Test rode a very well maintained 78 300d whose wheel wells are rusted beyond bondo. Thought about buying (for around $750) and getting Maaco whose ballpark estimate for rust removal and paint job was $1000-2000. Anyone think its worth it?

By your description the wheelwells are full of gaping holes? Complete rust-through? If the wheelwells look like this the rest of the underside is likely way far gone too. Not worth anything at all unless you just want the motor and interior. There are too many solid MB's out there to bother fixing a total bucket. RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

MAACO was quoting cosmetic repair only.
Proper structure repair + cosmetic would run $14,000.00 USD.

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1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

Here's an interesting link from the detailing forum about rust.

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/rust/rust.html

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1981 240d
Newport,RI

zharzhay,

Take the cost of the car and the repair cost and invest it in a car that is not rusted.

It will cost you a lot less in the long run. Rust is like an iceberg: you only see 1/7 of what is there.

"There is nothing more expensive than a low cost MB" has been said here many times by people who found out the expensive way.

P E H

Buy it for a parts car, if the car is well maintained, there should be more than $750 in parts...