Hi,

I'm interested in buying an '85 300SD (cream with chocolate interior) with only 70,000 miles, single owner now deceased. The owner was a master mechanic. I have verified the history.

Garaged all its life...driven very little...mostly short miles around town. As the couple aged, the car saw less use and VERY few miles. In fact, from 2004-2010, the car saw only 1500 miles!

Buying direct from the family.

There are two damage reports on Carfax report. All indications are that they were minor bump-ups. I see no evidence of these on the car now; fully repaired.

AC currently is not cold. Seller thinks it just needs "recharging". I'll verify this with a mechanic before buying.

Everything else works and is really nice looking. I am a newbie on these cars. Will take it out for a drive soon.

Family is asking top dollar ($10k).

My questions:
1) What's a fair price assuming AC is ok (just needs a charge), and mechanic says the car is ok?

2) Is the fact that the car has not seen much action lately (or anytime really) or long miles a serious detriment? The seller says that the owner was vigilant about starting it up periodically and letting it run.

What are the major gotchas that I need to be aware of with this low-miles car?


Many Thanks!
Zappa

The only major gotcha that I can think of is that someone else may beat you to the car. That, and for $10K, it needs to be perfect, perfect. The A/C will cost in the neighborhood of $1K to have an aftermarket place do an R & R of the compressor and recharge the system. Maybe more for an R-134 conversion.

You have to ask yourself if you'd rathe have a '99 E300TD with similar miles on it for about the same $10K.

I would probably offer them $9K, and be done with my offering. Tell 'em the A/C is a $1K item.

You have to decide what it is worth to you. It isn't a collectors item, only an old car in relatively good shape. My SD was garaged most of its life and was used as a FL car only during the winter, was maintained by the local dealer and high end indy mechanic & had receipts. The new looking Michelins came apart during the drive from FL to TN. The vacuum pods have gone out, monovalve needs attention, the dash cracked, the seat springs collapsed & broke, the MBTex cracked in the cold, AC developed a leak, cruise works intermittently, alarm went off & I disconnected, master cylinder needs to be replaced, spot rusted through under the rear window seal, 2 of the windows are slow and need lube, glow plugs went out.

I've replaced shocks, rotors, dash, console, glow plugs, vacuum pods, trans fluid and coolant but have more to do. So much for a well maintained vehicle with records. That said, car starts easily but is slow on take off. I have a 30# can of freon in the shop and am working on the car. Your call on price but 10K is high. It only sold for 30 new.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

What about service records for recent work done? I mean, just because the car has only 70k on the clock doesn't mean it doesn't need work. It's a 25 year old car. Rubber parts are the usual suspects and the costs to replace them add up real quick even if you DIY. I purchased a one owner 1990 300SE with 59k miles on it 5 months ago. It's a great car, but updating everything has cost well over $5,000 so far and I've done most of the work myself. And I'm not done. I don't think I will ever be.

I suspect not.

yeah dont let them b.s you that its a collecter car. dont see many crossing barrett jackson stage. if its a car your into and always wanted then thats different. but its a slow 26year old car that doesnt really get all that good of mpg. for 10k you have alot of options.

happy choosing

The feedback here is very helpful.

Junkman...you have successfully scared that @#(@* out of me. Time for a gut check; do I have a stomach for this?

My motivation is:
1) I work with computers all day. I'm a computer guy.
2) I HATE computers. I really hate computers in cars and ovens.
3) I love diesels.
4) Love the character of the 300D
5) I've enjoyed tinkering with my '81 Rabbit pickup diesel. This has been cheap fun.
6) I might even be able to do some of the maintenance to the old 300D myself.

So, the newer models with their complexity/computers/sensors makes me think -- heck, if yer gonna do that then just go out and buy a boring Japanese gas car - which kinda defeats the purpose.

I suspect I'm not the only one of you who face this conundrum. At this point, I guess you guys have me thinking this might be a money-pit decision point for me.

Thanks for the food for thought. This web site / forum has been REALLY helpful the last month or so as I feel in love with these old Mercedes.

Honestly, I'd be scared. Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but aren't short trips around town hell on an injection pump and injectors with respect to varnish/crud/gum/**** buildup?

For the AC;
Does it blow at all? If you have the automatic climate control, try setting it to "cool" and then go open the hood. Look down at the AC compressor (it will be low, mounted on the drivers side of the engine below the power steering pump (or at least it is on my '84SD)) See if the little "triangle" of black metal is turning. If it's not, reach down there with a medium length wrench and tap it lightly. You could just have a weak magnet, loose belt, too much of an air gap on the pulley etc. Thats probably NOT the case, but it can't hurt to check, and it's really easy to do even if you've got no experiance on cars.

If you can get the car up to look at the undercarriage that will tell you a lot about it. Check all the rubber pieces and hoses to see if they're still supple. If they're bulged, cracked, tattered and old looking that should tell you it's been on a "defferred" maintenance program. Check to see if you have vacuum in the diesel tank. With the tank around half full, turn the car off and go to the fuel filler cap, open it. If you hear "whoosh" thats probably not good, and you might then want to check and see if the tank is dysfigured and crumply.
Also, make sure you start it once when it's sat overnight if you havent already. This will tell you a lot about the engine. Does the glow plug system work?

If you havent already gone there, go to www.dieselgiant.com and click on the Mercedes Maintenance Page. He has lots of pictorials on how to do really simple maintenance items on these cars. You wouldn't believe how fun they are to work on.

Oh, check the brake lines. If they're stainless steel thats great because it means they've been replaced. If rubber and old looking that means they probably havent been replaced.

One more thing then I swear I'm done. Check the oil cooler lines. They're half rubber half metal and go to the oil cooler (tall skinny thing that looks like a radiator and sits on the drivers side next to the actual radiator.) If these oil cooler lines are leaking they should also be replaced. If they fail while you're driving on the highway it won't take long for the engine to lose all of it's oil and then you have a roasty toasty OM617. Which is generally bad news.

Hope this helps a little. I'm absolutely crazy over my 300SD. I like it as much as my w114 coupe.

well then if your into it and diesels then look into it do some research on your computer you love. before you spend 10k. unless you some kind of rich

if its an 80's light duty diesel your looking for then mercedes is the way to go for sure. (except for a 89 cummins powered dodge ram. first year for that)

Overall one has to look into their personal financial situation to make a decision on something like this. If it is going to stress you financially I would not do it on an older car.

If you can comforatably afford the price in cash is different in my opinion. Just my thoughts though. You are paying all it is worth at the top end of the market for this year and brand at this moment.

I really hate it when a vendor states the cars air conditioning only needs a charge though.

Actually they were closer to $40K new. My '83 300SD's window sticker was included in the glove box when I bought it one-owner, 93K miles in 1991. It was $39K and change, LIST priced. FWIW, I paid the asking of $11,950.00 for it in December 1991. Almost 20 years ago.......

You illuminate the facts of the matter on cars this old. Many things can go south on a car this old - and usually do.

Once you get through big things failing - those components once replaced stay fixed - because they are an MB. That is the redeeming value of these cars.

In a perfect world we could get a car like the OP has found for $5K. The reality is that many sellers want the BIG dollars for them when they have less than 100K miles on them.

Be mentally prepared to spend at least $2.5K to $5K OUT-OF-POCKET during the first year/two years of operation - if using it as your daily-driver.

So, the question is this; is the car a $15K car in worth to you?

I don't see the sellers being very negotiable from $10K with a car like this. Nor would I be if I were in their position.

Do you have records available showing all services? Fora car that age and mileage, serivce should have been done based on time lapsed vs. mileage, especially the oil, tranny fluid, coolant, etc.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Ditto to what has already been posted. The low mileage is great but not a 10k car or even 9k car. The fact that it has not been driven much and only around town is more of a negative than a positive. Speaking out of my Azzzzz I would think $7k might be a more realistic price. You are probably looking at a couple of grand in repairs just to bring it up to snuff in the first year. I know I have recently become the caretaker for an 85 300SD w/ 189k miles ( now 199,000.)
that was miticulously maintained and then sate for most of a 5-7 year time period. As of today I have spent almost $800. in parts and done the labor myself. I love the car and would not change a thing about the purchase.
This was my fathers car and my parents and I have agreed to a price that I will begin making payments on after the first of the year. I am paying $4,500. for it.
It is in better than average shape but needs work so here I am. For what it is worth.

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92 500E Silver 66k
82 Porsche 911SC 84K
68 Cadillac ( Gone Now )
03 Suburban Z71 200K
85 300SD 217k From Original Owner ( Dad )

It really depends on your intentions. The price is only a factor if you will want/need to get your money back out of it. The $10k price might be high if you want to flip it, but it doesn't matter is you are going to keep it for the long term. You will probably have to put another couple of $1000 into it anyway to fix the AC and whatever other nits you find. There are not very many low mileage SDs around, so if you want one you will have to pay whatever it takes. If cost is the major concern, you don't want this car anyway; it will cost significantly more than it's purchase price to keep it in it's current condition indefinitely.