Thanks for all the info. I still haven't heard from the guy. What i found attractive about this model is it's simplicity. My teenage son is really interested in diesel classics and it seemed that this would be a good place to start. I've looked at several 300SD's and what I'm seeing is either cars that are good mechanically but have lots of physical issues or cars that smoke and leak and look really nice. There seems to be SO much in the way of bells and whistles that can go wrong on an SD that it may be an overwhelming project. Is the 300D a simpler car? I'm not seeing a lot of them compared to SD's. I don't know that the kid and I will become Merc hobbyists, I'm a rancher, not a mechanic and he needs the car to be a daily driver too. I'm also noticing that prices seem really high on everything. Are the WVO guys driving up asking prices? I'm going up to Flag tomorrow to look at a 300SD that has "light rust at the jack points" and paint issues on the hood but sounds like it's mechanically well taken care of. Valve adjustment, new filters, glow plugs and updated gloplug controller or whatever you call it, no leaks, etc. Asking price is 1800, the lowest price I've seen so far.