Hi,
Im looking to buy my first MB 300 turbo diesel and wanted to get feedback on an estimated value.

Its an 83 sedan with 150k. Been garaged for most of its life with only 1 owner who has what looks to be all the service receipts. There is no rust on the body that I have seen. the trim and paint are in great condition and the interior is almost like new with only a few wood trim issues. It runs great when going uphill and accelerating onto the freeway.

The owner is asking $7,500. Is that a fair price and what is a negotiable range if I plan to pay cash?

thanks,
john

Do you have Pics?

Also look at the records, as that is low miles. Was the maintenance done by mileage or by time? A car with that few miles should have been maintained according to time.

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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

Yes, see if there are any records. You'll end up paying cash regardless i.e. cashiers check, so don't worry about that. Sounds like a VERY large price. The car is a solid performer, yet 24 years old. Check transmission for smooth, accurate shifts, check the climate control system. Having said all that, three and a half years ago, I dropped $10,000 on my CD, don't even care for the color, had 83k on the clock at the time. Sun roof, A/C, etc. EVERYTHING must work properly. Got pics?

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83 SD

84 CD

I'm not well versed on such matters but I won't let that stop me from offering an opinion. I bought an '83 300 D twelve months ago that wasn't quite as nice as yours sounds to be, but surely is a fine car. Had 191K, cracks in dash, otherwise great interior. Runs great. Uses no oil. Everything works (except cruise control). New radiator, front end, hoses, tires, battery, shocks. Paint is fair. One tiny little rust spot. Paid $3K for it. Have seen a couple since then that are comparable in condition and price. So ----although it is my first MB and I had nothing more than the Kelley bluebook to go on (hadn't found this forum yet) I bought it and feel that I got an OK deal. And I love the car. Given all that, I think $7500 sounds a bit pricey.

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John Schroader
bio burnin' 83 300D, '83 300 SD, '79 240D
"I've never met a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else" Ben Franklin
"You cannot permanently help a man by doing for him what he could and should do for himself" Abraham Lincoln

Depends on where you live. In the Seattle area that's actually a pretty good price unforunatley, but if you're in the midwest or east coast that's pretty high.

I agree, it's all about condition and location. If it's really in top condition, the price is reasonable. I would still take it to a good shop for a pre-purchase inspection, use whatever they find to negotiate the price a little.

I would never pay that much for one of these cars in any condition.
Very nice examples can be found for under $4K, and I go way under that. {unless I'm selling!}

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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

Not around here, the last "very nice" W123 300D I saw locally sold for $12K. Your definition of very nice may be different than mine. Anything you find here for $4K will be a project car, probably needing paint, new dash, wood trim, etc. to be decent looking. It may also need AC, ACC, cruise control, engine/tranny mechanical maintenance, etc. to be functional. There's not much point in buying a $4000 car that needs another $4000 worth of work if you can buy a nice one for $7-8000.

Right. It is worth it if it is really nice.

But you have to know what to look for to tell the difference. As noted above, get a very experienced person to look at it.

For that price it must be perfect.

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.

It sounds a bit high to me. I would expect near perfection for this price. Like no dash cracks, no rust, pristine leather interior. Do a search on EBay and see what similar cars are going for. Though, to do this you need to watch the auctions for a few weeks at least.

I paid $5,700 for my 84 300D a little over a year ago and it has zero rust (was a southern car), almost no dash cracks, no cracks in the wood, and the owner was able to document every major repair that had been done. Like new turbo charger, new transmission. It had 307K when I bought it. It also came with a premium sound system and a number our little extras. I could tell that the car had been really well taken care of. It sounds like a high price for the mileage, but it was not the engine I was worried about. It was all the other stuff that can go wrong that he had already taken care of. And he was very forthright and meticulous about documenting the condition, so I was willing to pay a bit of a premium for peace of mind. It has turned out to be an excellent car.

I agree that you should have it looked over by an experienced mechanic that services MB. Also, look under the car and under the hood to see if it is leaking much oil. Look at the hoses to see if they looked cracked. Little things like this tell you a lot about how much attention someone is paying to their car. Look at the rubber boots on the ball joints. This will tell you if they have been replaced or will need to be replaced soon.

I hope this helps. Good luck. This forum is a wealth of information.

Richard

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85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60

1 owner ,150K, garaged, with records are becoming more rare by the day. If it is as nice as you describe don't let it get away.

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1982 240D Euro Stick 4

I paid $4500 for my 77 300d in 2001 with 55k miles always garaged and original owner ('s husband). Had a number of door dings on left rear door but otherwise in excellent shape. Colorado car with absolutely no rust. This was prior to the biodiesel craze. I thought it was expensive at the time, but the car was in excellent condition with everything working but no comprehensive service records. I'd probably pay $7500 for a comparable turbo model now.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I really must like these cars, as I have 4 out in the driveway, but I guess I don't "value" them as much as some folks here. They just aren't "worth" that kind of $$$ to me.
They simply have too many little nagging problems to have that kind of value. Opinions will vary, and value is subjective I know.
I sure am fond of the cheaper buggers though.......

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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

We're not talking about big money here, less than $10K for a nice car that will provide years of service is a very good deal. I will spend more than $7500 when it comes time to toss a reman engine in mine; and I have much more than that into my car already, at least twice that much over the last 250K miles or so. That's still a much better deal than $60K for a new one, or $30K for some new generic-mobile that I wouldn't want anyway. In my case, I've calculated that I can drive one of these indefinitely for about $0.30/mile, driving (and replacing) late model benz would cost more like $0.50-0.60/mile, or I could drive some newer POS (replaced every few years) for about $0.15-0.20/mile.

The idea is to buy/maintain a car in a condition such that you can hop in and drive a couple of 1000 miles without having to think about it, basically I need it to be as reliable as a new car (I'm currently in a hotel near chicago, 1000 miles from home; I'll drive 6-7000 miles this month). If I couldn't do that in an old benz, I would be forced to buy a newer one... yuck (much more money, slightly less hassle, but much less fun).

Seriously,
if you live on the moon, 50,000,000 is too good a price.
if you live in arizona, you are sure to have a rust free example everywhere you look. if you live in New York, a truly rust free low mileage example would be near impossible to find.
it does sound nice, 7500 as is is a bit high. how sure are you of it's claim to conditon and ownership?

Click the User CP link at the top of the page and add your location and go ahead and put in some info about yourself in the signature line.

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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!