Hey guys, I'm baaaaccccckkkkkkkkk!
It's been a long time since I've been on Mercedesshop.com and I've missed the helpful comraderie of this forum. I've been driving a '93 Lexus since '04 (I WANTED a mercedes....) and have, at last, found what may be MY "new" Mercedes: A neighbor owns a sweet-looking 1975 240D she wants to sell for $5k. It has less than 100k miles on it, her uncle bought it new and let it just hangout - a drove it little - for all these years.

4-speed straight transmission - or is it a 5-speed? (I test drive it later today)

W115 chassis

Is this the "million mile engine" I've heard about Mercedes making around this decade? Maybe it was the 220D engine and not this 240D? What about the quality of the diesels made in '75?

It's only known issue is the ac doesn't work (I don't know what it needs).

I can get the VIN if anyone can intrepret it (I'll get it this afternoon).

It's a deep South car and I haven't seen any but I'll check for rust.

What else should I check for? She says she has "the records."

What'd ya think? Is $5,000.00 about what it is worth?



Thanks for your input...
...debi

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...debi

1971 250
1972 220D
1993 Lexus ES300

THE RECORDS. No 6 digit odometer on those.

If it really has less than 100K miles on it, it really shouldn't need anything serious mechanically (although there will be a lot of very dry rubber ).

Look for rust everywhere.

$5K is a lot of money- better be nice for that.

Rick

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

I agree, it's all about the condition. As for the cost, what's it worth to you? If you like it and have $5k available, why not?

... as a matter of fact, it is really TOO much money for me to spend on anything, so this car needs to be REALLY worth $5,000.00 and not just that the high price of an "okay" car that is available to me to buy.

Is there a way to check and see what this car is worth. Is there a bluebook on 1975 240D's?

This afternoon I'll check out the condition the car is in and report back here the info I find. I'll ask about records, too. What should be IN the records? How do I know if they are complete?

Thanks for the posts! Any more things I should pay attention to?

...debi

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...debi

1971 250
1972 220D
1993 Lexus ES300

When I bought my 1980 240D (4-speed, w123) - the PO was asking $5k. It is a really nice specimen, but it was in Houston, 3 hours away - so I used NADA classic car prices and told him that I didn't know how he appraised his car, but that NADA was $2000-$3500 (IIRC). He said ok to that range, so I went and saw it - looked good and I bought it for $2700.

What I am saying is that i think $5k is more than you need to spend to get the car. (unless she doesn't really want/need to sell it - that's a different matter )

Good luck - I sure love mine

going to go drive home from work in it right now!!!!! wooohoooo!!

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Current Mercedes
1979 maple yellow 240D 4-speed

Gone and fondly remembered:
1980 orient red 240D 4-speed

Gone and NOT fondly remembered:
1982 Chna Blue 300TD

Other car in the stable:
2013 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI / 6-speed MT

got my 240D for $600. it stopped running 2 months later and now i need to get it another engine... but those were 2 awesome months.

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That is the big questions.
As for what others are selling for may not be the best approach.
Were these others One owner cars? Senior owned, rust free southern cars? Did they come with maint. records? Under 100k?
There is alot more than meets the eye with these, But the bottom line will always be, What is it worth to you?

My next question would be, How long do you plan on owning it?
If long term, then cost doesn't matter as much as one you would buy to do a little work and flip for profit.

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81 Mercedes 300SD 289k.......SOLD
82 Mercedes 300CD 252k......slow ride

82 mercedes 300 SD...mi Unknown
83 Mercedes 300D ????ksniff..gone too
84 Mercedes 300D 148k........SOLD
85 Mercedes 300TD 386k and holding some one elses project

There's demand for the old deisels.

Some really suspect cars seem to bring a couple of grand.

So, IF this one is really nice, lots of records, and it rings all your bells, it should be a no regret purchase at $5k. I'd expect a nice rust free, good paint, clean interior, good running no excuses car for my money. I've never regretted paying a premium for a really nice car.

However, it would be even better at $4k! The A/C can cost about grand to have refurbed, use that as a lever.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

I don't want to be a wet blanket, but it $5k is too much for you, don't buy it no matter how nice it is. Our country is in a recession because too many people bought things that they couldn't afford. And in this case, there are no guarantees. Even if every little thing on the car is perfect right now, it's a 33-year-old car, and something could flake out on you in a month and require $2,000 worth of work. Again, I love my car, I love working on it and I love worrying about ... so I love to see someone else getting the MB diesel disease and don't really want to quash it at all. But I wouldn't recommend gambling money you can't afford to lose, on anything. NOTHING in life has a million-mile guarantee.

That said, you can probably find a decent W115 for quite a bit less than $5k. Even if it has a little rust, or some imperfections, you can have a lot of fun with it. And if you know what you're doing (or learn as you go along), it's affordable fun. So I'd recommend looking for a while ... check out the different chassis and engines, too. Lots of them can be had at a reasonable price. There's not really a price guide for something like that, even though you can open a KBB or whatnot and see some figures thrown around. But the range is huge, and it will vary tremendously based on the condition, the seller, the location, the particular demand at that time/location, etc. It's a lot more complicated than grading a baseball card (which is pretty complicated!).

Again, don't want to sound preachy, but if $5k is a scary figure to you, don't spend it on a 33yo car. Then again, I'm a paranoid money-hoarder who can definitely spend $5k on a car, but stands in the grocery store aisle for 20 minutes staring at a box of cereal before concluding that I don't really NEED the name brand and instead gets the generic "cardboard crunch" version to save $0.37.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

I have to agree, you don't want to own one of these unless you are prepared to face a couple of $1000 of unexpected repairs at any given time. The initial purchase price is just the beginning of the expenses, even a "nice" car is going to cost you a few more bucks before you get it perfect. Decide on your budget, then find a car that costs about half that much.

There's no guarantee that it has less than 100k... you can't tell as the odometer rolls over (if you can trust the odometer to begin with). Carfax won't tell you anything on a car that old. 100k miles over 33 years => less than 3k a year on average. Unless there are well kept records documenting this mileage, take it with a heap of salt (even if your neighbor truly believes it has less than 100k).

The w115 240d is a great car. For $5k it had better be in tip-top shape! I wouldn't approach this price without well kept documentation.

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1985 MBZ 300DT
1969 MBZ 220d
1984 MBZ 300TDT
1981 VW Vanagon