Hey guys, new to the forum here, long time browser.

I'm an 18 year old guy whos been hunting down a nice vintage diesel on craigslist to make my first car. Spotted this beauty the other day and got excited.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/stn/cto/1624970110.html

Car looks to be in great condition, guy says no problems whatsoever...except he doesnt know the mileage. Hmmm. Kinda information youd want to have with you when youre selling a car. Calling him again in an hour or two to make sure he can give me a number before I come check out the car...Is this a red alert for possibly trying to tamper it? Were gonna take it to a nearby mechanic for a lookover if all goes well on first impressions before the buy. The deal just seems too good to be true...

Otherwise, any tips to watch out for and specific things to ask about a '76 would be appreciated!

John

It is not unusual to see these series with 300-500K miles and still running well.Unfortunately the same can not be said for the odometers.He may have gotten the car with a non functioning one and therefore has no way of knowing actual mileage.IIRC the older models only have a 5 digit odometer.If it has gone over 99999 then there is no way to know how many times it has turned over.
These are sturdy and kinda slow but were built very well.Easy for a DIY person to maintain.
Ask about service records if there are any.Proper maintenance is the key to longevity and a poorly maintained car can cost a bundle to bring back.

The speedometers on many of our old Mercedes are not very reliable. Most have quit recording mileage, been repaired, ect. The mileage only goes to 5 digits anyways, so a good question is, how many times has it been around. Unless you have paper on all the repair work done on it, you will never really ever know. But more important is the general condition of the vehicle. Number one, look for rust. Pull the carpets up and check for rust, many have rotted out floors. Check for rust in the rocker panels, usually pretty easy to see, check the trunk for rust. If you see any rust it is too much! If you can, see if you can or are able to start it cold as possible. Really takes an early morning inspection for that. How does it run, how much smoke, how is the steering, how are the brakes, how effective is the vacuum system for door locks and engine shut down and how is the glo plug system. Another good question is how long have they owned it and why are they selling it. If it starts and runs and stops, and it has no rust problem, I think the price is OK. It is not a turbo engine and a turbo can't be added to that engine.

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

If you want even more activity on your post, post it under Diesel. It really is more Diesel then antique.

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

The two posters above are absolutely right. Unless you have detailed service records where mileage was recorded frequently, the actual mileage is unknown. These odometers break well before the car is worn out. Some get repaired right away, many don't, and there's no reliable way to tell (aside from records) how many times a 5-digit odometer has rolled. Condition is way more important than mileage anyway.

You might ask a mod to move this to the Diesel Discussion, as that section gets a lot more traffic than this one.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

I love my 76 300D, I use it everyday. I have most all the service records going back to 76, it shows my odometer has only rolled over once, so mine has 183K on it now and counting.

I wouldn't worry about high mileage on these cars at all, the engines are bulletproof, if taken care of that is.

The most common issue with the W115 is rust, check under the carpet, and in the trunk.

Good luck, im sure you would enjoy a W115.

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1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon
1979 280CE 225,200 miles
1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles
1976 240D 190,000 miles
1979 300TD 220,000

GONE but not forgotten
1976 300D 195,300 miles
1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg

kinda late response but I drove an '81 300d a few weeks ago that had 1.2 MILLION miles on it. No joke. It shook like crazy but it drove on the street and freeway just fine.

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2000 SL500 - daily driver
1993 400E - project
1981 300D - sold
1982 300TD - sold
1979 450SL - sold
1977 450SL - sold