Hello Gentleman,

Well I have a question about a car that I am about to buy, a 1983 300SD with 247K on the clock. The car is solid and runs great, as far as I can tell every thing that I played with worked. The one thing that bugged me was the way the tranny shifted. When driving reg, no jackrabbit starts it shifts fine, but if you floor it it seams to stick in first gear until I let off the pedal a little bit. Is that normal???
Also is there anything else that I should look out for on this car?? The guy has 7 cars in his drive way and just wants to unload this car cheap, said he is tired of maintaning that many cars. So I can pick this car up for $2000.00 , is that a good deal???
The interior is in real good shape as is the rest of the car. The sunroof still works...

Thanks inadvance for your input.

Joe

If you are used to driving a gasser, you may "think" the car stays in first too long. Another thing good be the kickdown switch under the accelerator pedal could be stuck in the down position. easy test, just unplug the wires going to it.

$2K for a good Mercedes diesel isn't too much.

Although these are exceptionally good autos, there are some quirks inherent to them. Spend time reading posts and you'll know what to look for.

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Does he have any old receipts for parts or service done to the car?

Rust would be the main thing to look for. Look at the jack points, wheel wells etc...
It should take longer to shift through the gears with full pedal. WOT shift points are internal to the transmission. Partial acceleration shifts are governed by the Bowden cable which is adjusteable.
You should also do a check of the vacuum system but from your description it doesn't sound like there could be too many problems here.

$2000 may be a good deal if it has a lot of parts replaced like ball joints, shocks, upper control arms, lower control arm bushings, subframe bushings etc...
The list goes on. You have to figure if these parts are old they will have to be replaced BY YOU!
If he doesn't have records offer $1500.

Danny

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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Thanks for the tips on the car. I did buy the car tonight I am the 3rd owner of it. The guy that I bought the car from bought it last summer owns 6 cars now and said that he think that he only put maybe 3K to 5K miles on it the whole time. I drove it to the store on the way home and this car rides very nice and runs great, it does have a muskie smell to it, but I think that once I get the dead bodys out of the trunk that should go away... HAHAHA
I think it's from not being driven on a regular basis.
I will check the shift down button and look at the ATF fluid and call him tomorrow and see when the tranny was last serviced.
This is a great web site with tons of great people on here willing to help, so thanks for all that I have learned tonight. I have been reading post for the past 3 hours...

Joe

agree the auto trans seems to have a mind of it's own
as far as when it shifts and how hard

wish they imported sticks
do canada or mexico get big cars with sticks that we in the usa donot??

Cannot speak about mexco otherwise than I think you can no longer buy a new mercedes car there. In Canada the only 123 stick car was the 240. Other than a few brought privatly into the country as grey market cars the same as the states.

Well if you have not read my other thread about my car here it is...

Help....

Well all seemed well when I left for OKC and then it happened, the tranny blew...

the musty smell may be from water leaking around the windshield and running down under your carpet.

i usually clean and caulk front and rear glass with black silicone caulk as soon as i buy another old one.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Thanks for the tip on the water problem, I will check and see if that's what making the smell.
This is a great site..