Folks,

I've been listening and trying to learn for a while now, still waiting to find the right machine (my first diesel). Given my needs and after looking around I think a W126 is the right fit for me - mostly highway driving, need to take the occassional customer to lunch, travelling with 2 kids and need a good sized trunk, and driving about 30-40K miles per year.

I've just missed on two different 300 SDL's and now an 81 SD has presented itself. I go to look at it this afternoon. It is represented as a single owner, dealer maintained car, supposed to be in great shape, with about 194K on it. It was traded in on a new Lincoln and now a "corner used car lot" has acquired it. Right now he is asking $3700. I bet that is flexible 8*).

I'll have the usual questions for the used car dealer and probably have to go back to the Mercedes service manager to confirm.

I'll check:
maintenance records
smoke on startup
pressurization of the radiator / bubbles right after start
general fluid conditions and leaks ( radiator, tranny, ...)
the usual suspension and body checks - tire wear, shocks, bent looking frame/panels...
a driving test, acceleration, smoke, brakes
checkout the electrical / vacuum options - particularly the AC/Heat
other suggestions?

I know in looking at 300SDL's, the belt tensioner was an issue on several, does this apply to the 5 cylinders as well?

Isn't this about the time (200K) for timing chains / valve jobs?

In watching the notes on the 300 SDL's, I have an idea of basic repair costs. Are repairs on the 5 cylinder SD's about the same?

- tranny rebuild -?
- valve job / head gasket?
- timing chain?
- engine rebuild?
- turbo replacement?
- ac update to R134?

The feeling I get from the notes in the forum is these engines last about forever - and I am hoping to get another 200K+ from whatever I buy.

Thanks again and I really appreciate any guidance here.

Chuck

Hi Chuck:

I really don't think you will get the best deal from a resale dealer. You're paying for someone's overhead. The better deals come from private party sales.

To some extent though, it depends on how quickly you need or want the car. I'd have to say that I've had exceptional luck finding a couple of cars on EBay. With any mileage on them most people will be too scared to bid. If you are patient and can spend the time browsing through the EBay cars in your region, sooner or later you'll see something that you'll want to go take a look at.

As far as EBay goes, you wouldn't want to buy a car without looking at it in person first. In the past I've phrased this in terms of "verifying that the car matches the description in the auction".

That said, I know people here can tell you about things to check. Personally, I'm not bothered with a little smoke on startup. Almost all diesels will do that if they've been sitting around alot, not getting any diesel purge treatments, or have a bad glow plug or two.

The thing I will always check from now on is the condition of the rear axle CV joint rubber boots. If they are bad you would be looking at some bucks to get them replaced - the boots are not field replaceable. (Some people do say they've had luck with split boots.)

Good Luck,
Ken300D

To answer your question on the 5 cyl. reliability. The 617 (5 cylinder) is considered one of the MOST reliable light duty (passenger car) diesels ever made. The 603 (6cyl.) has had some issues; some true, some maybe a little urban myth.(use search function for a better explanation). I feel that I'd almost have to set off a grenade in the engine to ruin my 617.(well, maybe a little exageration).

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The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

Folks,

Thanks for the initial answers... here's what I found:

I should have known when the guy didn't even have the car color right! It was beige / light tan not gray. Overall the engine and transmission were great. I asked to have the engine cold, but it was warm. It did start on about 1 turn of the starter. No apparent leaks or gasket problems. I opened the oil fill at idle and a good bit of smoke was coming out ( blowby?). The air cleaner was pretty black as well.

It drove very well, good shifts, good ride, went around a couple of interstate entrance ramps pretty quick and it handled OK for a big car. ( I am driving a '92 Mustang V8 right now as a comparison). The car had good pickup on the interstate ( up to 80 mph). He did have the maintenance records with a series of Mercedes dealer stamps until over 150K miles showing oil changes every 5k - with Castrol GTX 20-50? (The car was in Atlanta mostly). No other receipts were seen for other work.

What he didn't say... there was a patched in radio, 2 windows didn't work, the cruise didn't work. I'm still working on understanding the climate control on the W126 machines, but it didn't have a wide degree of change from max cold to max hot, the a/c compressor squealed when turned on, and the drivers door vinyl at the top of the door was major cracked. It appeared the car spent a bunch of time in the sun. The dash was cracked and the rear shelf covering was badly faded. Worst of all the car smelled of mildew ( like the carpets got real wet and then dried). I have an idea on this, the whole passenger footwell area was stained from coffee very badly. Definitely more than a 1 cup spill, and more than 1 time I would bet.

He had a lower price on the car lot, $2875 than advertised in the paper. I think he would have gone lower, but I didn't want to ask.

So the long version is I passed. He is shipping the car to an auction in PA tomorrow ( so be warned I guess).

As far as looking for cars, thanks for the hints. The 2 300 SDl's I just missed on were from online personal ads, I just couldn't get there to inspect / buy as someone else. The best bargain was an '86 with 140K and all major work complete ( valve job, new A/C with 134, new belt tensioner, great tires, and just detailed) for $5800. Another potential bargain was this past weekend. An 83 ( I think) 300 SD that went on ebay for $1700. I looked good on the outside, but the seller would not answer my questions and no interior pictures - so no bid.

Well back to the looking. An old Southern friend had a saying that half the fun of getting something is wanting it, so I guess I'm getting my share of wanting in....

Thanks again for the help.

Chuck

One of my favorite used W123/126 checks is the time to engage reverse. With the car running and your foot on the brake go through the gears once slowly and return to park. Shift from park to reverse and note the time to engage in seconds. Greater than two seconds indicates excessive wear in the clutch packs. This is not a sign of iminate failure but the beginning of real wear. A car that is just over the limit still has many thousands of miles to go but the longer it takes the greater the wear.

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Bob D.
Parrish, FL
1 SDL, 1 D, 1 TD, 1 Mog

Right. I think the auction in PA is the "Eastern Regional Auto Auction". That's where dealers send cars (like trade-ins) that they can't sell on the lot. My personal rule is to NEVER buy a car that's been through any regional auction - and for this particular auction it shows up on CarFax.

The car you looked at, just based loosely on description, might go for $2000 person-to-person. Some of the problems you mention are classic old Mercedes diesel problems - maybe better ignored than fixed. The cruise control is in this category.

You'll know a good deal when you see it. Good Luck.

Ken300D

I used to do some web work for an independent dealer in Northern Virginia. Went to the auctions a few times. Mostly very scary stuff in older (pre '90) cars, but honestly every so often you'd come across a real gem that somebody was probably just asking too much for or not advertising well.

The best example I saw was an '83 300sd with 99,000 miles (got it there just in time!) that was *immaculate* and obviously owned by an enthusuast. The engine compartment was detailed to the point that someone had steel wooled (or fine gritted) the valve cover to a nice shine, the wheels looked like they were brand new, the books had every stamp, and there was even an original sales brochure in the net behind the passenger seat. We got that car and it ended-up selling off his lot for $10,000.

That, of course, is by far the exception.

-Reed
'84 300D/T

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my opinion.......if you are going with a 126...go for an 86-87 SDL.....much more refined engine and much more power than the 81-85 SD...but you might also look at the 87 300D if you can find one...very fast ...and you get an airbag and ABS
be careful though with anycar of that vintage(as you probably know) you could spend more on a repair than the car is worth


Warren
1992 300SD 129K
Columbus Ohio

Sure love my 81 Sd I bought it through Autotrader.com very smooth deal.( it has a replacement engine with 66 k on it) I paid $1650.00 for it and have put another thousand or so in it doing my own work. New michilen tires,new front calipers, new oem pads, all belts and hoses ,new fan clucth, new widshield,new glow plugs,I plan to keep it till the cows come home and there is a big hole in the fence...
William Rogers......

I paid $4200 for an 85 300SD with 117K which was garaged a mile from my house. I am the 3rd owner. It needs to have the driver's seat repaired and new tires in about 7000 miles. The car runs great and has a CD changer. There's alot of beat up cars out there, I wanted one that was obviously taken care of. Good Luck

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85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

As someone who has just been shopping for this vintage of vehicle for the last six months, one other thing I would suggest to check is for rust, particularily perforation in to the cabin. The great thing about Mercedes is you can lift out the carpeting right to the floor boards. I would be highly suspicious of any mildew smells, as I doubt a bit of coffee spilled would cause that. Another source of moisture can be leaking around the windshield, or the door seals.

I trust private sales far more than used car dealers, but that's just my experience. THe owner of the car usually knows more about the car than a dealer, so ask a lot of questions and see if any red flags come up in the answers. It wouldn't matter how good a car seemed, if I felt someone is lying to me I would look elsewhere.

That said, don't expect perfection in a car this old and this price. It did not just roll off the assembly line. I like to be informed of what needs to be done, but it doesn't necessarily rule the car out. I owned a 126 for awhile, but I really wanted a diesel wagon (even rarer), which I finally just got. If they were not so rare, I probably would have over looked this one too, because of the cigarette smoke. Bleck. But, $100 in steam cleaning and ozonating later, I love the car.

When the right car comes along, you will just look at each other across the parking lot, and know that she is 'the' one. But check her floorboards, just the same.

Natalie

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Natalie