Yesterday I posted an ad to Craigslist for my 86 300SDL. It appears as if I've been "ghosted." I'm told that the ad is successfully created. However, when I go to the front page or try to search, it doesn't show up. As this is the fourth Benz I've advertised over the last eight months, I'm sure that's why some automated system is flagging me.

I tried creating a new account, but that didn't work. At that point I'm still using the same content and the same IP address. Then I tried a new account with virtually no content in the ad. So far this has worked. Now I'm going to go back and revise the content....we'll see how long I last!

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Ads can take up to half an hour to appear on the main listing.

Too much coffee causes double listings!!

They do take a while to show up sometimes.....

Is this your ad?
1986 Mercedes Benz 300SDL




1986 Mercedes Benz 300SDL - $4950 (Barrington)

Date: 2012-08-14, 4:31AM EDT
Reply to: tjjvp-3204384996@sale.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Excellent condition 1986 Mercedes 300SDL.

Location: Barrington
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

It's taken down....I was experimenting trying to set it up with minimal content and then expanding the content. No success so far.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

This is my ad 1986 Mercedes Benz 300SDL W126 Diesel

But I'm pretty sure it's ghosted.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I see it just fine:

FOR SALE
1986 Mercedes-Benz 300SDL
Grey with Palomino Leather Interior
Current Odometer Reading: 195,000 miles

Rust Free and Leak Free
Clean, Non-smoker
126.125 chassis, 603.961 engine, 722.321 transmission
25 mpg mixed, 30 mpg highway
A Wonderful and Increasingly Rare Opportunity for the Mercedes Diesel Enthusiast!
A Classic and Stately S-Class Sedan with Character and Soul!
The Consummate Highway Cruiser!

Location: Barrington, RI
Price: $4950
Call or text David at 972.523.1743 or email at david at trinitypresri dot org
Numerous high-resolution photographs available at Photobucket.com/Mercedes300SDL



.... but I know what you mean. It happens to me sometimes. I wish I knew why.

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

But you can only see it because you click on the direct lick. But, trust me, no one can find/see it without that link....that's what ghosting does. It does not appear on the page where it should appear: rhode island cars & trucks - by owner classifieds - craigslist.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Never heard of Craigslist ghosting.......but obvious, it seems to be true. I'd be interested to know what happens if you edit the post. I had an ad once that didn't show up until I had edited it --- like the system got hung up at the final stage.

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

I've tried editing....nothing I do makes it appear.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I just searched and couldn't find it either.

Review and follow the posting rules. You might have better luck.

Remove the large bold font. There is no need to shout.

Look at this ad's format : 1991 Mercedes Benz 350 SDL

Good luck.

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Greg
2012 S350 BlueTEC 4Matic
2007 ML 320 CDI
2007 Leisure Travel Serenity
2006 Sprinter 432k
2005 E320 CDI
1998 SLK230 (teal)
1998 SLK230 (silver)
1996 E300D 99k, 30k on WVO
Previous:
1983 240D, on WVO
1982 300D, on WVO
1983 300CD, on WVO
1986 300SDL 237k, 25k on WVO (Deerslayer)
1991 350SDL 249k, 56k on WVO - Retired to a car spa in Phoenix
1983 380 SEC w/603 diesel, 8k on WVO
1996 E300D 351k, 177k on WVO

Except.....I've had great success with ads that stand out (three cars sold over last eight months): doing a little something with the formatting, more content instead of less, and externally hosted pics. The ad you point out is a fairly generic, boring ad. But, I suspect you're right that ads like that float below the Craigslist radar.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

And I'm pretty confident that I've been following the posting rules. Apparently that's the funny thing about ghosting....it happens for inexplicable reasons. The only thing I can think of are ads with similar sounding content over the course of a number of months and the externally hosted pics. But none of that violates terms of use.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I didn't know about this until just now, but there is a lot of discussion of it elsewhere. It looks like you have already tried using a new email account, which you said didn't work. So it is either recognizing the similarity of the text in one ad to the next, or perhaps it knows your IP address and is ghosting any posts created from that address. There are ways to hide/fake which IP address you are coming from, so you might try that at some point. Or use a new email address and make your ads from a local coffee shop's wifi. Then CL has no way to know who you are.

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1968 220D, w115, /8, OM615, Automatic transmission.
My 1987 300TD wagon was sold and my 2003 W210 E320 wagon was totaled (sheds tear).