Hi,

I need some advice to sell this car.

It is time to upgrade my car, I have a 1987 300td wagon. It has been great to me but I need a newer car to please the wife and kid.

The car has 380,000km on it. These are the issues that I know about:

1. has an oil leak just below the oil filter housing
2. no a/c, it has been disconnected since I bought the car and I have never tried to fix it
3. self-leveling suspension needs to be rebuilt, it leaks
4. the car runs on the hotter side when driving in slow traffic
5. rear passenger window needs the motor replaced, I have a newer one but never put it in
6. The ignition switch could be replaced, it starts and runs fine but I have to move it after the car is started in order to have the climate control system running (I have a new switch just haven't put it in yet)
7. hood cable could be replaced, I have a new one just haven't put it in yet
8. there are a couple of rust spots on the back of the car, the paint isn't new and on the front driver side above the tire, there is a rust hole.



Things I recently repaired on the car:

1. replaced the exhaust system (muffler as well) almost all the way to the engine, about 1 ft of old pipe didn't get replaced, it was in good shape
2. new vacuum pump
3. new HVAC PBU
4. New window motor passenger
5. new hatchback shocks
6. new intake manifold gasket(i have a complete engine gasket set as well)
7. new Fuel screen filter
8. Transmission filter and oil change within the last 3000km
9. New HID headlight kit
10. I replaced the front seats with a different mercedes, they are newer and more comfortable but they are tan instead of blue, heated seats work

What I need advice on is pricing the car to sell.

I use it as a daily driver right now, I have full confidence in the car. It isn't going to leave me stranded on the side of the road. It starts every single time and in the winter if it is plugged in at -20˙c she starts just fine.


Please let me know how much you think I could price the car for sale.

I will add a video to youtube and add the link here as soon as I do.

Thank you for your advice.

ps. The car is in Quebec Canada

Here is the video

https://youtu.be/mGXQzCLlrtI

Sadly (as I am an owner of a similar car), they aren't worth much unless in very good condition. Photos of exterior, interior, and rust would obviously help any estimates. About 4 years ago, I bought an 87 TD wagon for $2500 in California. The car was for sale for many weeks with that price as the asking price. My car has some rust, but a nice interior and had 190,000 miles at the time. With your miles and a rust hole, I would guess you might get around $2000 usd in the U.S. I have no idea how the market might be different in Canada. Sorry for the low estimates.

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

I think you might double the value of the car if you will go ahead and fix the things you have parts for and find some kind of covers to blend those tan seats. A good TD is going for major money now in the US.

You get the occasional car in Canada this old with no serious rust. When it exists it is a real value killer. Seems to be less rust the farther west you go in Canada. Can be expensive to repair the rear suspension system.


Really worse than all. At the quoted milage the interior seats should have still been decent. Then again if they were leather or fabric might have made that different. Mercedes vinyl really stands up.


That is only about 240k miles when converted from kilometers. There may be some saving grace in where the car was originally sold and when did it arrive in Quebec. Or it was not used in the winter.

I reside at the border of New Bruinswick and Nova Scotia in Canada. I personally have had to send some cars to the auto wreckers because of rust in areas that where too labor intensive to deal with. Or presented a safety issue. A couple of those cars still looked pretty good topside.

A real shocker was a 126 with only 100k miles or 160K Kilometers. And the interior and body generally looked great. Where underneath the suspension mounting points where rusting out. Maybe the car was parked In grass. Also Americans in the south do see rust but not the insidious type that spreads and spreads underneath the protective coating. Reducing vast areas to only iron oxide. Where in any attempted repair it is almost impossible to find sold metal to work from.

My point is to guess at any value the amount of rust present must be given by you. Mechanical things can be easily dealt with where extensive rust in comparison can be another issue. Do you have periodic safety checks in Quebec? In Nova Scotia they were once a year and then went to every two years. They look for dangerous rusting situations especially when checking the overall vehicle. Plus no rust holes are allowed anywhere.

The car was purchased from Vancouver Island back in 2014 and it moved to Alberta. It has been in Alberta ever since. Actually still has the Alberta plate on it. I just moved to Quebec so it is not a Quebec car.

I will post a video in the next few days of the car.

Thanks for your advice.

Here is a video walk around for the Benz. Let me know what you think. Thanks

https://youtu.be/mGXQzCLlrtI

That makes a lot of difference. Actually an unbelievable amount usually.


The only car that will not rust out in the rustbelt over time. Is one not driven in the winter. Plus kept in climate controlled situations.

Sent you a private message.

Love it! What if you were to tell the wife that A/C would work and it would be a reliable car with all issues fixed?

I would imagine to make that car 'like new' again including A/C system would cost about 5k with using OEM/Mercedes parts. Much less then buying a new vehicle.

__________________
1976 Mercedes 240D (Sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D Turbo Diesel: 500,000KM
1986 Mercedes 300E (Sold)
1988 Mercedes 300E (Sold)
2002 Mercedes C240 (Sold)
2008 Mercedes C350 4matic

A great site for purchasing industrial rubber products!

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That looks like a lot of rust to me. I think you might have a problem just selling it even at a very low number.

The car in question is now posted on Ebay for $3500+.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1987-Mercedes-Benz-300-Series-TD-Wagon/222997519198?


For comparison, here is another 1987 TD on ebay right now for $1700:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1987-Mercedes-Benz-300-Series/153042095048?

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

I'd take the $1700 rust free Texas car over the $3500 rust bucket.

__________________
CENSORED due to not family friendly words

The reality is, this isn't a $3,000 car much less a $3,500 one .

Be realistic and it'll sell quickly, you're Family life (means Wife) will improve instantly .

Hopefully you'll have some good memories but this thing is a beater at best .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better