I am flying next week to look at a 1979 300sd with 234,000 miles. This car has had $50,000 worth of restorations done to it during the past 4 years.
The resotoration includes new paint ( car was stripped to bare metal) new factory engine, rebuilt tranny, new airconditioner, new suspension front and rear, new dash,.....and numerous other parts. I have purchased other older cars but none in this good of shape. He is asking $10k. My feeling is that the car is worth $5k - 6K.

If it is restored to "new" condition what is it worth

Thanks for you help
Augusta

I kind of doubt the $50,000 price on the "restoration". Why on earth would someone spend that kind of money on that vehicle. An untouched original is always worth more than a restored car. $10,000 seems a bit high. But if everything is brand new like he claims it may be worth something close to that.

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

I agree that $50k on restoration sounds crazy. But he tells me that he has all of the receipts. He tell me that he spent $25k on the paint job. I am going to go over the receipts in great detail.

Augusta

sometimes people do restorations on cars that defy financial logic. If this is a really beautiful car, ask yourself "what else could I buy for 10K, how would I like to dive that X miles for Y years." Last year I sold the house that I designed and built with my own hands(that included a 1000 sq. ft, floor heated garage). What I really wanted and never really got was to talk to a buyer who had an understanding of maybe 10% of what I did. If you really, really want to know if all of this work has been done, look at the car and the man's eyes as he tells you about it. Been there

$25k on the paint?

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

The $25k includes replacing rubber pieces, front and back windshield. The car was taken down to bare metal before it was painted. I still have never seen a 25k paint job.

After I look a the car next week, I will report back. I can't be as good as advertised

Augusta

It might be a 25k dollar paint job, it should be stunning. People do some weird things, if it is as nice as he says it is $10k isn't to far off of the mark. A new driveline is a huge plus. Even a 50k mile original is still going to have a 35 year old engine, trans, etc.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Something does not sound right. Why would you take that kind of "hit" on a car? You don't spend $40K on a car worth $5K with plans to sell it. I wonder why?

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Alan Hamm
'87 300SDL 277K Miles
'89 560 SL 68K Miles

It might have a $5k paint job, but not a $25k paint job, and if all the seals were replaced, that shouldn't cost more than $1,000. I guess if he had the work done at the dealer, I could see it costing $25k

Brand new that car was $23,500 (east coast). Adjusted for inflation (@ a flat 4% per annum) it would be $62,250 today. If it is truly a "new" car you maybe $52,000 ahead of the game....

Please post some pics... Where is it located?

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Over 21 years I owned several:
w108
w110
w111
w115
w116
w123
w124
w126
w212

Only trailer queen show cars have $25K paint and graphics and they have auction price tags >$150K. I don't know.......

Remain cautiously doubtful.

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The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

I sure would not want to drive an Mb with a 25K paint job let alone park it in key city.that kind of car is wrapped in gause after every show ........

William Rogers........

Take a camera.

My uncle spent $12K on a 73 vette paint job the other year, it's nice, don't get me wrong, but not what I'd call stunning. Well done, but it's "only" a $12K job. I know it sounds insane, but it's true. 25K should be absolutly immaculate with every single piece or trim, rubber, plastic, everything absolutly pristine and new. Period.

That being said, $10K aint really bad for a truly nice SD with a new drivetrain, suspension, brakes, AC, etc, etc. Then you can sit back and enjoy watching the rest of us spend that amount of money(10K) over the next ten years doing all the stuff yours already has done to it, and thinking were somehow saveing money.

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One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

I just bought a 84 300SD a few months ago for $5625. The guy had spent over 15 grand on it in the last 5 to 6 years. He gave me all the receipts. It does happen. BTW-want to buy it!? It's just too big of a car for me to run around town in.

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'84 300SD
'02 New Beetle TDI

I have a friend who was an accountant for a stockbroker for a while. His employer would usually make thousands and thousands of dollars in one day and then for the next few weeks make almost nothing. Whenever he had the money in his pocket he'd spend it immediately on crazy things like expensive art, useless toys, and restoring his old Mustang. The next few weeks he spent barely able to buy food (but knowing there would be another $$$$$ transaction coming soon).

The guy spent over $30,000 on his Mustang (including a $6,000 paint job.... no where near $25,000 though!) and then one day it was just too long between major transactions and he sold the Mustang in a hurry to some teenager for $3,000 just so he could pay the rent.

Stuff like this sounds crazy, and it is.... But there are a lot of crazy people out there.

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'81 300TD Wagon 355k (Miss Diesel)
'83 300SD 180k
'84 500SEL 190k (Parting it out)