I am considering a purchase of an 87 300 SDL.

Description: 116k miles, paint very good, no dents scratches, interior looks well above average. Seats & wood look good, headliner perfect, carpet good but not new looking. Dash has a crack. I will have a mechanic look over the mechanics (it is out of my area). 8k is asking price. Assuming it checks out mechanically, any thoughts on the asking price ?

Seems way to high for me, it is 23 years old after all... I paid $350 for my 82 300D

Well for starters when you get anywhere near even 5k you do want unimpeachable records of the 116k claim alone. No ironclad records the car could as easily have 300k and is worth very little. I do mean records of a nature that allow for no ambuguity at all.

These cars are deceptive and can have a lot of miles and still look good. The oil change booklet in the dash should still be showing the oil changes. I almost bet it is not even there. Do not be suckered into a car. At 116k with reasonable treatment it should still look almost new. Few of these cars for many reasons have accurate odometers.

There is a 92-93 2.5 300d on ebay with a real 64 k that will go for less than what you quote. Beter fuel milage etc. Ebay is also considered expensive in general. The guy apparently has all the records that confirm the milage.

That seems high to me too. I paid $3,500 for my 84 SD with 161K miles. The PO was asking $4,500, but it needed at least $1K of work. If you're going to pay that much for a car, you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you don't make absolute sure that the miles were original and legit and that all maintenance had been performed correctly. I'd also have my mechanic go over it with a fine tooth comb and find every little thing that may be wrong or may need attention in the near future.

Do you have a link for the car?

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1986 300SDL - 116K
2014 Prius Plug-in (company car)
2014 Q5 TDI (wife's car)

[QUOTE=barry123400;2442613]Well for starters when you get anywhere near even 5k you do want unimpeachable records of the 116k claim alone.

Is this done with maintenance records or is there some other way of confirming mileage?

Maintenance Records would be your best bet, Odometers have a tendancy to break leading to False mileages.

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

Do the posts suggesting that the mileage should be verified imply that the price is fair if the mileage is accurate?

Mileage should always be tried to verified, you'll know what your getting yourself into more as far as repairs go, there's things like injectors etc that should be replaced/rebuilt etc and without knowing what mileage is on what there's a Pandora's box you can get into. it all boils down to what your comfortable with. and it never hurts to try and talk the person down on the price, you may be surprised with the final price, it all boils down to how You feel about the car, Look at comparable in your area, on ebay, autotrader etc then come up with a price your comfortable with and go from there

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

too high.. I could see 10k if it had well under 100k and was immaculate

The last two SDLs I saw sell on ebay were an 87 w/92 k miles in excellent looking condition and an 86 in very good looking condition w/104k. They sold for 12,200 and 12,700 respectively. If these are a good measure of fair market value then a car with 116k that is in very good condition but w/a crack on the dash may be a fair price. Is ebay a good measure of market value? If not, where does one look to find an SDL in good shape and low mileage? It seems like they are pretty hard to find. Also, any idea where to get a replacement dash and how much they might go for?

I think most people are way off on this one. If the miles are accurate and nearly everything checks out mechanically (of course there will always be something) then its within reasonable bargaining territory price wise.

You can't compare a low mileage clean example to a beater you got for $300. Most likely it would take another $30,000 to get that beater back looking and running like new again.

Also, SDLs bring a whole lot more than 300SDs. SDLs pushing 200k have brought around 5k on the forum, and Joe sold his well used 300k example needing paint and body work for over $3000.

Of course, try to knock some off, but his price is not that out of line based on:
A: The condition is as you described
B: The mileage is accurate
C: It passes a mechanical inspection with minimal issues.

You'll find that most people on this forum prefer to buy cheap fixer uppers that they put sweat equity into. Nothing wrong with that, but it does give a skewed opinion on pricing.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Very reasonable if it has truly been maintained correctly. FWIW an '83 SD which I purchased for US$2k that was fairly well maintained has a current budget of an additional $5k to get it near the condition of a 87k mile vehicle. And that is with doing a large portion of the work myself, hitting junkyards, etc.

Just keep in mind that there are a lot of things that can be wrong even with a vehicle well maintained. Anything rubber is about ready to disintegrate about now if it is original. If driven up north during the winter you could have all sorts of hidden rust problems. In addition to any problems a mechanic finds I would have $2-3k set aside for unknown issues.

If it is truly in like new condition with that few miles and no service issues that sounds like a good price.

How can one ascertain the value of a car based on description only? Good condition, well maintained have different meanings to different people. Personally I would not pay $8K for a car that is 23+ years old, plus some more to change out the dash. There will be issues with rubber seals for a 23+ year car, all seals will be brittle by now; IP bottom seal, rubber hoses, deposit on radiator etc.

I paid less than $8K for 3 SDLs combined, 2 with full service records. However, if you think it is worth it then it is worth it, love is in the eyes of the beholder.

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Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

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1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.

[QUOTE=cls67;2442657]A whole lot of items are required with no big gaps. Claiming 116 k the paper trail should start with the factory oil change booklet. All the service records can help.

You have to be very observent of any noticeable gaps in milage with out some solid evidence of why they exist. These odometers not only break but are extremely easy to remove miles from.

Again it should have the general apperance of being almost new. Certainly no upolstery wear. If the oil change book is not in the dash you can almost assume the worst.

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