I recently purchased a 1984 300sd for $3200. It had 149K miles. The car look pretty good. The paint is not fading, but there are some light scratches on the trunk lid. I didn't noticed the transmission flaring on the test drive. If I would have noticed it, I would have not bought the car. I wouldn't have know this was a common occurence. Thanks to the great people on this forum, I have made some adjustments to fix it, but I still have some work to do until it's perfect.
I am working (actually toying) on the car every weekend I have available fixing little things. It's great to be able to work on a car again. It's not like the 21st century cars I have to take to the shop for a good reaming
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It was probably a fair deal for a California car. It's tough to find one with everything working and looking good for this price.