Niloc · #15 01-03-2006, 06:27 PM

I'm glad I saw this post, as I *was* kinda interested in this car. I posted earlier about trying to find either an '87 or a '95 for my wife. I'm in Seattle so Missoula is a long days drive but doable with a one-way ticket. Not that you'd want to drive this car that far in the winter with no heater, no speedo, a seat that can't be moved etc.

Called the number and the woman I talked with said it belonged the some Romanian grandmother in California who got sick and retireed the car ten years ago. When she died the kids traded the car in (after they joy-rided around unregistered?). I'm not really convinced that's the whole story with all the damage to the seat, notice the passenger seat is also hurting (of course they have no records). Also notice the paint problems on the hood. I don't mind wrenching around with parts here and there, but autobody work scares me. A couple of other things: it looks to me like the driver's side front fender has some warpage above the wheel, anybody else see that? And are those lines on the dash factory, or cracks?

Problem for me is diesel merc's are hard to find (and spendy) in Seattle, (I just picked up my 85 300TD in CA) and being up here in the "corner" you have to be prepared to do some travelling. If anyone finds of good car within a day's drive let me know.

-Colin