Hi,

Looking at a 1978 300cd non-turbo with 217,000m on the clock. She has had a paint job several years back, and it looks ok, but certainly was not a $5-8k mercedes quality paint job. original everything else, and great condition overall. Second owner car. Motor sounds fine, and car is surprisingly quick. Owner wants $4000 for her. Ive heard anywhere from $2-4k for this car, but paint is not orig. How much do you guys think its worth?

Also, owner says he gets 18-20 mpg. This seems way off, as car should get 30mpg with that non turbo diesel. As I said, car runs quick, so doesnt seem like anything is wrong. What do you all think about that?

Thanks.

Bad fuel mileage is injector pump timing and probly needs a timing chain at that mileage, also possibly a couple of injectors. All total thats about $800 in work right off the bat - reducing the car's real value to $3,200 tops. Does it have service records?