Good day to all,

Don't tell my wife that I'm even looking at another 123 chassis, but there is a 240D manual tranny car in my town for sale and the body looks clean enough to think there may be no rust. I saw 110 k miles on the odo and the driver's seat nauga's are cracked and dirty, otherwise the interior looks pretty good.

Here's the question: If the car is rust free and otherwise checks out, is is worth the $2900 asking price? I'm thinking it's closer to $1500 but I don't want to waste my time or their time talking if either of us is that far out of line.

What does the list think???

someguyfromMaryland

if you know these cars, you know the odometers break. did it pass md inspection? are there service records available? by all means, have someone qualified inspect it for rust, mechanics, etc. when replacing rear axles 'cuz of rotten boots means close to a grand, even 1500 might be high. good luck, chuck.

I think $2900 is steep- especially for a manual shift model. Also- like Porkface said- the odometers on these cars have been known to become inoperable. Also- check the floor and trunk pans for RUST- especially if the car is from the north. I have seen some of these cars advertised on E-bay from up north and while the bodies appear to be 100% rust free, sometimes the floors and trunks can be rusted out. My old 74 240D was an original southern car, and appeared to be 100% rust free, but it had sat on the ground, on four flats for many years. The moisture had rusted out two of the floor and trunk pans. I have heard that floor rust is very common on the W123 series. Good luck.

__________________
2004 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4wd
1991 Lincoln Town Car Executive
1991 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1988 Mercedes 300SEL
1972 Chevrolet Caprice Kingswood Estate 9-passenger wagon
1973 Pontiac Grand Ville
(Prior MB's: 1974 240D, 1985 380SE, 1984 190D, 1993 400SEL)

'Nuff said, I've gome to my senses. I also remember how the 123 a/c is like two gerbils blowing on a snowcone in August. (stolen from european car, not original)

Thanks for the help.