It drives quite nice, but since I never drove a new one I can't compare. It does drive better than my 85 wagon, which I plan to swap the motor and transmission this summer with one I pulled from the red parts wagon. In the US they have been selling very well on the bringatrailer.com site. I think my car is better than this one here, which has been repainted and has some very bad repairs to the rockers.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1985-mercedes-benz-300td-turbo-10/

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Von
Fairport, NY
1973 Unimog 416 Doka
1980 Unimog 416 Doka
1981 Unimog 416 Doka
1984 Euro 280CE w/diesel conversion
1985 300TD Estate wagon
(I really need to stop buying these things!)
http://vonsmog.com

Flipping heck - they are no where near that price over here. That's like how the prices felt they were going in about 2006/7 before you know what happened...


In Holland a diesel W123 is almost impossible to sell - even the petrol engined ones struggle to make more than 10K (euro)

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As for the driving - I too never drove a new one but I can say that all of the ones that wallow around the corners like the Good Ship Venus are not how a W123 is meant to feel. If you've got the self levelling suspension in good condition and a new front end with say Sachs touring shocks I reckon that's about as new as it is going to ever feel (so long as the steering box is in good condition)

HD Bilstiens are a bit too jiggly for a stock feel (in my opinion) but were pretty popular back in the day

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!