Fair Price for 300CD?
 

Hey guys I'm looking at a an 83 300CD tomorrow, just wondering what a fair price is. It has 175k, body is perfect, interior is Good, not perfect, but good. New tires, sunroof doesn't work and all the A/C components were recently replaced. Guy has $3500 in receipts over the last year. I know it's tough to tell without seeing it, but I am wondering if you guys could give me a ballpark so I don't get ripped.

THANKS!!!

I would probably be willing to pay something in the $4-8K range depending on condition and documentation. I've seen them sell for up to about $12K with similar mileage, but only in exceptional condition.

The area of the country also makes a big difference, I don't know anything about the market in FL.

Invest what you think you can return if you were to put it back on the open market. Doesn't hurt to try and strike a deal, but go for quality and history and you won't be disappointed.

IMO, it depends on AC, transmission and rust. How bad is the interior? If the interior is torn, that is an issue. How is the rubber?

If the AC is bona-fide cold blowing R12, and the AT shifts well, a rust-free car would, IMO, bring $6-8k, depending upon how the paint, dash and seats look.

I figure it is just time to do the pricey upper door seals, they are always shot. That is $1000 in parts, but I figure no point in demeriting the car if they don't leak, but it is worth $500-1000 if they are more or less new.

Some really nice examples will go over $8k. A solid car with working everything and cold AC is likely worth around $7k, IMO. One that looks like new and has every receipt from new, with <= 150k miles can be worth upwards of $10k.

Just realize that the rubber parts and window regulators will likely need work, no matter how nice a car... they are just getting old.

I believe the A/C is r132, but not sure. He said he just had everything replaced on the a/c at a local shop, condenser, pump, the works of course I haven't looked at the receipts yet. Interior is in good shape it's been garaged it's whole life, no tears or cracks. Carpet is worn, but not horrible. Windows and locks work.

There were two rust spots at the usual place back by the drains, he had them repaired at a local body shop, again he has receipts for that. Original paint, but it's perfect, I've seen the car a few times and he's a friend of a friend so that's how I came across the deal. He's pretty firm at $6,500

I'd say 6500 is ok if the sunroof was working and the interior is pretty nice.

Im not sure where Stuart FL is but if its close to Titusville come on out for our GTG 12/5. The thread is at the top of the diesel discussion.

i'm just north of Palm Beach.

So not a good deal with a busted sunroof? I take it the sunroof is a nightmare to fix?

I think $6500 is reasonable, I would use the broken sunroof to negotiate the price down by the cost of the repair.

I think that is a very fair price, to be firm at.

Does the sunroof work? How cracked are the rubbers that the window touches at its upper edge? Even requiring replacement f rubber parts, $6500 is good. AC and sunroofs are tough things to fix, so they justify a bit off, but even with a broken sunroof, IMO $6500 is good...

No the sunroof doesn't work, no idea what is wrong with it. Have not looked at the door rubber yet.

Yea he's definitely firm at 6k, it's a take or leave it thing.

Well 6k is even better - was that a typo, or did we just loose $500?

At $6k, it is worth it regardless, given your description.

I price a car based on its marketability and nothing more. I have to get it for less than I know another guy would buy it for simply for the fact that as the world changes, you want your investment to be as liquid as possible. That said, I will always pay a premium for originality and completeness. Service records and ownership history are major bonuses. While I am a great amateur mechanic, not all are and I hate nothing more than to end up with the previous guy's hack job.

Sorry I meant firm at 6500

Yea this dude never turned a wrench, all the work has been done at a shop.

I'm buying it for the wife, she keeps stealing my 300d so I'd like to get her one of her own. I don't need to resell it, but I also don't want to get ripped off if you catch my drift.