Buying an '85 (or earlier) 300D

Hello,

I'm not an MB owner but I've been on the lookout for '85 (or earlier) 300D. From looking through the postings here I've gathered info on some problems that seem fairly common to this model.

But if any of you would be willing to summarize for me what kinds of mechanical issues I should expect or at least be aware of, I'd be very grateful (some sort of pre-purchase checklist would be great). Also, what is the range I should I expect to pay for one? (E.g. there's one for sale nearby for $6,000 - an '85 with 202,000 miles, looks pretty clean.) What is the range of what you'd expect to pay for annual maintenance?

I apologize if this is not exactly the right place for this posting, but since you all are mechanically inclined, you're the kind of people I'd like to hear from.

Thank you very much.

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Jim Heetderks
Charlottesville, VA