Picked her up a year ago today. Was pretty green to the MB scene and after preliminary research in this forum decided to start looking for a 123. My objective was to find safe, reliable transportation for my girlfriend whose lease was expiring on her Escort. Had up to $4500 to spend. Whew! what a search . . . from San Jose to upper northern California - got a real education looking for the right car. Armed with invaluable tips and detailed information from the members of this forum plus 'Caveat Emptor' and "The most expensive car in the world is a cheap Mercedes" I looked (and looked and looked). The process took almost five months . . . lotsa leaky engines, blowby, smoke, cracked dashes, non existent A/C and dozens of inoperable switches. FinallyI found her in a YAHOO ad.

The white '85 300D was stunning. Original shiny paint with gold pin stripes and factory chrome wheels - yow! The interior was perfect, in fact the only car where all the accesories worked. (Wellllll, almost . . didn't notice that the cruise control stalk was missing until after I got home so assume it doesn't). The only thing that belied the cars actual age was 216K on the clock. PO (13 years) wanted $5500 attempting to justify the price with an armload of recent receipts including a front end and tranny overhaul. We settled on $4500.

10,050 miles later she's still going strong. Had the injectors rebuilt, new battery, front passenger window regulator, three oil/filter changes, one valve adjustment and replaced the (stolen) hood star. Still doesn't leak or smoke. The A/C blows cool but the fabled center vents have given up the ghost. Clear coat is starting to get fuzzy around the edges of the hood too. Oh well.

Thanks to all who contributed sound, informative suggestions on what to look for in buying used - particularly for this newbie. Your help was appreciated. Special thanks also to our moderators who unselfishly give so much of their time and seemingly have a good word for everyone.

Dave Hutch

Get a really strong flashlight and shine it into those center vents while mashing the defroast pushbutton on the ACC and then the center button. Look real close in there and if the vacuum actuator is working you should see the rod that opens/closes those center vents moving. The connector for the linkage between the vent doors and the rod had come off on mine. Just took getting a tie wrap in there to secure them back together and now the center vents work like they are supposed to. Took some twisted motions with the glovebox out and some scratches on my hands but that is all that was wrong with them.
Way to go on the car purchase - they are excellent cars aren't they

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Jim