What price should I be asking?

[Simpler=Better]

I'm going to be selling my 300D soon, what should I be asking?
I've done all my own work(Except alignment/tire balancing). Oil changes have been at or before 5k, using only Mobil Delvac or Rotatella synth(winter)
Gets a solid 25-27 highway in a "65 zone" on my 140 miles/day commute.

The good:
Before I got it:
New Behr radiator
New oil cooler hoses(worn motor mounts let the belts slowly cut into the oil cooler lines)

@ around 204k
AL129X alternator(115Amp) 2ga soldered battery cable, new belts at 205k
Fixed EGR system
New oil pan gasket
New valve cover gasket
New power steering filter
New rear brake hoses
New GP annular axles
New front/rear brake pads
New master cylinder
Synthetic DOT4 Valvoline brake fuild
New fuel hoses
Diff oil change-forgot brand(I think Valvoline 80-90 dino)
Custom 2" hitch(mounted to bumper mounts/reinforced spare well-the bumper shocks will still work in a crash), with 6 point wiring plug
New motor mounts
15" generic alloy wheels with snow tires
Dual brake light mod
All fuses replaced with copper/brass fuses

@ around 208k
GT2056V VNT Turbo (can reach full boost revving in neutral)
Remote vane control
New manifold gasket
New turbo drain seal
Capped (not glued) oil separator drain
Painted & cured exhaust manifold red
Installed boost, exhaust pressure, and EGT gauges
ALDA removed
Orange LED dash lighting. All dummy lights replaced with LEDs(seatbelt and high beam removed)
5 New bosch glow plugs
Lower radiator hose block heater
New parking brake pads

Within the last 4 months(current mileage is 215k)
Modified intake manifold for alcohol injection. Port injection, 1.3GPH/port; injectors cost ~$6 and can be changed
150PSI Alcohol/water injection pump
Side exit 2.5" exhaust, with new-style flex pipe, glasspack, fully welded and painted black with bbq paint, welded on stainless tip
New rear shocks
New rear 19mm spring pads, along with 2" rubber spacer for lift
New air filter(GIANT Wix paper filter)
SVO system(no tank yet)-I've burned 2 gallons of store-bought soy as a demo
16 plate FPHE
Fuel valves/controls
Temp gauge
No head unit-I just use my Ipod. All audio connections were soldered where possible
4" Alpines(Type-S?) up front, 5.25" Pioneers in the back both are driven series-parallel by a 180W/channel Clarion Amp(90w/speaker RMS max, turned down to 45W right now)
12" Infinity Reference DVC subwoofer(300WRMS/1200Wpeak) in a 3/4" MDF bolted-down box in the trunk, with one face plexiglass. driven by a 300W RMS Phoenix Gold amp


The iffy:
Light rhythmic vibration on the highway. Possibly from the rear tires(Both rims are bent, both tires are snow tires)
Usual rust holes in trunk corners and front corners (Trunk corners are bad, front corners are ~3")
Generic ignition system, has a kill button for shutdown
Vacuum locks bypassed
Rear window regulators shot/removed
AC system removed(minus evaporator core)
Climate control system removed-hi/low switch gives you heat on all vents, manually close the hands for more to the defroster, etc.
No antenna
No trunk vacuum reservoir
No cruise control
Injectors are of unknown age

Stuff I will be doing before selling:
Fix my PS leak
Fix my clear fuel line leak
Fresh Mobil Delvac oil change
Fresh Wix fuel filter
Valve adjustment
IP timing to 28*
Removing rack limiter
Tuning transmission vacuum modulator to be softer downshifting

Spare parts that come with the car(Bought from Fastlane unless noted)
NIB Head gasket
NIB Timing chain
NIB valve seals
NIB 5 Bosch glow plugs(Autozoo)
NIB Oil filter gaskets
Fuses (Fleabay)

[junqueyardjim]

I think you are trying to raise the value of your car in your eyes. Nothing wrong with that, but to sell it, you have to raise that value in a buyers eyes. You got to remember, it is an old car, it has plenty of miles and it has rust! It is worth more to you then to anybody else. To sell it, you have to find just one person who likes it better then you do. Remember though to start high and be ready to come down. Sounds to me that $2500.00 might be a place to start.

[zeke]

With a $30 can of Por-15 treatment, you could take care of those rust spots - that would certainly increase the value of your car more than "invisible" repairs live valve adjustment or oil change.

I assume that I will be doing filter/fluid changes upon purchase (regardless of what the PO tells me) and things like valve adjustments within the year. So if I came to see your car and you told me about those things, I would immediately discount them.

I think $2500 for a car with no AC, some rust, no radio, and some SVO burned (ok not too much) is high - but I live in Texas, so if I were a potential buyer, I would already be thinking about the $2-3k I would have to put in to get AC.

If that car were listed on CL, I might call you if it was listed at $2000 - with the hope that you would agree to something around $1500 (or even lower TBH).

Of course, as mentioned in another hot recent thread, it is worth what you convince someone to pay you for it - and that could vary by region and by buyer.

Good luck!

[marybeth]

Local Market forces play a part. Here in South Florida where we seem to be a wash in older MBs from deceased retirees-prices seem to be lower.

My local MB Indy has a 1984 300D in remarkable shape (no rust, good interior, AC works, etc..). Owners daughter drove it without oil and fried the engine. The local Indy offered to drop in a "new" engine and sell the car (with warrenty) for $3K. So far no takers

[Oracle12345]

with the hack jobs that are listed no more than $1500

[TylerH860]

Certainly less than $2,000 because of the rust and lack of AC.

[Simpler=Better]

Hey now! I only burned 2 gallons of virgin soybean oil; and I didn't switch over until the fuel was at 185*F

So you're saying I should overplay the lift kit and SVO stuff, adjust the mileage to gallons/km; and list is on SF bay area fleabay for $25,000?

[pawoSD]

Just to put it in perspective, we got my brother's 300D with minimal to no rust, low miles, and pretty much nothing wrong except a torn monovalve diaphragm and dead glow plugs/glow relay. For $1500. Nothing was hacked, the car was virtually stock. (Glow plugs were original)

Bent rims? How hard is it to pick up some not-bent ones from ebay or the junk yard?

Most of the stuff you listed as "iffy" sounds more like "horrifying". No klima? No rear window regulators? Manual Kill switch/ignition??? All that stuff worked/was stock on our 300D....

It might sound cruel, but I'd say $900 unless some of that stuff gets sorted first....I can't stand hack repairs.

[dariod]

Just list it on Ebay write down on title "RARE 40 MPG RUNS ON OIL" blah blah and you will get suckers to buy it at premium price. On this forum people will tell you it is worth $500 but if it was their own they would ask like $5000.

[zeke]

Originally Posted by dariod

Just list it on Ebay write down on title "RARE 40 MPG RUNS ON OIL" blah blah and you will get suckers to buy it at premium price. On this forum people will tell you it is worth $500 but if it was their own they would ask like $5000.

Some truth in that - my membership here has certainly put w123 prices in perspective for me. And now I know what kinds of stock and nice specimens are out there if you are patient and really look for them, so I can walk right by cars that are not pretty close to original specs.

Others may not mind the modifications and it wouldn't bother them to drive it from A to B every day with goofy locks, no ACC or rear windows, no radio (I don't have an ipod, so I can't use your wiring), etc.....

But I assure you that if that was my car, I would list it for 2k, take the first offer over $1500, and seriously consider any offer over $1000. Might not sell even for that very fast for reasons mentioned already.

[pawoSD]

Originally Posted by dariod

Just list it on Ebay write down on title "RARE 40 MPG RUNS ON OIL" blah blah and you will get suckers to buy it at premium price. On this forum people will tell you it is worth $500 but if it was their own they would ask like $5000.

Not really, I'd ask what I feel my car was worth. For my SD if I were to sell it I'd probably say...$2,500-3k or so....these cars are worth a lot more to keep and use till they're dead than they are to re-sell (for the most part).

[Simpler=Better]

I think I'll part it out then. Lowballing the upgrades we're looking at $1250-VNT(200), alternator(100), SVO(200), alcohol(250), stereo(350), and gauges(150).

[pawoSD]

Why would you part out a running driving car? Why not just keep it and drive it till something major goes wrong, then part it?

[Oracle12345]

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Why would you part out a running driving car? Why not just keep it and drive it till something major goes wrong, then part it?

yeah

The money you put into a old mercedes diesel you will never get back if you ever try to sell t so might as well enjoy it until something major goes

[Simpler=Better]

It's "running" for now, but has a power steering leak(3-4hrs repair) What's next? front end parts? flex plates? wheel bearings? starter? water pump? oil cooler lines? etc. etc.

The past year has been one thing after the other, I enjoy mechanical work, and I enjoy maintaining my own cars.

I do not enjoy spending almost every weekend fixing my car so that I can get to school/work on Monday, and having to constantly borrow other people's cars for parts runs/transportation when the 300D is out of service.
On top of that, I am uncomfortable after about 1.5hrs driving, sedan posture kills my arms/hips/legs, along with no a/c and the aforementioned rear vibration I'm excited to pull myself out and go to work.