Anybody think $6500 is too much for a 1986 300sdl with 140,000 miles at a Mercedes dealer? The car is pretty much in excellent condition but has a few dings in the paint and one small dent on it. Interior is in very nice shape.

This might not be much more money, than buying the bargain Benz I checked out last week here:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=236078


Would you trust a Mercedes dealer to sell you a trouble free car?
Should I still have an Independent check it out?

Honestly there are pluses and minuses for both of these cars. If I took the $1750 one, and not much else turns out to be shot on it, I could have a pretty great car for like $3000. If this needs anything I'm heading towards $8000 fast.

Any thoughts on this car's overall value?

Thanks

Walt

Walt:

'Trouble Free Car' is a dream and especially regarding a 22 year old car. I've had 20 months of trouble free driving on occasion, but only after bringing them up to speed.
If you like to tinker, buy and enjoy maintaining MB diesels. If you're looking for trouble free, buy something else.

Diesel Don

__________________
DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

I paid about that for my 86 300 SDL (6750 actually).

I really had no idea what I was getting into, and I could have easily gotten hosed in the deal. This was my first diesel, and I did not find this board until after I got the car.

That being said I got lucky and have not had any major issues with the car. Could you get it checked out by another mechanic?

__________________
86 300 SDL - Vesuvius

96 SL 500

Assumption is the mother of all screw ups.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke

Good Lord mowoc, that is quite a collection of "catchy" sayings at the bottom of your signature..........
Doesn't that sound funny: take it from an MB dealership so a mechanic can check it out?? Sad part is that's probably not a bad idea as very few MB mechanics these days know a thing about these older diesel Benz's........

__________________
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

Don,

I can't stop laughing at your "trouble free car" being a dream comment. Without a doubt you are right. Maybe I should just buy the beat up one for $1750 that I linked to? Considering that one has a newly rebuilt trans, I might even be luckier with it as this one is the original.

Buy whichever one has the best body and interior. Paint and interior work is extremely expensive, mechanical work is cheaper.

A good paint job is $3k-$5k, replacing dull trim is a G note or two. Recovering and fixing the front seats are about a G note each. New carpet is another G note. New wood is two G notes, the headlinder is $500, dash $700, etc.

A 300SD and SDL are different cars, you need to drive both to see which one you prefer.

No such thing as a trouble free 20+ year old Mercedes, its a hobby car. If your not looking for a hobby I'd consider a newer one.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

If you can afford the SDL and its in nice shape,has good records, by all mean buy it. Often cheap Mercedes buyers catch up quickly to the people who shelled out more for a nicer example.

__________________
1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

I'd sell you Coda for less than $6500; however, if you wanted to pay that much for her, I'd take it. Coda has a perfect dash and almost perfect interior. I'll even tell you what's currently wrong with her. I made the list today; let's see, where is that list.......Okay, everyone knows that Coda needs paint, so let's just foreget about that one. Comes with some records, first high mileage award, and pics of turning over 200,000 miles.

1. Antenna is inop -- use to work before I "fiddled" with the radio and speakers.
2. Driver's seat -- no memory, but I have a new board for it.
3. Pwr Steering; fluid leak (or weeping) from a low pressure hose; recently purchased both low pressure hoses from Phil. Did you know they are different sizes?
4. ACC -- reman --- just because of that odd time when the ACC decides to do something other than the buttons say.
5. Radiator Citric Acid Flush; I have Citri Acid.
6. Idler Arm; purchased parts from Phil.
7. Brake Fluid flush.
8. Backseat Vent -- have parts.
9. Driver's side Reverse Light; either has short or the bulb contacts are worn; works sometimes.
10. Dancing Fuel Gauge --- needs ground.
11. Sunroof needs lubrication.
12. Passenger side front seat needs contact cleaner on seat (back) adjustment --- didn't work today; co worker had it practically laid all the way down; thank goodness the memory seat setting works on the passenger side.
13. Groan in the front end on the driver's side; Front End work in the future.

Okay, I'm not trying to sell my car nor hijack this thread, but I did want you to see how much I know about my car and what works and what doesn't and what needs to be done. You need to look at the details of each of the cars. What do you know about each of the 300SDL's? Take a look at the brake fluid. Is it old or new? I bet you the Dealer did not flush it ......so if it is new, then MAYBE the previous owner did. Who are the previous owners? Have you talked to them? On my first Mercedes, I went to great extent to find out about the car and the service that was performed to it. I wanted to try to get a feel if the previous owners serviced their cars. I even called like 2 owners ago on some cars.....asked them why they got rid of it, etc.

Take a look at the overflow radiator tank. Is the coolent green or the correct MB compatible coolent for aluminum heads? See what I mean? Have you tried the memory seats on both sides? What about the sunroof? Nowadays, I pretty much can look at about 10-15 things and have a "feel" for what kind of life the car previously lived.

OR....of course, you could just jump into the the 300SDL world with your eyes shut; feet first, of course.

OH....and Coda got back in the garage last night. Yeah! She's happier inside and so am I. I hate that morning dew on the car and having an air temperature seat, car, etc. Garage is much warmer than outside air.

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

Says it all.

That kind of money should buy good records. The car they belong to is a bonus

Good luck getting an MB dealership to turn it over to an indie for a PPI but I wouldn't pay that much without objective confirmation.

Sixto
87 300D

That's what has me considering this car over the 300sd. Even though the price spread is $5000, I'm sure that can quickly narrow to $3000. Plus this is newer, has 70,000 less miles and doesn't have any rust on it.

Priceless!!

__________________
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

Have the dealer print out all the maintenance records that are on file for the SDL. With some accuracy predict what your maintenance cost will be going forward.

__________________
BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

Thats worth $5k right their!

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

As others have mentioned you will pay at least that amount to take one that has been poorly maintained and turn into one in good shape.

If it truly had nothing wrong with it then IMO that is a fair price. But from your description there is already some body and paint work to be done. Also if that is the original transmission you'll probably be in for a rebuild in the next couple of years.

If the transmission has been rebuilt I would get an estimate on both the paint/body work plus any mechanical work that needs to be done and deduct it from that $6,500 price. If the transmission is original then I would deduct at least another $1,500 and set that money aside for the eventual bill.

Is the dealer offering anything in the way of a warranty? Even ten days to "think it over" would give you time to have it thoroughly checked out by any number of mechanics. If they discover serious problems, you could then return the car to the dealer and say "no thanks."

Although I like tinkering, I'd rather pay more up front for a car with fewer problems. Remember that for every problem the seller discloses there's another one that the seller hasn't discovered yet or is hiding from you. It almost always costs more to bring a car up to snuff than to get one that is snuff to begin with.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970