Looking at buying a W123 that sat for a few years before it was bought by a mechanic. It had leaks apparently related for sitting so long, and so he resealed the oil pan, turbo drain, and front crank seal. He's driven it 10,000 miles since and things look to be okay. Any reason to shy away given this history? Thanks.

What year is the car? What is the mileage? What is the asking price? How does everything else work? Check everything, including climate control, cruise control, sun roof, windows, etc.

Take it to a known good MB indy in your area for a pre purchase inspection.

Can you get access to all the records from day one on the car?

How do you know it wac actually driven for 10,000 miles? Is there records of 2 or 3 oil changes with in that 10,000 miles?

Reason I ask all this, is I am finding all sorts of ham fisted repairs done by a "reputable" indy. Case in point...record shows "repaired a/c hose leak" Repair was really a splicing of the high side line that runs under the front of the engine. When I replaced the compressor (two months after buying the car), that "repair" popped while driving in the nice August heat Texas is famous for. I had the hose rebuilt for $20. The indy should have done that.

As we hear lots of times on this forum, "Nothing is more expensive than a cheap MB"

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

As he said, whether or not it is a good buy is dependent upon its actual condition, the price, and your wrenching abilities.
My 240 tossed a rod with a PO. Now, (per the coworker I got it from)-the car sat abandoned for a while in a storage yard, then was given to him because his brothers wife wanted it & they were going to crush it. He put it in his backyard, a few months later his friend at the storage called him up and said he had a wrecked rollover newer car that had a good engine, so he pulled it. The car sat in his backyard in the grass for 4 yrs and he never got motivated to fix it, he found out I was looking for a Mercedes, and offered it to me as he was tired of looking at it in his yard, I looked at it and it was in remarkable shape given its past, interior was near excellent, body had a few rusty spots. The price was bring my trailer and haul it off, (and about $500 of delinquent DMV fees) can't argue with that and the spare motor was included. He had lost the keys, so we winched it on the trailer and used a jack to steer it as needed (Later took a chance and ordered keys by vin #, still had original locks so keys worked) Upon getting home, I began to roll it off the trailer in the shop, got halfway off, hit the brakes, and there they froze-heavily rusted on the sliders from the grass. I was able to get it off with a prybar under the front tire & much patience. Went to the wrecker and found a good looking car with a blown timing chain, (obviously ran recently before its arrival) had near new brakes, took all calipers, rotors and pads, did some cleaning of the mounting surfaces with a file and die grinder. The spare motor was a 617, so the install took examining what was different and getting the needed parts to convert it in. other than that a few small things with cleaning some corroded electrical connections, and a few not needed but did it anyway cosmetics.
The car runs very well now, drive it as my daily commuter, and overall I'm in the car around $1400 total as it stands. Not a bad deal, I found all of this relatively easy to do, and I had never touched an MB before. I found this site very helpful when it came down to the details of vacuum tuning and engine timing, etc.
Just giving you an idea of what can be involved with the ones that sit.

-Chris 80 240D w/617 motor

That is a lot of work for a $1,400 Benz. There is a 190D 2.5turbo on New York Craig's List for $500 obo that needs and auto tranny or a manual swapout.

Did the 240 have a manual tranny? Did you keep it with the turbo engine?

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Doug

1987 300TD x 3
2005 E320CDI

G'mornin',

I purchased my car from a Charity Donation.....and all I had to go on was some photos and a carfax.....after driving it home, it was obvious that the car had had very little movement during the last 5-6 years prior to my purchase......one of the indicators were the new tires.....Goodyears... could not get them to balance properly at my tire guy...so I drove to a Goodyear Dealer....there were obvious flat spots in the tires, but they still had all of the little nubs and some of the coloring from the mold....he was gonna replace them....until he discovered that they were manufactired in 03/2000....but he did give me a really heavy discount on a new set......his assessment was that the car had sat idle for years.....

There were are many other indicators of this idle time.....in a garage kept car...

I initially changed every fluid in the vehicle (excepting coolant and PS Fluid), checked valve lash.....had some vacuum problems.....but the more I drive it, the better it gets.....oh yes....the brake rotors needed replacement, done, because there were high spots where they had not rusted under the pads....

I have a moderate maintenance list including some bushings in the sway bars, and the rear window seal needs replacement......I have about $300 in parts...$50 in MB shop manuals (MB Service Manual Library contains all books)......and I have not kept track of my time but that labor would probably be worth around $2000 ar a MB Dealership......

Car uses about 1/16" of Lube Oil per 3000miles, and a little bit of ATF.....but no longer leaves any drippings on the plywood that I park over, and inspect regularly......

I have a good set of Maintenance Records.....which I initially thought had ceased to have been accurately kept after 2000....but now it all jives with a long period of inactivity.....

Bottom line, I am quite pleased with my purchase.....

SB

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Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

hey, can you link this to the craigslist stickey? someone here (like me...) may be interested in it.
JOhn

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I think the seller must be reasonable.

Ok...I see this straying off in a bunch of directions...so to clarify:

1. I paid nothing for the car, price was towing it home on my trailer.
2. The $1400 was total invested into the car to bring it to where it is today going down the road daily as my commuter, including some non necessary cosmetic fixes.
3. It is not for sale.

It unfortunately is not a manual, nor a turbo, much as I wish it was both, but still is nice to have and drive.

-Chris 80 240D w 617 motor