On the way to my mechanic in Concord, Ca.
I met up with a woman (and her 2 kids) who was selling her
1984 300D.
It had 126000 miles and was in very decent shape.
Kept up by a local independent, new axle shafts, clean in and out etc.
Blue with light tan interior.
Sunroof disconnected by previous (senior) original owner.
Transmission was shifting hard.
Anyway, I had planned on buying it ($3800 less deductions)
only if it was a significantly superior to my '79 300D.
Even though the trans was rough, I did not feel the turbo
was all that better than a non turbo. Performance wise.
My car was equally peppy.
Maybe because of the different rear end ratio?Or maybe because Peter Schmid transmissions replaced my trans four years ago
with his tweeked w123 trans. It does not shift hard and is smooth as silk.
I really appreciate my 300D more now after haven test driven a couple of 300D turbos.
I educated her on what she had, basically a nice low milage car,
and her asking price was at par with Edmunds book.Pointed out the new axles and told her that the trans could probably be fixed or greatly improved with a "vacuum" adjustment.Also pointed out her competitors with 233K milalge like car for same price.
I feared that a PPI would rake her with a claim that the trans needed replacement etc
She was a mom and admittedly not a car person.
I even lined up my mechanic for her who would take care of those several items for a mere $100 including an oil change.(Her mechanic had quoted $150 to just to reconnect the sunroof)
Well, she thanked me and used that info for the next person who came to see it an hour later.
She sold it at asking price after relating the info and the
referral to my mechanic.
she called back to thank me.
As a reward from above, my A/C unit came back to life after a
simple module was changed !!!
