Parts Catalog Accessories Catalog How To Articles Tech Forums
Call Pelican Parts at 888-280-7799
Shopping Cart Cart | Project List | Order Status | Help



Go Back   PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum > Mercedes-Benz Tech Information and Support > Diesel Discussion

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-12-2003, 01:55 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: California
Posts: 2,068
Angry Odometer rollback, common on 1987 300D's?

It seems almost 5 out of 10 1987 300D's I see on eBay have odometer issues. Example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6330&item=2442684054

This picture makes me suspicious, and the Carfax indeed indicates it has a "not actual mileage" title.

And another one here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6330&item=2442289235

Seller claims "the odo was broken for a short time. It now works..."

According to Carfax, mileage was 214,000 in October 2000 and REMAINED at that (probably got stuck) until June 2003, when it somehow changed to 124,000.

Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-12-2003, 03:17 PM
gsxr's Avatar
Unbanned...?
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: USA
Posts: 8,101
Odometers stopping for a while is a pretty common failure on MB's, at least on the 124 chassis I've seen it a lot. Odometer rollback shouldn't be that common except by unscrupulous dealers. CarFax can find this but doesn't always - just because CarFax is clean, doesn't mean it *wasn't* rolled back. There was an 87 300D for sale this summer by a dealer in San Francisco with "98kmi". CarFax showed it had 200kmi+ and spent most of its life in the northeast rust belt, when the odometer froze (same reading for 2+ years), then it somehow lost 100kmi. Oh, and they wanted $9k for the car! Some poor sucker bought it - wish I could have contacted the new owner so they could sue the pants off the dirtbags.
__________________
Dave
Boise, ID

Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-12-2003, 03:19 PM
R Leo's Avatar
Stella!
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: En te l'eau Rant
Posts: 5,393
IMO, that doesn't look like the original speedo. Compare the fading on all those needles.
__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-12-2003, 03:31 PM
gsxr's Avatar
Unbanned...?
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: USA
Posts: 8,101
Good catch!! Yep, that is a new/different speedo. Original needles are usually yellow, newer gauges have orange needles.
__________________
Dave
Boise, ID

Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-12-2003, 05:17 PM
lrg lrg is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 1,163
Note the first guy Speedy listed is also doing a private auction. I'm ALWAYS leary when I see that. Maybe I'm a cynic but IMHO I think it's almost impossible to find a true, low mileage car except through a private party sale.
__________________
LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-12-2003, 05:21 PM
gsxr's Avatar
Unbanned...?
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: USA
Posts: 8,101
Quote:
Originally posted by lrg
Note the first guy Speedy listed is also doing a private auction. I'm ALWAYS leary when I see that. Maybe I'm a cynic but IMHO I think it's almost impossible to find a true, low mileage car except through a private party sale.
You're not a cynic. That's the sad reality these days.
__________________
Dave
Boise, ID

Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-12-2003, 10:04 PM
Marshall Booth
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
When I talked to a repair technician at VDO (before they closed their Winchester VA repair facility) she pointed out that thse 201/124 speedometers were far more fragile than earlier ones. I have owned 6 201s and 124s. I have had to repair/replace 3 odometers at between 100-200kmi and could have set the mileage any number I wanted. I have gone out of my way to set two of them at the correct mileage (and stuck a used speedometer with about the correct mileage into the 3rd). Many states don't even bother to record numbers in excess of 100kmi.

Marshall
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-12-2003, 11:27 PM
CJ CJ is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Earth
Posts: 1,318
I just sen the seller an e-mail asking him:

Is there any reason that the mileage on your car does not match the mileage I am coming up with when I run the VIN#

Has the speedometer ever been replaced? If you look at the speedomter needle it is obviously a different color orange than the other guages.
--------------------


Question from: asrosen1
Title of item: Mercedes-Benz : 300-Series
Seller: gppcars
Starts: Nov-11-03 15:26:14 PST
Ends: Nov-21-03 15:26:14 PST
Price: Currently $3,000.00
To view the item, go to: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2442684054




I'll post the response when I get it.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 11-12-2003, 11:30 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: NE Okla
Posts: 1,104
This was actually an issue at least as far back as the 1968 W-115's. The Speedo (actually odometer) on the 220D/8 had the same slipping gear syndrome, and probably lost 5 to 10K miles as a result. A different one was eventually installed, and posted number of miles is calculated on actual use of both instruments.
__________________
1961 190Db retired
1968 220D/8 325,000
1983 300D 164,150
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 11-13-2003, 01:19 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Reno/Sparks, NV
Posts: 3,063
Carfax is often useless when it comes to verifying the mileage on older cars. I think there's a federal law that makes vehicles older than 9 years exempt from mileage which I think is a totally stupid law. I ran Carfax on all of my cars and it showed at best very few mileage reports and usually none.
__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 11-13-2003, 01:53 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: California
Posts: 2,068
That's why it helps to have LOTS and LOTS of service records to document the mileage...
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 11-13-2003, 11:44 AM
gsxr's Avatar
Unbanned...?
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: USA
Posts: 8,101
I found CarFax info to vary greatly. Some states have good reporting due to smog or safety inspection records, regardless of what DMV data there is. On the other hand, some other cars have virtually ZERO information. I looked up my own vehicles and was surprised how much was MISSING from the reports. You do need to pull a CarFax on any major purchase, because it can show rollback or other serious problems - BUT always remember that a clean report DOES NOT mean the car hasn't been in a major wreck/rebuild, flood, or odo rollback. YMMV, etc. And yes- good service records are an excellent resource. For my blue 87 I have them from "Day 1" to present, including the window sticker.
__________________
Dave
Boise, ID

Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 11-13-2003, 12:47 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Orange, OH, USA
Posts: 56
It seems that about half of the 300SDL's that have been on Ebay are in the same category. This one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2442851563

Showed 173,316 on 10/21/03 by carfax. When asked the seller responded with something that looks like it was written by a kid:

" i do not know if the auction
entered the wrong miles or put them down wrong. i got the car from a another
dealer it had the miles shown less 50 or 100 miles anyway the auction or the
state is not required to give miles on cars over 10 years old carfax pulls
it`s info from auction reports and sometime the info is just wrong sometime
it is right on and someone had replaced the speedometer for some problem or
another. anyway i never said the miles shown are the actual miles."


Yet the photo's show a nice clear shot of the ODO at 117597. Downright deceptive.

I have also had some sellers not even respond to a short set of questions - like they really do not want to sell the thing to somebody who can think!

Bottom line, if you cannot get any records - RUN.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 11-13-2003, 01:16 PM
I told you so!
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Motor City, MI
Posts: 2,853
Perhaps the best bet is to buy a decent oiler off eBay that DOES claim over 200,000 miles. Who would want to fudge that kind of mileage!
__________________
95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 11-13-2003, 05:13 PM
CJ CJ is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Earth
Posts: 1,318
I got a response from the seller and he said he ran a carfax and his car he is selling is exempt.

Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:12 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Peach Parts or Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page