I can vouch for TheDon's car, ive seen it first hand a few times, good shape, his listing is accurate by way of describing the condition. Hes a little anal with is MB's, so that works to your advantage.Its also the best year of the W123 diesels.

Id buy it, but Im not really a W123 fan and I already have a diesel.

__________________
". . .back before accountants designed cars"

-Current Stable-
'78 MB 450SL-C 107.024.12.020783 #3840 <Kayleen>
'85 FORD F250 6.9L Diesel <Allison>
'98 Lexus ES300 <Rachel>
Long Gone...
'74 Chevy G10...........................'99 GMC Yukon 4X4
'83 Chevy Suburban 6.2 diesel .....'99 SAAB 9-5
'90 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS............. '01 Chevy Tahoe
'98 Nissan Altima .......................'02 MB ML320
'88 Chevy Suburban V2500 4X4 6.2 diesel

I went and saw "TheDon's" car today. He was VERY accurate in the description. I was not unhappy at all to take the drive to look at it. I'm just not up for doing some of the repairs on that one.

I drove a few more on the way home and I finally drove a 1987 model with the 6 cylinder diesel. WOW... Those little cars really fly. I could not believe the difference in power. Supposedly better fuel economy too. I have driven around 15 of the 123 style turbo diesels. None of them compared to this.

My plan now is to sock away few more thousand and try to pick up one of these. If I can find one. This guy says they are pretty rare because they were only made for one year with the 6? Is that true?

It looks like the difference in power and fuel economy is because of the cylinder head. The head on the 124's is like the one on my last couple Dodge/Cummins trucks. Intake on one side and exhaust on the other on the 124. The intake and exhaust are on the same side on the 123.

Thanks again to all for the input on this thread!

I'm going to take a month off and start searching again. It is hard work looking for a good car. I'm over it for now.