Parts Catalog Accessories Catalog How To Articles Tech Forums
Call Pelican Parts at 888-280-7799
Shopping Cart Cart | Project List | Order Status | Help



Go Back   PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum > Mercedes-Benz Tech Information and Support > Diesel Discussion

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 02-13-2006, 12:47 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 10
Pros/Cons of buying a W124 E300 with 400k miles on it?

This '95 W124 is being sold locally for $2000. Has a short in the wiring (affecting the dash and driver's side window) and 400k... Thoughts/Opinions?

The car in question:


__________________
- 2013 VW GTI
- 2004 Volvo S60R
- 1988 BMW M3
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 02-13-2006, 12:51 AM
JimmyL's Avatar
Rogue T Intolerant!!!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Sunnyvale, Texas (DFW)
Posts: 9,675
Wow, 40K miles/year. That is doing some driving! It seems cheap enough, however, electrical problems are never my favorite.
__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 02-13-2006, 02:29 AM
pawoSD's Avatar
Dieselsüchtiger
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Posts: 15,438
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyL
Wow, 40K miles/year. That is doing some driving! It seems cheap enough, however, electrical problems are never my favorite.

No kidding, I get to work tomorrow on my uncle's '96 cavalier with the 4cy 2.2 liter eco-tec, its been having "sputtering" probs when idling and threw a service engine code for the "sparkplugs/ignition wires/etc...." Ah well, I'll fix the thing. 112,000 miles on it and burns no oil, has never had any mechanical failures except a bad rear brake drum(rusted) and a minor issue with cold starting around 90k, a tune up fixed that.....our van is 32,000 miles shy of that, and its had its service engine light on over half the time. J-u-n-k.....
__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 02-13-2006, 04:02 AM
aklim's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Location: Greenfield WI, USA
Posts: 8,514
The pro is that it is broken in?
__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 02-13-2006, 04:23 AM
greasybenz's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 2,082
Quote:
Originally Posted by pawoSD
No kidding, I get to work tomorrow on my uncle's '96 cavalier with the 4cy 2.2 liter eco-tec, its been having "sputtering" probs when idling and threw a service engine code for the "sparkplugs/ignition wires/etc...." Ah well, I'll fix the thing. 112,000 miles on it and burns no oil, has never had any mechanical failures except a bad rear brake drum(rusted) and a minor issue with cold starting around 90k, a tune up fixed that.....our van is 32,000 miles shy of that, and its had its service engine light on over half the time. J-u-n-k.....

I hated working on my aunts 00 pontiac sunfire (cavalier) 3rd time the engine mount snapped i guess GM decided to make the design easy to break so the owner can buy new ones to make them more money. 120K on that POS and starting to burn oil. shocks are shot so when it runs over a pebble your bouncin in the seat. transmission started leaking god after seeing that im not going to buy any chevy or GM car.

they really are pieces of *****. goodluck on that cavalier!
__________________
Current:
05 E320 CDI
07 GL320 CDI
08 Sprinter
05 Dodge Cummins
01 Dodge Cummins

Previous
2004 E55 AMG
2002 C32 AMG (#2)
1995 E300
1978 300D
1987 300D
2002 C32 AMG(blown motor :[
1981 300SD
1983 300SD
1987 300SDL
2002 Jetta TDI
1996 S420
1995 S500
1993 190E 2.6
1992 190E 2.3
1985 190E 2.3 5-Speed
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 02-13-2006, 05:19 AM
ForcedInduction
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Quote:
Originally Posted by aklim
The pro is that it is broken in?
With 400K on the clock? It's still got 600K to go!
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 02-13-2006, 09:52 AM
LarryBible
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Buying one of these cars with 400K might be a reasonable thing to do IF; the price was REALLY cheap (cheaper than $2,000) and the car was otherwise in perfect shape. Even then I would have to be convinced that the engine uses no oil, the transmission is in great shape etc. Any one single major component will require you putting more money into the car than it would be worth even if it had much lower mileage.

The engine in that car is NOT inexpensive to rebuild and it will indeed need rebuilding at some point.

A high mileage car is different if you personally or someone that you know REAL well put those miles on so that you know how it has been cared for. Buying it blind, with an unknown electrical problem to boot, is a big risk.

My $0.02,
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 02-13-2006, 12:43 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 184
maybe take it to a dealer for a PPI- pre purchase inspection and send a sample of the oil out for analysis... Would be money well spent

Zack
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 02-13-2006, 01:45 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Wakefield, RI
Posts: 2,145
I would like to second what Mr. Bible said. For $500 maybe, $2K, no way. RT
__________________
When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 02-13-2006, 02:35 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Reno/Sparks, NV
Posts: 3,063
I think this could be an awesome deal actually. How else could you get a '95 E300 for only $2K? That seems below the typical market value even for that mileage. To me mileage is only a small factor when it comes to purchasing a car. Condition is what you want to evaluate. I'd rather take a well-maintained high-mileage car than a low-mileage car with questionable maintenance history. I suppose this is a high-mileage car with unknown maintenance history. In that case a very thorough inspection is essential. Check the fluids, check for residual pressure in the cooling system, blowby, abnormal noises, shifting, AC/heater, steering/tracking, braking, smoke output and power (these engines don't have much power, but should be smooth). I don't know about the electrical problem, but if everything else checks out, I'd snatch it at that price right away.
__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 02-13-2006, 06:09 PM
lietuviai's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: SW WA
Posts: 5,744
If the suspension has not had any rebuilds, then you could easily spend more than the selling price. The drivers seat is probably mush as I would imagine most of the rest of the interior. Weather stipping will probably be bad. Look for rust as well. While you could rebuilt the engine for a reasonable price, you've still got accessories that will need replacing and that be expensive. Oh yes the ABS. Make sure it works as that is $$$ to fix.
If you want a 124 bad enough, you can find older ones with half the mileage for the same price. A 124 is not a 123. I've never heard of a 124 reaching 1000K.
__________________
DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 02-13-2006, 06:22 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: California
Posts: 2,068
Quote:
Originally Posted by lietuviai
If the suspension has not had any rebuilds, then you could easily spend more than the selling price. The drivers seat is probably mush as I would imagine most of the rest of the interior. Weather stipping will probably be bad. Look for rust as well. While you could rebuilt the engine for a reasonable price, you've still got accessories that will need replacing and that be expensive. Oh yes the ABS. Make sure it works as that is $$$ to fix.
If you want a 124 bad enough, you can find older ones with half the mileage for the same price. A 124 is not a 123. I've never heard of a 124 reaching 1000K.
Depending on how the car was taken care of, I'd imagine that many interior bits and seals, etc, have the potential to be in better shape than a 1985 W123, solely because the E300D is 10 years newer. Remember, many parts wear due to age, not just mileage. Yes, a 124 is not a 123. It's better! But where are the 1000K W123's? I don't see many of those either.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 02-13-2006, 06:41 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Reno/Sparks, NV
Posts: 3,063
speedy300Dturbo is right, rubber mostly wears with age, not mileage. If the 400K is almost entirely highway mileage, and I imaging it is, then the suspension and the rest of the car could still be in good shape.
__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 02-13-2006, 06:59 PM
husk's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: orange county, CA
Posts: 504
The head is aluminum, im sure there is some warpage. The w123's had cast iron heads which made it very difficult for them to warp, and cause damage. The 606 is not as robust of a motor as the 617's or 616's, I would highly doubt that this car is in good condition. There is a reason he is selling it for 2k and if it was a creampuff at 400k miles, I am sure he would have said so. The electrical problems are also something to take into consideration, it is very rare for a w124 to have these kind of electrical problems unless they were invloved in some sort of accident.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 02-13-2006, 06:59 PM
dieseldiehard's Avatar
Dieseldiehard
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Bay Area No Calif.
Posts: 4,368
Quote:
Originally Posted by DieselAddict
speedy300Dturbo is right, rubber mostly wears with age, not mileage. If the 400K is almost entirely highway mileage, and I imaging it is, then the suspension and the rest of the car could still be in good shape.
How can the suspension be any better with almost entirely highway miles on it? In my experience the 124 rear suspension arms degrade with use as the car is driven. And the diff mounts get worn. I have a whole pile of stuff I have in hand already to change in my '87 300D (the blue one) at 260K miles.
On a car with 400K I would expect that these certainly would have been changed and maybe even twice!

The front steering components wear with how much the car is steered, ie. in lots of city driving where parallel parking is used it will wear the ball joints.

You should also look at possible worn wheel bearings, things like that all add up to expensive repairs but hey, if the car is in good shape its the love of restoration that makes it worthwhile!

That said, I have seen some nice gassers in fine condition like a '90's 300E going fairly cheap it seems. $3K or so. That seems cheaper than one that costs $2000 but needs $2K worth of parts.

__________________
'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!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:37 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Peach Parts or Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page