Time to sell the 87 300 sdl: How much

[latitude500]

So the time has come to sell my 1987 300 sdl and I’ve done something very sad. I totaled up the amount I’ve spent on repairs and upgrades over the years. My god I have spent over 10k just in repairs and upgrade in the last 3 years. I’m laughing, because if I don’t laugh I would be crying. It wasn’t even anything really big, just a couple of hundred here and there. Not really a bid deal. But I have to say the person that purchases this car is getting a great car. So I know I wouldn’t get the money back that I’ve put into it. But I was wondering what I should sell the car for? I’ve posted some pictures of the car that I took today. And I’ll post some pictures of the inside too when I take them tomorrow.
If I was going to keep it, I would replace the leather seats and get new floor mates. But other than that the car runs great.
A/C is cold at 100 degrees outside; tires are less than a month old, all windows and door work just fine. Tracks down the road, really I wouldn’t have a problem driving this car across the country. The car has 240,000 miles on the clock.
Here is the list of repairs and upgrades.
suspension
$ 10,036.33
2 tie rod ends 71.42
Rear sway bar bushings 16.9
Front sway bar bushings 68.95
Two new axles assembly 333.43
Right front ball joint
Left front ball joint
Right front bearing
Left front bearing 649.7

A/C

New drier 27.4
Manifold Custom hose 72
A/C custom hose 38
Evac and recharge 138.96

Engine

serpentine belt shock absorber 63.87
New clutch fan 184.95
Transmission Mount 27.98
Two engine mounts 89.23
Lower radiator hose 83.16
Upper Radiator hose 8
Fuel Tank screen 19.8
Engine Heater element 75
Injector Heat shields 9
Bosio Injectors 559.02
POP testing injectors 169.3
Biodiesel rated fuel line 50
four Metal Fuel injector line 424.52
Two Metal fuel injector lines 92.02
New Transmission shift modulator 285.6
Timing Chain Replaced 500
Trann flush
crush vvasher
Trann pan pasket 110.31
Vacuum Hose 27.96
New radiator 410
New altenator 114.33
New voltage regulator 34.07
New Bosh starter 677.98
Optima Battery 209.19


Exterior

Professional Car painting 1,879.37
Front head light covers 63.79


Interior

two Front Door window switch 27.84
Window tinting 204.59
wINDOw motor 120.14
Exhaust system

3 inch 409 stainless steel pipe 102
muffler 54.07
flex pipe stainless steel 23
Mandrel bend tube 111.75

Differental

2 rings for rear diff drain plug
one drain plug
one rear breather 38.53

Grease Car kit 1,540.00

New Falken Ziex Ze-512 Tires 298.15

[latitude500]

63 people read the post and no one has anything to say. Come on, someone must have an idea of what it might be worth.

[Chas H]

After all that work I dunno why you want to sell it.
I sold my '87 300TD 6 years ago, @ 275K miles, because it needed much of the work you did. It ran great but I just couldn't justify spending $10k on a wagon I could replace for $8K. Which is what I did when I bought a '95 E320 with 65K miles on it.

[ah-kay]

I am the 65th person reading this post ??

You get whatever the buyer is willing to part with his/her money. Realistically, I would think 3-5K. Put it in eBay with a reserve you are comfortable with and see how it pans out. Aim low and you will end up happy. Aim high, most sellers do, and you will be disappointed.

[Motorcitydiesel]

A super nice one with really low miles sold on e-bay around me for around $7k Your mileage is going to scare allot of people, but I assume you have records for all the stuff you've done. I'd try $6500.00 and see what happens. Btw, the car looks nice.

[chasinthesun]

Ive found that a fresh looking interior will advance the sell of a car quicker than one thats worn out,your advertisement needs plenty of interior shots to show condition of the seats.If everything is up and working properly say that also in your add,I dont know how many times Ive looked at a car for sale and the condition didnt match the info given on the intial caLL ,PICTURES WONT LIE.Check jaxed.com then search the national sales for this model and year ,you can clarify the search to get to just that model across ebay,CL,and other sales sites from this search engine.This will provide you an answer to your question.

[TheDon]

a grease car kit... ewwww.. Remove that and sell that on its own.

[PaulC]

Originally Posted by TheDon

a grease car kit... ewwww.. Remove that and sell that on its own.

That's what I was thinking. I don't know how the installation of such a kit affects resale value, but it may limit the pool of potential buyers.

[TheDon]

I'd say list it for 5k and then sell that "alternative fuel kit" to someone else for a little less than what you paid.

If I was in the market I'd honestly offer you 1k less than what you listed (if it's for 5k, I'd offer 4k) because of that grease car kit. I'm not a fan of any diesel running on anything other than D2 or approved Biodiesel.

[dagObx]

Originally Posted by TheDon

I'd say list it for 5k and then sell that "alternative fuel kit" to someone else for a little less than what you paid.

If I was in the market I'd honestly offer you 1k less than what you listed (if it's for 5k, I'd offer 4k) because of that grease car kit. I'm not a fan of any diesel running on anything other than D2 or approved Biodiesel.

^^^What he said!!!

[Beastie]

Darn! Still trying to sell one of my toys otherwise I would be sending you a PM

[scottmcphee]

First of all, didn't anyone tell you to NEVER add up your repair and maintenance bills for a Benz? It's self defeating. Looks like you were going at this car in a way that spells "keeper", not "sell". So keep it and enjoy all you put into it with that peace of mind. Personally, if it were mine, I'd be driving it for 10 more years to average down the expense. But you say it is "time to sell". What clock is telling you that time?.

[Zacharias]

You did a lot of work that could only be classed as "it's a keeper" stuff and obviously spent real time and money getting the car up to snuff, either because you genuinely wished to keep it, or because you have a low "wrong" tolerance on an older Benz.

The problem with that approach is that it only pays off for you in terms of long-term ownership, enjoyment and (hopefully) trouble-free use. The low threshold for "wrong" can become particularly expensive.

The sad fact is that the two big-ticket items in particular, the repaint and the WVO kit, don't return their value. The repaint makes the car more appealing but doesn't ADD value; many if not most people in the Benz world now seem to be anti-SVO/WVO. I am not, but even I won't pay more than 40 cents on the dollar for a kit once it's installed/used.

May I ask why you are selling it, after all this effort? Is it a case where the project was more exciting than the result (thrill of the chase syndrome)?

[Tanksowner]

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SELL THIS!? I agree with Scott, find a way to keep the SDL. You're clearly going to lose money selling it. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I've seen cars go for much less than they're worth after all needed maintenance is done.

A prime example is my dad's car. The PO put thousands of dollars into it so it would look like new. But he sold it to my dad for 6800. If you spent all that money on it, why not enjoy the fruits of your labor? Why subject yourself to wondering if it's going to go to a good home or not?

Keep it.

[shertex]

Unless it's a matter of marital or financial necessity (the former of which made me sell my SDL), KEEP IT.