newbie questions !!!!
 

Hi,
I'm looking for a little advice: 1980 300td. 3rd owner wants to sell to me for 4500.00. Bad tailgate shocks, A/C converted to new system but needs compressor. Cruise control not working. California car and (supposedly) in excellent condition: repaint for cosmetic reasons only; 10 disc CD changer; no sunroof. All other power accessories working. Rear suspension OK. All service records since new available.
4500 alright? What am I looking at for a compressor and what is commonly wrong with the cruise control?
Thanks very much,
-shawn

Take it from someone that is a diyer and knows. To get the a/c and the cc working you will burn through between $600 and $900. I purchased a '85 300D project car for $1500 and have spent the following on just the two items you mentioned.

a) New AC Delco compressor $200 - check this out for your model though because I doubt if yours is the AC Delco unit.

b) a/c pushbutton unit - check it out at partsshop.com - I believe between $200 and $300.

c) Cruise control module - rebuilt - I believe it was around $260.

d) Figure another $100 to the tech that does my a/c work when he evacuated and charged it a couple times. First time was to troubleshoot and second time was to get it to condition it is in now. Unfortunately, I am going to replace the expansion valve over the next few days and will have to go through the evacuate/vacuum/charge sequence one more time so figure another $50 or $60.

The list goes on for new parts but the car runs great and will cruise down the interstate between 75 and 80 mph all day long. Thanks to the excellent old Chassis/Body service manual (purchased off of Ebay), mercedesshop.com and some emails to friends on here I have done everything myself except press in the lower ball joints and vacuum/charge the a/c.

It is my understanding too that you can sink alot of $$ into the self leveling suspensions on the 300TD real fast.

$4500 seems a little too high unless it has good original paint and around 120k mileage; look and smell new inside. It is a non-turbo model. The AC can cost you a lot of $ if you are not a DIYer.

David