Sorry if this should have been in the classifieds section, but it's not actually for sale yet. But I need an idea of what I should be asking for it and figured any discussion might best be done in the diesel area.

I expect to soon be selling my 85 W123 wagon (300TD) and wondering what its worth at this point. Feel free to post your opinion of it's value. If you have any serious interest in buying, please PM me as well, but I have to keep it until I get the next vehicle currently being shopped for. Hopefully will have it within the next month or two.

Much detail below. Feel free to ask any additional details in the thread and I'll add the info best I can. But the main intent is to get a ballpark idea of what someone would be willing to pay. I feel like the car has a LOT of miles left in it and am only selling it because I've just been given an opportunity to purchase something else that will better suit our family situation which has changed a bit in the past year.

• Daily driver purchased in 2008 at about 167k miles. Currently at 209k miles. Has never let me down other than a battery that needed replaced.
• White. Palomino (tan) interior
• Folding 3rd seat and seat belts etc lifted from an 81 model.
• I've not driven any other 123 to compare it with. It's definitely not a rocket ship, but it will get moving if you really push it and I don't worry about on-ramps/merging. I have a cheap boost gage on it and it can get to the waste gate pressure (about 11 psi) pretty quickly.
• Have always used Shell Rotella in it.
• Starting at 170K I installed an Elsbett (single tank) veggie fuel system and it has about 32K on veggie fuel (which was filtered to 2 micron) but much of this past year has been back on regular diesel. Currently has the Elsbett heat exchanger and filter and Fattywagon injector line heaters. Elsbett also supplied new injector nozzles also which were set up at the local Pro Diesel.
• Starts very easily in moderate temps. Startable with some effort in winter temps and no issue at all when using block heater. Have started it low teens, upper single digits, even with 2/3 blend of veggie fuel, from block heater. I'm sure would easily start down to zero with 100% diesel from block heater.
• Front end was redone at 188K with all new ball joints, bushings, shocks. Rear axle boots and sway bar links were also done then.
• A/C and heat work pretty well. Vacuum system is poor so the defrost / dash / heat servos don't really work. A few hacks (easily removed) are in place to get A/C through center dash vents and heat through under dash vents.
• Came with a retrofitted Delco alternator (poorly mounted) that required me to make a custom main pivot bolt and a heavy duty adjustment bracket to get everything to stay in place. Alternator was rebuilt somewhere along the line too and everything has worked well since I did all that.
• Water pump (died) and block heater (bad connector) were replaced at the same time around 170K.
• Interior in very decent shape. Exterior is original paint, somewhat faded. No serious rust anywhere.
• The rear suspension was great when i got it, but now bounces a bit. Not a problem on most roads, but you do notice it negotiating speed bumps. The guy at Benz Doctors in Kingsport who did all the front end work and axle boots says it probably needs new accumulators for the self leveling system which are only about $125 a side.
• Somewhere along it's life there was accident damage on the front right which was repaired well in terms of the fender and door looking fine; the bumper is still pushed in slightly on that side. But I found the front wheel on that side to have a bad negative camber (after getting bad tire wear) which ultimately required slotting the holes in the shock/spring area for the upper arm bolt to move it out a bit. After that the alignment shop was able to get everything right and front tire wear has been even and it drives straight.
• Current tires are about 5% oversize.
• Gets about 24mpg in mixed driving. Have seen nearly 26 on trips.
• Original radio/cassette deck still works as well as the lighted mirrors on the visors!
• Located in upper east Tennessee, in the Tri-Cities area (Bristol, Kingsport, Johnson City).
• Veggie fuel filtering system can also be included with car.

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1985 300TD 214k. Elsbett VO system + Fattywagon injection line heaters. (SOLD!)
1996 VW Passat TDI wagon 327k. No VO
Two white german turbodiesel wagons. One analog, one digital.

Service records?

SLS system maintenance?

Transmission repairs?

Any Carfax demerits?

Sixto
87 300D

I have no service records prior to my ownership. Other than the work mentioned at Benz Doctors, I've done my own work and have kept a small notebook of mileage and work done. Everything else done has been fairly minor, routine stuff. Brakes, glow plugs etc.

I played with the SLS when I got it and it seemed to work. As mentioned the accumulators probably need replacing now.

I've never had any transmission work done other than topping it off now and then (it has a slow leak). It seems to shift firmly and smoothly.

Never had carfax done on it. Bought it from somebody I knew. He bought it at a local estate auction.

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1985 300TD 214k. Elsbett VO system + Fattywagon injection line heaters. (SOLD!)
1996 VW Passat TDI wagon 327k. No VO
Two white german turbodiesel wagons. One analog, one digital.

Its only worth want someone is willing to pay.......

I am sure you have a value in mind, place that here with a ton of photos.....then we can say if your price is fair....

If you have no price in mind, this isn't a good site for a free appraisal......as it will be worth a different amount to each person....

I would suggest putting in on eBay and see what it will bring...

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Hard to say. Wagons typically go for much more than sedans and coupes. However, many of us, including me, will lose all interest at the first mention of veg. You might get lucky and find a buyer who considers veg a plus.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Start it out at $6000 and say OBO.
Take off the veg system and never mention it again when selling it. IMHO
Probably $5000 or 4500 is more realistic.
Pictures here would help some help.

'no serious rust anywhere' is subjective. W123s are great at hiding significant rust under the battery tray area, outer trunk floors, wheel wells and arches, and floor pans.

Generally, if you can see a rust bubble in the paint on the outside, anywhere, there is significant rust to be addressed.

Or as the joke goes, an advertisement for a 'Rust Free' W123 means you aren't being charged for the rust.

There are some true unrusted Western cars, but even here in NC the two I've bought needed a good bit of rust repair that the owners claimed no knowledge of until I pointed it out.

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Eric, CPO, Submarines, retired.
Here's a sig line...
Mine: '68 Corvette LS1/4L65E, 83 240D, 2000 GMC 4x4, 08 FLSTC Anniv
Hers: '72 Corvette 454/4spd, '99 MB SLK, '93 Metro vert, 78 240D, '92 Silverado, '65 Fjord Rustang, '59 Fjord Fairlane, '17 Slingshot.

The veggie stuff would make me run. Won't consider one if it's ever been modified, and even if it had been removed.

200k miles.
Veggie stuff.
AC/heat weak.
Suspension bad.
Body damage.

$4000

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

Forget diesel purists, single tanking scares away many greasers, including me. I'd plan on a winter re-ring and hone minimally. IME, A tight 61x can start @ 10F w/ no external heat prolly colder w/ 5 or 0W40 oil. Pulling apart an engine and putting it back together is actually on my list, but it counts against car value.

Hacked dash, bad vacuum. The wife won't ride in it w/o good A/C. I'd put in a manual dash pod. & heater box.

As a buyer in the market for a solid utility w123 300TD, I'd shoot for $2k and top out at $2.5k-3k if whisky was served during the negotiation and the wife was not present. If you still have it in the spring, let me know, I'll be in the market and willing to travel.

Ol' Norm was Tyler's baby and it sold for $4k when greasers were pushing the 123 D market up.

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CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

When I was in the market for a 300td if I saw one for 3000 or less it was a worn out hunk of junk. Usually at $5000 and $6000 they are decent in mechanical, but need paint, and at $7000 and up they start looking good and the mechanical part is good.
Anything over $10000 either the guy went over and beyond to restore it, its been very very very well taken care of, or he is on crack.
I will have about $10,000 in mine total when done (and I'm doing 99% of the work), but I would have no trouble taking it on a long road trip when done.
My car gets many compliments and runs great, I can't stand the feeling of driving a car that is ran down and looks crappy.

Will consider your experience. If you see clean W123 TD, fee free to let me know.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

pm'ed

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1991 300D

The main things I would look at are: engine blow-by, body damage, rust.

Don't bother listing the fan belts you changed and such. I see many ads from non-technical people talking about how much they put into a car via mechanics - usually piddly things that us "do'ers" wouldn't even mention, like wiper blades, filters, alternator, ... They think because they paid $1200 for minimal work that their car is now worth $1000 more.

Lol let us know how that goes. A semi decent diesel wagon is $4k+, and the sky is the limit for top end price these days. Typically clean turbo wagons are about $6-12k with the occasional $18-20k flukes on ebay.

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1981 300TD 4 speed manual
Euro bumpers, zender valance and skirts, H&R springs, billy HD's, leveled sls, real AMG Pentas 16x8 et11, vdo boost/egt gauges intergrated into ash tray, eurolights, led 3rd brake light