Howdy all -

I'm looking at adding an 1990s 300D 2.5 turbo to my fleet of MB diesels. Looked at one today, interested in your opinions as to what would represent a fair price for this car. Here's the basics.

Car is being sold by a small independent lot specializing in older, imported high end cars. 1992 300D 2.5 turbo. Two-tone green exterior (don't know the color) over parchment MB tex. Car looks as if it was mostly garaged - no sun fading of the paint or interior. Paint is not great - lots of fine scratches, probably from automatic car washes. A few door dings, but nothing you'd notice if not looking. Some whitish spots on the hood - bird or tree damage? A few scrapes on the sides. One wheel was a bit bent - looks as if it hit a curb pretty good. Basically, the car looks really good from ten feet, but not quite so sharp from three feet. You get the idea.

Interior is pretty much perfect. MB-tex shows no sign of wear. Wood is almost perfect - there's one stress crack near the shift lever, but that's it. Carpet is pretty much perfect - well worn set of MB mats are in the trunk. Seats felt great, firm just like they should. No dash cracks. Steering wheel was sun damaged, particularly from about 10 O'clock to 2 O'clock.

Car started instantly from dead cold, and rattled just like an OM602 should. Just the slightest bit of visible smoke during cold start. Driveline felt darn good. Engine showed no turbo lag, and pulled decently hard to redline getting on the highway. Didn't notice any smoke during this maneuver either. Transmission shifted just perfectly. Firm during hard acceleration, unnoticable during gentle driving.

Body structure of the car was very tight. One rattle from the drivers door pocket, that was it. A/C got cold - it was 75 in Dallas today! Central locks worked, all windows operate fine, sunroof OK. Couldn't find any sign of bodywork - everything looked straight, no signs of overspray anywhere.

Car is showing 87K miles, and feels like that's the actual number. Carfax doesn't show any problems - was sold in 1996 with 39K, then late last year was sold to Carmax with 87K.

The downsides? No books or records, none at all. The steering wheel ticked back and forth in your hands - started at 30MPH, but wasn't any worse at 60MPH. The car itself didn't shimmy, only the wheel - couldn't feel anything when my wife drove. Brakes had a bit of the same when coming to a stop. Center vent above the A/C PBU was relucant to open - it did open for a bit when I pushed the hi-lo button, but would never open when set on a/c or EC. The cruise was dead - not a hint of life. Missing the underbelly pans.

Was not dealer maintained - it had green coolant, and the brake fluid is darn near black.

The seller is asking $9995. He is willing to address the problems before selling the car, but seems pretty firm on the price.

Thoughts? My opinion is it really needs decent books/records to justify that kind of price. On the other hand it has a fairly clean exterior, very clean interior and extremely low milage. My current thinking is that with the major problems corrected (shimmy, brakes, A/C) and a price of $9K it might not be so bad a deal. Everything else about the car felt darn good.

Your thoughts and opinions?

- Jim

'87 300TDT
'98 E300

I would be concerned about the lack of records as well. As I am sure you know, these cars are great when they are cared for and bears when they are not. The radiator and brake fluid worry me the most. What else was inproperly mantained, rear axle, CORRECT MOTOR OIL, air and fuel filters, transmission?

Personally, I would not consider buying an MB that old without records. I would try my best not to make a $10,000 mistake. My 124 came with everything including the origional window sticker. It took me a while to find her (silver/black leather, records, 120K). When I did, I paid more than others. But, to me it was well worth it for the peace of mind and confidence in a used auto.

At about 100K my 300D needed a new head gasket, vacuum pump, new tires, down pipe, fuel lines and a few other odds and ends. The receipt from the previous owner showed a grand total of $2,300 in repairs. Maby this is why it has been so good to me!! I say this because I would hate for you to buy this car and then get slammed with some major repairs in a year.

You might determine how much the car is worth to you considering the lack of proper documentation and obvious neglect. Make the offer and be willing to walk. Good luck.

__________________
1996 (W210) E300D 86K - Traded in for a Lexus
1992 (W124) 300D 2.5 Turbo 202K - Sold
1983 (W123) 300D, 146K - Sold
1970 280S, 263K - Sold - Beginning of addiction

Things can get expensive if you do not know what was done to the car or what was NOT done.

http://www.mindspring.com/~houlihan/mb.htm

Why don't you get the VIN# ,call your local MB dealer and get them to tell you where it was originally sold...then call that dealer and start tracking the records...actually any dealer should be able to walk through work that was done at another dealer
I just did the same thing for a buddy of mine in Texas
Just because the car doesn't have the books doesn't mean you can't track down its history
That price is kinda high...but if that mileage is accurate I would say go for it



Warren
1992 300SD 159K
Columbus Ohio

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The car sounds very nice but the price, IMO, is high. The center vent pod is probably dead and takes 5-10 hours to repair (dash removal required - I've done this 3 times now.) Cruise amp will cost ~$200 for a rebuilt. Engine encapsulation shields under the car will cost $300-400 for the pair. Shimmy could be brakes, wheels, tires, or worse... hard to tell without futher diagnosis. The low mileage is nice, and assuming it has good power and no leaks, I'd say $7500-9500 would be a better range than $10k. There was a BEAUTIFUL 1995 E300 on eBay recently, silver/gray with rare Sport seats, that could be picked up for $9500 in Florida... to me that's more tempting (even with double the miles!)


Good luck,

__________________
Dave
Boise, ID
Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!

Yeah, I'm thinking the price is a little bit high. With the shimmy in the steering and brakes fixed it'd be a nice $9K car. It's tough to say whether the a/c problem was control or vacuum pod - the center vents opened when I switched to the hi-lo setting. Could be a marginal leak in the diaphram though, I've seen that before.

I guess part of the reason I'm interested is the car just felt right. It appears to have had a relatively easy life, if perhaps not with the kind of obsessive-compulsive owner we all are. You know how it is - the body structure was tight and solid, there was no slop in the steering or brakes, the suspension didn't make any untoward noises. Despite the steering shimmy, it even had that 'on rails' feeling on the highway. It didn't feel old and used up is what I'm trying to say. Oh, and the seats were fabulous. None of the dreaded seat lean at all.

There's one over in cowtown I need to go look at as well. 95K miles, records, $8995. Sounds a bit more reasonable, but it's black, which is not a great color in Texas.

I'm really not interested in a 95. I've had such bad experiences with my current OM606 engine that I'm not willing to consider another one.

- Jim

'98 210.025
'87 124.193

I think blk is a great color...especially when its clean and with all the sunny dry weather in Texas ..its a plus

its hotter...but I was told by my dealer that colors that are no longer availaible are automatically worth less to them than current colors ...guess they bring less on the resale side
so white,blk,silver are all very safe..if you are concerned about that sort of thing


Warren
1992 300SD 159K
Columbus Ohio

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