1983 Mercedes 240D in Good Condition in Orlando! Buy it! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jkoebel · #1 12-09-2008, 05:26 PM

This is the car that I've been working on selling on here for a while. It's recently gotten a 'stay of execution' so to speak, I can keep storing it until it sells -- but I desperately need the cash at this point.

I have to sell my car! It's a 1983 Mercedes 240D. It has 231,000 miles on the clock and it's still going strong. It's been a lot of fun but it needs to go to a good home now, I bought a Honda Odyssey because I needed the extra cargo capacity and flexibility for my hobbies.

I've done about $4k of the deferred maintenance and repairs that had built up over time. Replaced the radiator, thermostat, coolant temp sender, glow plugs, glow plug relay, engine mounts, transmission mount, A/C relays, tie rods, CV boots, valve cover gasket (with valve adjustment), exhaust manifold gasket, oil separator and associated tubing, vacuum 3/2 switch on the valve cover, transmission modulator, master vacuum hose, starter, flex discs, driveshaft center support, and stereo.

Working air conditioner! Blows cool at idle and cold while moving, even in the summer in Central Florida. There's some left-over wiring from the time between when I discovered the A/C relays were bad and when I replaced them which can be used to manually override the climate controls and engage the A/C compressor, which you can re-wire to control something else you'd like to be able to turn on/off with a switch located near the hood release. You'll also receive an original copy of the W123 A/C FSM, which I used in the diagnosis and repair of the A/C system back to operational capacity. The system holds pressure and does not leak, and has been retrofitted (by the previous owner) to R-134A. I will even include a (cheap) A/C manifold with purchase.

The vacuum for the transmission is a little bit 'off', messed with the vacuum hose routing in the engine bay and never did get it back to correct. It shifts very early most of the time (but does just fine if you manually move the gear selector.)

I have near-complete service records going all the way back to when the car was new! The service records book is original, but it looks like somewhere along the line it went through a war zone, since it's missing pieces of pages and it's crinkled up and pretty dirty. You'll also receive the cruise control actuator, a spare probably-bad cruise control amplifier, a very large bag of inline fuel filters, and a brand new-in-box Duralast water pump for the car which it doesn't need right now, but you can never have too many spare parts. You can even have my Mityvac Topsider for oil changes if you want it! I used it for exactly one oil change, before deciding that the "regular" way wasn't that much harder anyway.

Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jkoebel/CarPhotos# Most Recent
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83272129@N00/sets/72157607975452601/ ~5 months old

Price dropped to $1500 OBO, I'm taking a HUGE loss on this thing but I really, really need to get rid of it so I can pay for a cross-country move.

Joe Koebel
jkoebel@gmail.com
407-314-5228

#2 12-10-2008, 10:03 AM

Nice looking car and great amount of photos, wish everyone would take that many, good luck with the sale

jkoebel · #3 12-11-2008, 11:12 AM

Thanks! I tried to document all of the "problem areas" on these cars, so potential buyers will see there's nothing being hidden in creative camera angles.

I'm going to take even more photos in the next few days, since I've cleaned the interior a bit more and taken the roof racks off.

jkoebel · #4 12-13-2008, 02:32 PM

http://picasaweb.google.com/jkoebel/CarPhotos#

Many many many more photographs here.

Will post a link to a couple videos of it running/driving also.

jkoebel · #5 12-14-2008, 03:53 PM

Video of it starting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbMuqUrwsLU

jkoebel · #6 12-23-2008, 08:22 PM

Still here! Surely someone wants it.

I can take still more photographs of any requested areas tomorrow or Christmas Day if anyone wants (or videos, if there's something to video.)

The car will come with a full tank of diesel, and I'm happy to pick any buyer up at the airport (Orlando International or Sanford International), the Winter Park Amtrak station, or the Greyhound station -- although not in the car itself, because it doesn't have a tag.

oiler · #7 12-23-2008, 10:58 PM

WOW....

really nice car,too bad you werent selling it 4 months ago! woulda flown down & drove it back home!... BTW...Great pics too!!!Good luck with the sale.....
BTW..is there any rot or rust anywhere?? windows operate?I'm thinking about this now...

JimmyL · #8 12-24-2008, 12:53 AM

Wow, that is about as much value for the $$$ as you're gonna find!! And the color combo is awesome!!
Somebody in the market for a 240D should really give this one serious thought!
Read back through what the seller has done. There are many costly items that do not have to be worried about.
Nice!

**btw, I don't know the seller and don't remember ever speaking with him, it just appears from his ad, his pics and the records that it is quite the deal.**

TheDon · #9 12-24-2008, 01:06 AM

wish I had $2k .. sadness

jkoebel · #10 12-24-2008, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oiler

WOW....

really nice car,too bad you werent selling it 4 months ago! woulda flown down & drove it back home!... BTW...Great pics too!!!Good luck with the sale.....
BTW..is there any rot or rust anywhere?? windows operate?I'm thinking about this now...

One tiny area of surface rust near a wheel well, and a little bit on the pass. floorboards in the back that's resulted in a small perforation, unfortunately. It's mostly surface rust on the floorboards also, but there's a fist-sized weak spot. On the plus side, now the water drains instantly if any does get back there.

The bits of rust are documented in the pictures.

As far as the windows, all the motors work. Front-Right motor is currently disconnected because the switch contacts are dirty and it only operates in the "down" direction. Rear-left motor turns when you press the button but the window doesn't move anywhere. Pretty simple fixes most likely. The power sunroof is functional.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyL

Wow, that is about as much value for the $$$ as you're gonna find!! And the color combo is awesome!!
Somebody in the market for a 240D should really give this one serious thought!
Read back through what the seller has done. There are many costly items that do not have to be worried about.
Nice!

**btw, I don't know the seller and don't remember ever speaking with him, it just appears from his ad, his pics and the records that it is quite the deal.**

Thanks! I've taken good care of the car, I have all the maintenance/service records from my ownership, and I have the original service records book that leaves off just a little bit before I became the owner. And yes, it has been pretty costly.

I'll be able to do further documentation tomorrow if anyone cares (won't be up there until after dark today, but tomorrow morning) for additional photos/video.

MBeige · #11 12-25-2008, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDon

wish I had $2k .. sadness

x2...

jkoebel · #12 12-28-2008, 08:14 PM

Still available!

I'm going to be re-attaching the cruise control actuator from the trunk. It doesn't actually work, but for purists....

strelnik · #13 12-28-2008, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkoebel

Still here! Surely someone wants it.

I can take still more photographs of any requested areas tomorrow or Christmas Day if anyone wants (or videos, if there's something to video.)

The car will come with a full tank of diesel, and I'm happy to pick any buyer up at the airport (Orlando International or Sanford International), the Winter Park Amtrak station, or the Greyhound station -- although not in the car itself, because it doesn't have a tag.

Joe,
I know you can't do anything about this but my only concern would be the AT. Each driver of a 123 that I know (including me) ended up getting an AT rebuild (worn pump) around 220,000.

That's why I'm ultimately looking for a 240D MT. Better mileag and easier to change a clutch than do a rebuild or have one done.

I'm buying a spare 240 D tomorrow very cheap because the body is in tatters (but the engine is low miles and the tranny was rebuilt 1,000 miles ago by a MB pro).

This is the bad part of the reality we face.

jkoebel · #14 12-29-2008, 01:03 AM

Interesting, I haven't heard about that so much. Then again, though, the transmission has always worked well (until I messed with the vacuum, as mentioned--now it shifts early) so I've never paid that much attention to transmission-related threads on here.

Even if it needed $2500 of transmission work, you'd have just reached the total price I paid for it at the dealership -- and I've done a lot of other stuff to it than just buy it and drive it around!

Hard to argue with a bargain like that.

spoilsport · #15 01-02-2009, 12:08 PM

If the transmission goes south is it possilbe to swap in a 4M ?