I was driving home today and I noticed the distinctive lines of an old MB along the side of the road where people normally put cars for sale. On the way back I stopped and looked at it and sure enough it was for sale. It was a 91 350 SD. The pluses
- It has 165k on the clock.
- The interior seemed fairly nice.
The minuses (besides the rod bender issue)
- rust along the door panels and fender walls (all four and three of the fenders).
- The bumper up front had a hole in the top.


I attached pictures for fun. I am not so much interested in buying it, but I do learn a ton from watching y'all disect these things.

Sorry about the small number of pictures, but once I saw the rust I figured that it was worthless.

If need be, I can always swing by and get a few more, it is not far away.

If you are curious the guy wants 4950 for it.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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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

"A thing is worth what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller in the absence of fraud." Aside from the "rod bender" engine, the rust is a killer for many of us. For every visible spot of rust there's at least another one that hasn't show up yet. Between the risky engine and the bad body, there isn't much value left.

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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

I would have done the same thing, whipped a U-turn to check it out, but would have quickly walked away. To bad. The reality is, if you are patient, there are many good examples of older Benzos out there. Patience and a fat wallet are your friends.

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1981 300TD
2005 C55
2004 E500
1999 ML430
1992 400E
1998 C43
2001 SL500
1988 300SEL
1986 190E 16V
1991 190E 2.6

The guy must need the $5k to feed his drug habit

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

I bought a better one for $1150, ...

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 This week I peeled up the entire trunk carpet to find a big ol' rot hole. Looks like my SD will be a parts car pretty soon and I'll have to start looking south for something rust free. Its such a shame because so many of these cars have fantastic engines/transmissions/interior.

The moral: Don't just lift up the carpets for a "quick look", take them out and have a full look before you buy. Learn from my mistake! Although I did get a good engine/trans (181k) for a thousand bucks...I wouldn't pay any more for this example either given the rodbender.

Edit: To clarify, I did look when I was buying, but the hole was right in the bottom where the side carpet meets the floor, so when I lifted it up and peeked in, I didn't see it. I'm not TOO unhappy, but I'd prefer not having to find another one!

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

It's worth what you'll pay for a late-casting 603 head, 55-trim turbo, and 3.5L IP.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Priceless!

__________________
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