It was almost free a couple years ago, so what exactly are you saying here?

Back on the original topic of MB diesels;

Just watching BaT it seems the price on these cars was never really all that stable. You'd see a 240D go for crazy money, then shortly after an almost identical car, maybe even a better one, would struggle to make half the first car's bid. Now it seems we are seeing a lot of the non-turbo 300D's coming out of the woodwork. Those have always been sort of the "low man on the 123 diesel totem pole", so the frequency of those might be making it look like the average is sliding? Just a thought.

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1985 300SD - 1987 911 Carrera - 1956 Austin-Healey 100

I would think odds do not favor low energy prices ahead. It is just common sense basically. Certainly prices could fall back from time to time. Overall though the trend should be to higher prices. This inflationary period is being driven by more factors than the average one has been. It is also worldwide pretty much.

Americans are luckier right now. In Canada we had two really bad policies established. Government guaranteed lenders for morgages and new cars. Plus almost zero interest policy . This allowed homes to sell at well above any sane amounts.

On average a two percent increase in interest now would increase their debt obligations by 800.00 a month. A four percent increase by 1600.00 a month. So by and large the option of raising interest rates enough to really at least even hold prices is just not here.

Average price of a tract bungalow in the hotter areas of Canada is over a million dollars. If I gave a person a half million dollars to go buy a home it Toronto or Vancover they would come back empty handed. Or the place would not be livable. A high percentage of the Canadian population have been degraded into only the payment being affordable matters. As a result the average Canadian is carrying a much higher debt loading than the average American. Gambling is exactly that and you do not always win. They brought the cool aid that houses where on an upward spiral that would never end

. I just hope the house of cards does not collapse while deflating. Deflating for sellers is underway but not for buyers when the new interest rates are factored in. Not so in our area where they are still inflating in basic selling prices as well. The causations of people not really understanding what they are doing is to me a problem. Lack of judgement or commons sense seems to be pretty endemic these days. All the forms of the media are of little help or guidance.

As the dollar devaluates in spending value. Yes I can see it bailing many people out. If they can sustain through the period till that occurs. To me that kind of stress where all or nothing has no appeal to me. Everyone gambles in life to some degree. Usually if the odds favor us in general though. Marital breakups still have financial stress as the number one breakup issue. Life is hard enough without stacking the deck against yourself.

I won’t weigh in on fuel prices but I really enjoy how wide and deep this forum is when it comes to auto discussions! I am also very grateful that my grandfather got me started early in my life on repairing my own cars. He always told me the easiest way to not end up walking is learn how to fix your own car. I wish he was still on the planet.

Some of these w123 owners are set on 5k-7k prices for their cars. Only thing going for them is the low miles and decent paint on the car. The maintenence is just not there. Went to go look at one on DC 3 weeks ago, the seller was dead set on 5k. The pictures looked good car still it's original paint. Low miles 135k. I drove it around the block it was bogging and slugglish. I popped the hood linkages on the car were dry as the desert. The firewall bushing was shot, engine was shaking up and down on idle
And the fuel filters were absolutely caked with algae. The car paint was 7/10 had rust in the wheel wells aswell the hood hindge. The maintenence was just no there.

I can dig that ~ I love my old W123's but realize that no one gives a flip about the maintenance done, just how nice it looks .

I nearly junked my beloved 1984 300CD, it ran like a top and mechanically was pretty much all done bumper to bumper .

I was asked what I was saying here, I made it clean and will repeat : every time the gop deregulates anything, the co$t of it zooms into the stratosphere, that's a fact not an opinion and being a staunch Conservative I dislike it .

I'm a Blue Collar guy and to buy my tiny little house I had to look in The Ghetto, it's been a good place to live and raise my family for 40 years , now the frat house on my block just sold for $1.5 MILLION DOLLARS .

Whew .

I agree, too many think they're gambling and so make poor choices .

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-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

Don't judge by craigslist asking prices. Free to advertise so people troll for suckers there. Around 2007 I saw a 1965 Dodge Dart on local cl for $2800 or so, interested but didn't bother going to look. I later saw it on ebay bid $700 with 1 hour bidding left, so jumped in. Got it for $1000, right at the reserve price. Not bad for a V-8 2 door with GT trim and floor shifter. When it arrived, it had $4500 written on the windshield, which apparently didn't interest anyone driving by. Abandoned at a paint shop, but they did the paperwork (searched for owner) so easy to register at DMV. Claimed "newly painted, just needs trim installed" which proved a stretch (faded paint, rust bleed-thru), but fine for the price and turned out no rust-thrus, just a little surface from cracked Bondo. But, it has been a drawn-out project.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

I’m finding Parker’s , been my hobby since 2005 , average 2 a year , so it’s true to say 30 plus . We are a curious crowd for sure , I’m still intrigued, find the work is enjoyable , the search for a different color or a different option I’ve yet seen keeps the collecting fresh . I’m in Houston so the bounty was good in the beginning . Now I can say to find a fresh Parker is getting harder to find these days, it’s the reality , the herd out their has fallen substantially , many are crushed daily . Funny thing , I do get a few w123 previous owners give me a chat while out driving , they become interested in our little gang and ask about the pp site , I tell them , don’t get too close , it’s uncurable .

I know what you mean Slow 78 , it’s the kind of loss that only one can feel and not explain . My Dad helped me re build his daily commuter , this to be my first car ,, we spent weeks in that cold garage on this little Cvcc Honda , tearing the motor down for rebuild , painting , etc .The one car I swore I wouldn’t sell but was torn when I did , even with all the newer cars in the HS parking lot ,I was proud to have this little pocket car .I would see it locally for years after , always gave my dad the news , giving him the credit for how well that thing ran like a top , he enjoyed hearing the report and said , Isn’t that something .

Not sure how we manage to justify these cars as daily drivers anymore. That said, considering the cost of diesel these days, one wonders why there isn't a revival on the WVO front?

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'83 SD, 2x '85 SD
You are entitled to your own opinions, you are not entitled to your own facts.

Why not? So long as the AC works…

WVO made more messes than it helped. And takes time and energy. And there are fewer enthusiasts…

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Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (116k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
2008 ML320 CDI (199k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (267k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K), 1985 300D (233K), 1993 300D 2.5T (338k), 1993 300SD (291k)

Agreed. Did WVO for ten years. It was a hassle. Satisfying yes, but it was work.

It was a fad for most people.

Speaking of which the w123 market seems to be cooling a bit in socal. It was just unrealistic for a few months this year. I think a lot of people had unrealistic expectations like the WVO crowd fifteen years ago. These cars need work and skills. The NLA thing has definitely made ownership more complicated. Perhaps the dreamers are starting to wake up to the reality that this is hard work.

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles
97 C280 147k miles

I occasionally borrow a friend's 2004 Honda CR-V. Ok, it's 19 years further on in automotive development but a so much more refined ride, better fit and finish than my brutish '85 SD. MPG in gasoline almost what i get in diesel, parts easily available, good sound system, ice cold AC, much less time spent on coddling maintenance....

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'83 SD, 2x '85 SD
You are entitled to your own opinions, you are not entitled to your own facts.

And it has zero cool.

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1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

I don't drive a 40 year old car with no A/C because it's cool to anyone but me .

I like how it drives (slowly to be honest), looks and feels safe in spite of no air bags .

I'm beginning to see more and more really nice looking W123's in daily service again .

SO true about the waste veggie oil fuel thing ! .

That destroyed so many nice cars .

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-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

So in other words, you think it’s cool.

That’s my point.

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1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.