I bought an 85 300 DTw123 with 264k a couple weeks back and when i took it to get its initial service and tires, lo and behold sat an 85 300SD w126 Turbo one owner with 164K. the SD would be cheaper than the one i recently purchased. my concern is that the one i purchased has new front end, brake caliper, door stops, fuel lines, rebuilt vacuum pump etc. the 85 DT's interior is not as good as the w126 although neither are in mint shape or rough, the w123 needs a good cleaning and armrest. i was thinking of selling . my concenr is that the 126 may casue problems in the way of 25 year old parts where as the 123 has been looked after by the 3rd owner i am the 4th.
can i get 4000 for the 123? anybody in the market for a w123?

First thing do you have pics of the car? Otherwise telling you how much its worth is very very hard. Second what records do you have of the car service wise? What is wrong, everything even little things. If you can provide these things we can help you determine the cars value. And where are you another important detail in determining value.

And you will run into just as many problems on either car really, both are old and will have things break. But really go with what you want. Those old SD's were super sweet rides .....

IMHO: Certainly possible but not likely that your 300D would fetch 4 grand. As a comparison take a look at Tyler's very nice 300D for sale on this forum.

1985 300D: Ol' Turbo 198k, Wichita, Ks $3995.00

Unless yours is in comparable condition, or better considering yours has a bunch more miles on it, you would be extremely fortunate to find a buyer at that price.

__________________
Joe

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1980 300SD - 495k miles - 'The Ambassador'
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Former Family Members
95 C280
73 280SEL
90 300D
87 300SDL (X2)
86 560SEL
84 300D
80 300SD

Is my car going to become the gold standard for correctly priced 300Ds?

I would say a 264k model would only worth $2000-$2500 unless the condition is outstanding with a disgusting amount of service records and everything functioning perfectly, or has been blessed by the pope. That is to an informed buyer. Some local yokel on craigslist may give you 4000 or more buying on emotion without doing any research. You could get lucky. My car had to go to a forum member because I genuinely care deeply for Ol' Turbo, but I knew I had to price it right.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Sorry, but not a chance on this planet.
Others above have elaborated appropriately......

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

thanks to all who have crushed my dreams of trading up without costing me money. the car has some interior issues in the form of non working vanity lights , worn out sun roof button and bad RR window motor. also window seals need replacement.

Don't let all this completely dissuade you... take it with a grain of salt if you must. You really never know... a buyer may give you close to what you're asking. Try local CL and/or ebay to start and just be upfront & open with your description and photos. IMO, there is no gold standard.

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My Mercedes-Benz Homepage and W123 Owners Photo Gallery and W111/W112 Coupes & Convs Gallery
2005 Northeast GTG and 2005 Mid-Atlantic GTG and Summer '09 Central FL GTG on YouTube

There is a formula you can use for determining how many Mercedes diesels you NEED to collect:

(How long do you expect to drive) / 20 = Number of MB diesels in inventory

Note, this is how many you NEED, not how many you might want.



Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

I am 33 and roughly expect to drive for 40 more years... so I only need 2 MB's.. I already have 3.

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08 R320 CDI current

Past
95 E420
87 300D Turbo 5spd
90 300TE
83 300SD
85 300TD
92 400E
85 190D

I guess I have enough, huh?

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

Well, that's how many you NEED. Each MB will last on average 20 years.

Anything over that number is just for fun, like a hobby.......

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

......as described.

clean it, clean it, clean it-- polish and make it look at good as you can. That will help with the impulse, emotional type buyer. Suddenly the little things become very fixable to the buyer.

That wouldn't work on me.... I'd say "yep, looks clean" then I'd be inspecting under the hood.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)