TD score, or "honey, look what followed me home!"
 

Folks,

Thought I would share a photo of an 84 TD that I picked up yesterday. I have been looking for a decent TD for close to 2 years, and missed one other good one, and passed on a few that needed more help than the price reflected.

I purchased the car from the daughter of the original owner, and it has been well taken care of over the years. Originally a Texas car, it has no rust, but was repainted the original colour about 10 years ago after getting a new hood after hitting a deer. A little over 200K miles.

The car starts easy. It does have a collapsed motor mount and a cut oil line that need to be replaced, hence the reason for trailering it home. The engine has minimal blowby. I also tend to take off the oil cap and feel the first two lobs of the cam with my finger to check for flat spots on the cam. There was none I could detect.

From talking to the sellers, I am understanding the car does not have the power it should have. Out of the several turbo OM617 powered cars I have tested in the last few years, only one had the power it should have had. If only people knew what they were missing. (if only they knew, they would probably not sell the car!)

I bought it sight unseen aside from the craigslist images, and was selected out of the field of respondents as I had replied to the ad with a 4 paragraph response that to them identified me as a true 24 carat MB diesel nut! They wanted the car to be appreciated and cared for. I have learned to ask the right questions, and they answered them well so that I was confident of what I was committing to purchasing was up to what I wanted. I was not disappointed.

There are still quality vintage MB's out there at reasonable prices, it is however taking more time beating the bushes. This one was certainly worth the wait! There are also still delightful people on Craigslist to deal with, even with many experiences to the contrary!

A good friend who is responsible with infecting me with this disease went with to help pick the car up. Thanks Jan, my wife still likes you anyway! : )

Regards,

W

Congrats looks like you got a good one!

Nice! Congrats, I searched for a couple of years for mine as well and bought out of Florida unseen but in my case my Dad was able to look at it for me as he lived close by. Enjoy. Nice cars to tinker with and drive.

Good find. Can you let us in on some of your most important questions? I generally have a few that I use not dependent on the car type. I don't like to waste to much time and would rather look but I like to have some of the basics out of the way before I make a drive.

Can you let us in on the reasonable price? I don't know if you mean $500 or $10,000. I have seen some crazy prices, and many love these wagons and will pay.

I Might Have Missed It....
 

.....where did you find your car?

Looks like Washington by the License Plate.

Lice looking Wagon. we don`t know if you qualify for the cheap wagon Club yet. :)

Charlie

I am in a time crunch right now, but the first thing I ask is if the car has rust. Second if there is any moisture damage to the interior. Third if the windsheilds leak. These may sound redundant, but sometimes asking from a different direction brings info out. I also ask if the car is hard to start in cold weather.

I also ask if anything does not work on the car, but it seems I need to ask about individual items, like the sunroof, windows, climate control, radio, etc. I guess when something does not work, people forget it was there in the first place. I ask if the drivers seat is still firm, and the last time the valves were adjusted. I'm at this point not only getting an idea of the shape of the car, but I am also listening to the seller to see if I can determine if they have been maintaining the car. If I get the phone equivalent of dumb looks, I have to guess they aren't doing much for the car.

That is a start, perhaps others can add their two bits worth also.

Regards,

W.

Bill,

I am not cheap, but am of a solid thrifty and frugal nature. :D I am of the opinion that any turbo TD of $2500 or less that is in reasonable shape and not beat is an acceptable price to pay according to what I see in the market place. I have personally seen two in better shape that I'm sure would sell for more. I have seen some beaters for less that were no bargain what so ever.

I looked at one for $2500 that was offered to me for $1800 that had moisture damage to the interior and the bottom of the doors were rusted through on the inside. Some features of the car did not work (fuel gauge for one as I remember). Seemed to have been ridden hard.

Another one advertised between $2200 and $3200 depending on the day. It also was tired. The drivers seat was so broken down I felt like I was sitting on the floor. The suspension was very loose.

I looked at one for $1500 that looked pretty good except for the knock in the engine. It was loud and pronounced, and I can only surmise it was a rod. I didn't feel I had the energy to fix the problem, plus it was in winter and I would have had to trailer the car quite some distance. I was in a time crunch then also.

I looked at one local that the owner couldn't get started for $1900. Was during a cold snap of single digit temps. That car didn't look to bad, a little rough on the interior.

I missed one that was an 85 with 211K miles. Seller rebuffed my offer and ended up selling it for less in spite of my standing offer. Go figure. That car was pretty nice. Needed some adjustment, as it had no power, regardless of minimal blow by. Tranny shifted hard and SLS was not working. I felt that car was optimal as it had the 2.88 rear end.

There was a 87 124 that I came across for $800, but the seller said it was rusted through in the rear fenders. There was a gasser locally with a dead motor, and I thought of switching parts, but figured I had time limitations enough that I would not get the job done in a reasonable time, if at all.

I'm sure there were others, but these come to mind.



Hope this gives some sort of picture.

Regards,

W.

I found the car in a small community by chance. I never looked there much as it was not what you would call particularly prosperous, and has not been much of a resource to find vintage diesel Mercedes. I would be surprised if lightening strikes twice there.

I'm located in the Pacific Northwest, but end up having to look out side of my local area.

W.

Congratulations! We look forward to hearing more as you start taking care of issues.

Thanks Charlie!

So what is the criteria for membership into the cheap wagon club? I know I could get into any cheap(frugal) sedan Club!

W.

No telling how much you paid for it. Since you agreed to buy it sight unseen, and there were numerous other buyers, the figure could be as much as $10K or more that you paid. There was one like yours in Memphis, TN last year that went for the mid-teens!

Then there was an '87 300TD on eBay that went recently for $22,000.00 - so, it wouldn't surprise me for a near-perfect '84 TD as you've described to have bought here - to go for $10K.

$500.00 or so IIRC......

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/248846-application-cheap-wagon-club.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/287855-how-much-join-cheap-wagon-club.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/227005-new-member-wagon-club.html

Charlie