I got to thinking about my SDL and how it really was only made for two years. I have no idea how to check, but there just cannot be that many left running around. Does it qualify as a classic?

How about other Diesels out there? the TD's seem to be pretty highly sought after.

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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

If it's not commonly found, it's rare, not classic.

Classic is a relative term. Some say cars above 20 years old are classics, some raise that level to 25 years, and so on.

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it's rare, first, then classic, then vintage.
I don't think the sdl's are rare, or vintage yet. the classic part is possible, but it's such a common shape, I doubt it.
while it's true the SDL was only made a few years, the SD, and The SEL and the 350SDL are around sooo much, that it's hard to quantify it as rare I'd think.

Yes, but the '87 300TDT wagons I believe are more rare.

If you're looking for two more rare MB diesels - the '87 300TD sedan, and the early '90s 2.5 E-Class sedans seem to be rare as well. As for steak? I like mine medium-well, to well done.

I think the rarest is the euro 85 300D. it's the first 124 body style, most everything on the car is one off parts.
heck, the 87 TD can't be too rare, I just found one on the side of the road for super cheap.
they must be all over the place!

I agree with the classic vs. rare idea.

I have no idea how rare a mid 80's SDL is, but I have seen all of two since I bought mine.

How long do you think before they start showing up at car shows? Perhaps pebble beach?

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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

Rare is somewhat relative in Mercedes of the '80s.

Although the 300SDL was only a 2-year car in the 126 body, they made thousands of 126s in many configurations for close to 10years.
The T124/wagon is rare in a diesel, '87 only, especially in colors other than white (white was common as most dealers had one as a service vehicle), but were sold here in gasser variant from '86 through '95 so again a 10-year body and thus it is somewhat common to see the wagons.
"Rare" also are the '87 190D 2.5turbo, but again the 201s spit out of dealerships from '84 through '93 in many other power variations, were very common and usually not very well kept after the first owner.
]
I'd say that rare is a term better suited to AMG cars, or the E500s, limited production vehicles with some visual differentiation from the rest of the line. Other low-production cars with looks common the the whole line? Just enjoyable to drive and know that you have something special I feel.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Let me rephrase....

The SDL's are probably more rare if they have not had any head gasket problems, on the original engines

When the head or head gasket goes bad, we say, "Classic!"

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It all depends, some people dont know what they have which may have been the case in the 87 you found... If people know what they have then they will try to get the most money they can unless there's something major wrong with it... I should not have paid nearly what I did for the troubles I've had with my wagon.. but as they say, hindsight is 20/20

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

X2. I'll have more in mine than it cost new at this rate.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I have easily Doubled what I bought the car for in repairs and general preventative maintenance. It's a labor of love though, you get all the kinks worked out and you'll have a car that will run damn near forever if you maintain it right.

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

Yeah, seems like I bought too soon though. Looked for years, finally settled for one, seems like there are several out there now for cheap, ... and a couple look pretty damn good.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

The Jetta ECOdiesel is less common then any SDL... they sold 750 of them in 91 and 51 in 1992. Yet, somehow, I've come in contact with quite a few of them, and own two!

If you are always looking for something specific that is sprinkled around, you'll notice it amidst the other items. There were 2 1998 Passat TDIs sold, and between all the "lookers" on TDIclub we actually spotted one of them once. That is a rare car

In Michigan Mercedes cars are a lot less common then out East. Makes spotting a clean one that much more of a treat

It would be interesting to know how many examples of a specific model still exist. Every state's DMV would have that kind of data, but I don't know how one could compile all of it.

-J

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

heh, I just got off the phone with Roy with a list longer than the page I started writing part numbers on... I'm gonna spend a LOT getting this car the way it needs to be.
it is in amazing condition, just simply amazing, and yet, it is a 23 year old car with a lot of items that were never addressed.
some one stuck a radiator from a gasser in here... it's HUGE! and I still have hot conditions. the viscous fan is not working, and there is a huge oil spill exiting the intake manifold. which means there is oil getting into the intake... did I mention the turbo is not making power? oh, and the flex pipe between #2 and #3 exhaust manifold is split (probably why I have no turbo power...) so I'm going to have to pull both manifolds, probably the turbo, and the fan clutch... fun fun fun. there is a mild knock from somewhere too... and the hot oil pressure at idle sits around 1...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

This can go for four year old diesels too.

19 years ago I found a one-owner '83 300SD with 93K miles at an aftermarket indy car lot. I paid a premium, $11,950 for it. I drove it to 305K miles the next 8-years, and the first couple years of driving it cross-country, I spent nothing.

Some years after the '83 SD purchase - I found a '93 300SD with 70K miles in Memphis, Tennessee at an aftermarket, off-lease re-seller (Smith Imports on south 3rd St. / US 61). I test drove it - boy it was a dog! I sure didn't want another slooow diesel, so I passed. It was $28,500 asking price, and from New Jersey - yuk! Surely a rust queen-to-come. -Little did I know it was to be one of the rod-benders y'all write of.......damn glad I didn't buy it.

In real time, I'm shopping for a very low-miles (priced right!) CDI or Bluetec sedan. I found an '06 that fit much of my criteria at Noon Friday on the Internet. It was within 500 miles of where I happen to be located in the U.S. right now. By Noon today (Saturday) - it was sold. Bought by another out-of-stater that did the necessary paperwork by overnight mail to procure the car. The caveat to this dealer car priced very right, came with a questionable past. #1 it had no CPO warranty to accompany it's purchase from the non-MB dealer. It had changed hands, (information gleaned from Carfax) from an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer - to a mega-dealership (not Carmax) across town. Now this MB had only 20K miles, and an acceptable Carfax past. The question is; why did the MB dealer find it unacceptable to sell this supposed low-miles cherry of a car? Now I may have missed a great car, because I didn't pull the trigger quickly enough - or I may have saved myself a thousand mile RT to see a car I had money on - that looked like cr*p in person. There's no telling on the what ifs, and that's the way it goes.

Not always, but many times when you pick up an MB diesel on-the-cheap, it's gonna cost you a bundle. My belief is to buy the creme de la creme, at a good price when you can. When you can't - you may have to pony up the bucks. Does this guarantee you a good car for what you paid? Absolutely not, but unless you have to be a bottom-feeder - you might as well consign yourself to not buy junk just because.