I went out to the junk yard this morning to do some reconnaissance on various potential parts in anticipation of a half price sale coming up next weekend. There were no MB diesels in the yard. This is the first time this has ever occured. Historically there have been 6-12 617/616s available. There were lots and lots of MB gassers of various types but no diesels.

I'm thinking that instead of considering the junk yards as a ready source of parts to be sourced as needed, it may be time to start being opportunistic and grabbing stuff as available and keeping them in stock for the future use.

Have we reached a tipping point?

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

I mean....These cars are getting old. The junkers are all pretty much gone, and those that still exist are mostly in the hands of enthusiasts who will hold on to them.
There is going to be a time when these cars will disappear from junk yards, and I'd assume that after 3 decades, that time is now. Not too surprising, I think.

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"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

I reached that point around here about 5-7 years ago. I haven't seen a w123 in a yard around here in year and years. Lots of w126's and even more w124's though. We were just starting to see w140's and w210's in the yards before the last decent wrecker near me closed down....

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2004 F150 4.6L -My Daily
2007 Volvo XC70 -Wife's Daily
1998 Ford F150 -Rear ended
1989 J-spec 420SEL -passed onto its new keeper
1982 BMW 733i -fixed and traded for the 420SEL
2003 Volvo V70 5 Speed -scrapped
1997 E290 Turbo Diesel Wagon -traded for above
1992 BMW 525i -traded in
1990 Silver 300TE -hated the M103
1985 Grey 380SE Diesel Conversion, 2.47 rear end, ABS -Sold, really should have kept this one
1979 Silver 300D "The Silver Slug" -Sold

The yards hit that point a few years ago here in sunny South Carolina. When I first got involved with MBs, circa 2008, there were always three or four "new" W123s in the local yard, and keep in mind they bring in fresh blood every 60 or so days, and those hanging out for more than 60 days were headed to the crusher any moment. Now, a few have popped up, but other than those, it's been a dry spell for around two years.

California finally catches up with the rest of the country. Welcome to 5 to 7 years ago here as well.

The strange classification of people none of us actually know who send a complete mercedes diesel to the yard without stripping it has dried up.

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

Exaaactly.

It's really something if a w123 shows up with anything useful left on it, at a pick and pull in this area. There are exceptions (friend scored a restored fender for me off one a month ago, but that's almost freakshow rare these days).

It's now getting to be a cottage industry, for those with the commitment and patience to scour the backroads for the inevitable farmers and other wannabe WVO types who bought the car(s) then never got around to doing anything with them. Or tried and could not find anyone with half a clue to wrench on them. Not only to find them, but then to talk them out of the weeds.

The problem with those folks is that they all figure their rusted parts cars are worth a grand. Ever tried to buy something from a farmer? LOL

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

I too have noticed the rapid decline of Diesel cars in my local yards. Gone are the days of having to choose which 300D to pull a part from. It looks like I should keep my stash of 123 parts around for a while. I may be able to retire on them one day!

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All Diesel Fleet
1985 R107 300SLD TURBODIESEL
2005 E320 CDI (daily)

LOTS of parts for sale!


EGR block kit
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/355250-sale-egr-delete-block-off-plate-kit.html

1985 CA emissions 617 owners- You Need This!
Sanden style A/C Compressor Mounting Kit for your 616/ 617 For Sale + Install Inst.

Sanden Instalation Guide (post 11):
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/367883-sanden-retrofit-installation-guide.html

I agree with the rapid decline of W123 and W126 in the yards.
I see more w126 than w123, but more are gassers.

Since I moved to the boonies of Nevada, don`t see all that many in the yards here. The Carson City PNP keeps them longer than any yard I know of. sometimes 6 months or longer, not a lot of MB`s out here in the Boonies.

In the S.F. Bay Area, San Jose, and the yard on the Monterey Bay, I see more MB`s, but maybe just a higher concentration in the area.
But the availability is dropping off.

Some times the San Jose yard north gets cars in so quickly, they are not in the yards longer than two week....and some times crush them w/o being set in the rows.

I did a row 52 search of 500 miles from my location on the 300`s. here is what is listed.

Mercedes-Benz 300 | ROW52

And a 240D search only shows 3.

Mercedes-Benz 240D | ROW52


I constantly check on CL for 240D and 300D. Came across a few 240`s that were T Boned, and around 300 to $800. I just missed a 82 4-spd for $750.
If you have the room, pick them up and part them out. Save everything.

To most people, these are just another old car to junk. I plan on keeping mine for ever, though my for ever isn`t that far down the road like it use to be.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Very area dependent, I'm thinking. I've never seen a 617 in a junk yard. Ever.

Here in the PNW, diesel MBZ's are vintage, very trendy with the hippy granola sandal biodiesel craft beer crowd. Mention "biodiesel" in a car ad and you can easily have a car that you east coast guys would deride as a $500 junker going for $2k. We don't salt the roads here, which I think helps tremendously. If there was an era where they were common in junk yards, I missed it. Any that are still on the road now are relatively well cared for.

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

There are two right now in the So. Portland PNP, fresh within the last two weeks. A few years ago one might have had five or six to pick from in the Metro area, but availability is definitely dwindling, as is the overall census. There have been a few short periods in the last year or two when no W123 was available in the yards, but there's usually one or two to be found. They are likely to become more scarce as the newest of the W123's ages past 35 years. It's still a lot easier to find parts for my W123's than it is to find anything for my 43 year old W114. Another factor is the independent entrepreneurs who are paying better than scrap prices, which are currently very low, and parting these cars out.

I really think that the biodiesel/wvo fad in the PNW has passed along with the ready availability of decent W123's that could be economically driven into the ground over a year or two of ownership. I agree that most of the ones that remain are being relatively well cared for, and that too is putting more pressure on the used parts markets.

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'79 240D

I have not seen any for the last 10 yrs. here in N.W. In. I was lucky to find a 126 with the motor in which I grabbed a few months ago and am very happy with the motor when I called back 2 weeks ago to get more parts they said it was crushed and gone. What a shame as there were a lot of valuable parts on there yet. It is getting rare to even see these on the road any more as they are 30 yr. old antiques. People all want to drive new trouble free cars.I do think there are more of these cars in the southern and western parts of our country but going fast.

More in the southern and western areas? I dunno about in the west, and maybe it's different somewhere like Atlanta, but in the North Georgia/Chattanooga area there's not a W123/W126 to be found in a junkyard that I've ever seen. For years I've been on this board listening to people talk about "Well, just pull a spare banjo bolt from a yard" and things like that with sheer green envy.

I know of three or four others besides mine out on the local roads, but not in the yards.

Soon, the sum of the parts will be more valuable than the whole. There is an '83 in my local yard with the engine and transmission (attached) in the trunk (diesel). I got what I wanted off of it.

Good observation. I noticed the lack of MB's in the local PicknPull with in the last 1-2 years and just figured it was them tightening their inventory. They always had 3-4 gassers at this location...always... and an occasional diesel.....now nothing. Mach4 i think your analysis is on to something.

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'89 260e (212K Mi.), '92 400e (208K Mi.), '92 400e (not a misprint) (146K Mi.), '95 C220, '81 240D--Sold

We generally have a couple - for now. As stated, they're getting old and the tap HAS to run dry eventually. Can't find any Studebakers, either.

Just checked - 2 ea. 300D's, 1 is a 1980, the other is (IIRC) a 1986.

Dan