How can you smell anything over the smog in LA?
It doesn't matter how tuned these cars are. The exhaust is nasty. That's why the new ones are required to have particulate traps.

Yeah if you can afford to pay somebody else to repair the car then I'm sure it would be great. Paying a qualified mechanic $120 an hour (Going rate here for an indie Mercedes mechanic) for the 100 hours of work I've had to do so far wasn't in my budget.

The good thing about the old mercedes is if you have an engine or trans die you can get a used one for under $1000. Can't say that about a 2006 Accord. And Honda's don't have the most reliable transmissions from my experience. I even blew a 2nd gear synchro out on a 2008 Civic Si with 20K on it. Honda fixed it but it was a problem they had for nearly 6 years on their manual transmissions.

The only other thing I worry about is bouncing my head off the steering wheel or side pillar in an accident. My wife has to sit pretty close to the steering wheel in this car. I drive comfortably with the seat all the way back. It's kind of designed for old short people I think. My knee can't even fit under the steering wheel when the seat is all the way back and I'm only 5'10". And with the seat all the way back it is kinda hard to reach the radio or glove box.

Otherwise it does drive like a newer car. It will never handle like my Civic Si, but I'm sure it handles and drives as good as a basic Accord.

Fuel economy is NOT why I bought this car. It gets about 8L/100km on the highway, but in town it's more like 12 or 13. It's aheavy car at 4000 pounds. The cost of repairs far outweighs any savings in fuel, that plus (at least here) diesel is 20% more than gas.

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1987 300E

Anyhow, that's all I'll say on the subject. Just my own experience with the car for the last 6 months.

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1987 300E

If you spend 5-10 hours a week working on it, there is something wrong, or it's new to you and you'll catch up.

I agree, no one wants to spend that kinda time on a car routinely.

Some folks are more susceptible to fumes than others, priorities.

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83 SD

84 CD

Well I quite smoking 10 years ago for a reason. Diesel exhaust is as bad for you as smoking. If you aim the car properly when you park usually you can avoid the exhaust coming up at you. But when you're driving east and the wind is coming from behind and you're stuck in bumper to bumper 2 hour traffic jam and it's +30C out and your AC doesn't work, you just have to huff fumes.

The car is so old, so many hardened old rubber parts. Most of the stuff I've had to fix was because of something rubber failing. I also have to make sure to fix things that could leave my wife and child stranded on a freeway. Or have the car lose power and end up stuck in the middle of a 14 lane freeway full of tractor trailers going 120kph. There was also the issue with winter coming and trying to get the car as prepared as possible for -20C temperatures.

Most people drive cars and never fix anything unless they have to. So, usually they end up selling the car when there's so much stuff going wrong that they can't be bothered to keep up with it. Then the lucky buyer gets to fix all that stuff.

We also drive about 1600 miles a month with one 100 mile trip every week. So when you use it frequenty, more stuff goes wrong in a shorter period of time.

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1987 300E

If the panel is off in the back look at the metal on the inside of the door with the window up. Look for any rust on the door skin. How old is the paint? If they painted over any rust without removing it, then it will just come through within 2 or 3 years. My car had zero rust underneath the car, but the doors are getting rust bubbles in them which starts from the inside. The inside of my doors have big rust patches. The door seal rubber is hard and cracked and not sealing, which probably caused the rust to start on the doors.

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1987 300E

Considering there is work to be done, brake lines, tach, clock maybe.

Is the passenger front door arm rest and left rear door panel/parts included?

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83 SD

84 CD

Is this car being sold by this service centre in Oregon? Who took all these videos?
Did you talk to this CTO you said owned it?

I would never buy anything from a dealer or shop. They all lie through their teeth.

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1987 300E

Yes. More parts too.

Rob - the car is what it is. The shop is selling for the owner, who I haven't spoken to but will. I'm heading out to pick up in a few weeks.

Been actively looking at W116SD's for 6 months. Seen some that sell for around $3,500 or so that are decent but with issues. He nicest I've seen is sitting on the market for $15K in SoCal. There are well-sorted ones that sit on the market at $8K. From all I've seen, $6K seems like a very reasonable price given the reconditioning, motor, body, upkeep, etc. only a few things currently to deal with and a beautiful color to boot.

I could buy a $4K car and put another $4K in immediately to get it close to where this one is. Paint alone would be $2,500+.

Assume I'm not buying a Honda or newer car. I want this model and this age and this look... W116 SD or maybe a sweet W123 300D. Like the style and size of the SD though.

I see rust in the front drivers side door jam near the carpet in the photos on their website. Did you pull the carpets out and examine the floor? Take a scratch awl and push it into the floor in the corners. If its got rust it will go through the floor. You cant see the sheet metal because of all the insulation and wax coating under the car.

Why was the car at the shop? Look for signs of a new head gasket. Usually the cars overheat and blow a head gasket and an owner cant afford to repair it so the shop seizes the car. Then does a subpar repair job and tries to sell it like it's perfect. How new is that paint? Does the frame look like new in the engine compartment? Any signs of repair in the trunk area? I would have it inspected by a third party mechanic that you choose. Also be sure to get a full accident history on the car but that might not show repairs that were not claimed.

I would only buy a car from a private individual. These shops are only out to make a few thousand profit off each car they sell. That means they got it cheap for some reason they will never tell you.

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1987 300E

A shop can paint a car for $200. Even Maaco does paint jobs for $500 here in Canada. So don't be swayed by the paint. A real paint job with clear coat costs about $5000 here. I find it weird that they havent repaired the arm rests or put the door panel back on. The back of the panel has broken clips that are part of the door. An idiot couldnt figure out that the panel slides up to come off so they tried prying it off like on an american car and busted the door panel. It cant be fixed so it needs a replacement panel.

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1987 300E

Only found one BBB complaint

Complaint
Car was supposedly sold in good running order, within 90 miles the 5th sensor for the turbos failed. Then w/in 2 mos the alternator failed due to the car having the wrong battery. Then I discovered transmission issues that were caused from the car being sold to me with 3 same tires and one completely different tire on an all wheel drive. I have spent an additional $2,700 to bring the car into the"good running condition" the dealer guarantees but didn't adhere to this promise!!

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1987 300E

A bad review on Yelp as well about a customer feeling ripped off and repairs not being done properly. Then the owner insulting them. Sounds typical.

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1987 300E

Does the HVAC system work?

These can be finicky and pricey to correct.

I doubt anything catastrophic happened, just wanting to freshen up, inspected by a shop for a sale.

What year engine/trans?

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83 SD

84 CD

Not sure what you're all about, Rob. Thanks, I guess.