What is it worth?? 1992 300D 2.5t
 

I have two 1985 300Ds that I have been driving for the past few years, but I recently stumbled upon a beautiful, black 1992 300D 2.5t for sale. On a whim I test drove it today and was very impressed. However, I have no clue as to how much this is worth so I don't know if it is a good deal or not. I have never seen one of these cars listed locally in the two years I have lived here, so it is a rarity. The car is black on black, 175,000 miles. Body is in excellent shape, no rust. Engine is clean and runs much stronger than my current model. It drives straight, handles nicely. It has perfect interior except very minor cracks in the wood console. Airbags, power seats. Everything works except the antenna. Could you guys give me a ball park figure? I just can't find my comps out there so I thought you all could help me out. They are asking $6000. What do you think? Thanks

For starters, where are you? Location can make a big difference.

Service records?

Ttiuwp

Here is what the NADA thinks...
PRICING
Low Retail Clean Retail Value High Retail
Base Price$3,375 $4,600 $5,600

Mileage - 175,000 milesN/AN/AN/ATOTAL PRICE$3,375$4,600*$5,600

I am located in Boise, ID

I forgot to ask for service records.

It sounds in the high end, but in the ballpark for a really nice one.

Plusses would be: heated seats, orthopedic seat(s), CD player/premium stereo, leather.

Leather is fairly rare as are bun-warmers, ortho seats extremely rare, and if it doesn't have the CD no big deal as many original units are replaced, but personally I like the speed-senditive volume on the factory unit.

Leather is fairly easy to tell on the '92, if it is leather then the door-panels are a gathered leather, if mb-tex then the door-panels are textured vinyl similar to the seats. The seats in the leather interior have a perforated center panel like the tex, but three transverse panels between the bolsters instead of the vertical ribs of the tex. Seat heater switches are on the first wood face below the ashtray, orthopedic seat controls are between the seat cushion and the center console. If it has the passenger airbag it will also have the locking tambour door center console box, if the tambour door has been leaned on it might be broken.

Although the price sounds like the top of the scale, color is important and I expect that black/black is among the most desirable, and condition with documentation makes at least $1000 of that.

Thanks Jeff. I am pretty sure that the seat are not leather as they look just like my 85 300Ds, only these are power. I am not sure about the heated seats but I will ask. It does have a nice aftermarket CD player. Thanks for the tips. This car spent its like in Michigan, your neck of the woods!

A definite strike against if the car spent much time here (Michigan).

Having worked on cars that spent their life here, compared to my sons jeep (from Florida) and my daughters 300d (from Virginia), I would be very skeptical about buying a 15+ year-old car that spent much of its life here.

The w124 seems to hold up well but eventually seems to yield rust on the body at connection with the body side moldings.

Additionally, every nut & bolt in the engine compartment to the rear that was exposed to the elements will be frozen with rust. Take a good look under the car if you continue to consider.

Good point on the Michigan car, it does hurt its value on the national/ebay market. However, its value in Michigan is not much different as most cars here are Michigan cars, ... unless you're a fanatic like us.

A highway car in Michigan is worse than a local-driven car also, the salt mist gets everywhere at 75mph, and doesn't easily wash off. If you're in the Holland area give me a PM/call/etc. and I'll happily show you my parts car, which is stripped to the chassis, to point out the few rust areas and how it affects the car. Of note are the bottoms of the doors (looking from inside with the plastic outside), the rocker panels (look around the jack pads underneath and open the plastic jack ports on the plastic cover), the rear bumper bolts, the steel around the A/C dryer, around the windshield trim. Pretty hardy really compared to the earlier cars but still some things to look for.

When I had my '91, years ago, I didn't drive it in salt. When we opened the intake for some fuel-metering issues we noticed that even the aluminum intake, downstream of the air filter, was clean and shiny compared to some used parts on the shelf that were corroded inside, Michigan highway driven cars.

Thanks for the tips. I will go look at it again tomorrow and inspect those areas. I don't imagine it was driven on the hwy much since it only averaged 11,000 miles per year, but it is impossible to guess. A closer inspection should shed some light. I'll take my camera tomorrow and report back. Compared to what 123 styled 300D's are selling for, (and they all have some issue) this still seems like a good deal. I also saw one on ebay with the exact same mileage and model going for $6K (buy it now). Thanks again.

I couldn't resist, so I bought it. I ended up having to pry it out of the owner's hands. She was emtionally attached to the car. I was able to put it up on a lift before buying it and it looked great. Come to find out that they didn't always live in Michigan so it didn't spend its entire life there. Anyway, I am happy with it....at least until I find another:D

That is a really nice looking diesel. Drove one a couple weeks ago, and I could force myself from a W123 to a W124 pretty easily I think.....;)