sorry I mean the 300sd around 1983 not the sdl
the engines in the sdl fail...

The W123 "looks like a Volvo"?!
Now you've done it. You've offended all the W123 people here.
A VOLVO?! For goodness sakes.

Anyway, welcome to the forum. This IS the best place for MB Diesel info and help.
Pick up the car. Fix the rust, repaint.
Replace the loop style glow plugs with the newer style and ENJOY!

Michael
Bel Air, MD ( Home of Kimmy Meisner)

Im sorry but the volvos look like boxes on wheels and are butt ugly. W115 does look nice but a bentley?? not through my eyes.

__________________
Current:
05 E320 CDI
07 GL320 CDI
08 Sprinter
05 Dodge Cummins
01 Dodge Cummins

Previous
2004 E55 AMG
2002 C32 AMG (#2)
1995 E300
1978 300D
1987 300D
2002 C32 AMG(blown motor :[
1981 300SD
1983 300SD
1987 300SDL
2002 Jetta TDI
1996 S420
1995 S500
1993 190E 2.6
1992 190E 2.3
1985 190E 2.3 5-Speed

Okay, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend! LOL!
Maybe the 123 doesn't look so much like a Volvo. Volvos are boxy and not as pretty.

As for the bad sellers, I just spent the better part of an hour reading all thier almost 1000 feedback. One negative related to a car and the BUYER didn't read very well and what he bought was a parts car not running. Every other feedback about cars is glowing. I'm pretty darn secure in my decision to buy this car from them.

As long as I have all y'all (that's the plural for y'all) to run to for help.

Thanks for everyone's advice!

Ginny in Denver

Did he get somebody to look at it and get it to run?

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

not yet.
It's going to be a great weekend in Montana and most everyone is out doing something for the week. Their reg diesel mechanic is at his cabin in Canada getting ti ready for sale, which is why they didn't get to it this weekend.
The owner (a couple who owns the dealership) is out of town also or HE would be able to get it done. SHE is the only one their right now with a few employees whose jobs are to detail the cars, not get them running.
They should have brought the car to the big lot as soon as it was sold, but they claim to have gotten in another 20 cars that they have been working on and getting ready for sale.
They thought the car would be fine and waited until the last minute to check on it.

What are the chances that the cold Montana temps just have the lines with too cold diesel? They are pretty close to the Canadian border, so cold is a factor.

We also may be able to get up there next weekend with some shcedule juggling. I told her to drive it a couple hundred miles in the next week to make sure the tranny is still smooth and strong.
I made it pretty clear, but in my nice Paula Abdul way, that if I made the trip with kids in tow and the car wasn't all it's cracked up to be that I would not be happy and things would not be pleasant. She got the picture. The DH will be home Monday and he'll also have another check on the car.

Ginny

I don't think cold diesel is the problem. The cold could be making it hard to start because of low compression, or it could be a plugged tank screen or fuel filters. When you get over there to look at the car make sure they don’t barley get it started and warm it up before you get there and drive away. Even an over the hill diesel will run when warm, but only one in good shape will start in the cold.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Sorry if I seemed a little harsh earlier. Really liked your approach telling them you will have kids in tow etc. Good move. Should start them thinking if they are not on the up and up. The flip side is if they are on up and up that car will really be checked out much better now. You win either way. I am not cynical by nature by the way. Incidently feedback can be manipulated as well. Some of the worst retailers on ebay have been able to scrub all their negative feedback. Not quite sure how this is accomplished as I am not very smart but neverthless it is so. There is one guy extensively disscused on this site his primary handle starts wih big I believe but do not know how safe from a liabilty issue it is to discuss him. (Could I be barred from ebay for discussing him?) Perhaps some other member smarter than me can post who I am talking about. He sells mercedes parts and there is a thread here about him. Had no negative feedback the last time I looked yet had apparently committed fraud by not even shipping or having the parts advertised many times. Then gets the people that tried to launch a complaint barred from ebay. Read and learn. The best response I ever heard a frequent buyer use on ebay car purchases is telling the vendor if things are not as stated on his item listing there are things far worst than negative feedback that can happen. He has reported that a lot of vendors then cancel his bid or contact him to stop bidding. As I stated earlier a call to the local police dept would let you know if you are dealing with reasonable people or not and still I hope it is a good car. Do not think the police would lie as Missoula, montana is still famous in my mind at least for the earlier period in time at least in old car circles. By the way will look forward to reading your posts in the future and welcome you myself. Being an older guy I take the same interest in seeing you do well on purchasing as if you were a son or daughter. Am old enough to have children 45 years old by the way. I have four daughters myself as well. Perhaps not senile yet but one never knows. Notice I have not tried to talk you out of buying this particular car but to just be cautious as the majority of people on this site have learnt. Some the hard way like myself, or others just more gifted or lucky have escaped the learning curve. If I am way out of line on what I think I welcome any other site member to correct me. Also fully reaIise that I do make misteaks. Kind of hope another member would offer simular cautions when buying a mercedes diesel on ebay to me with their knowledge if I indicated it was my first time buying also. The good cars are a delight to own. The junk stuff is just junk stuff.

I'm in Denver. If you haven't driven an NA 300d at this altitude, you need to be prepared for the fact that it will be a real dog. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy it. My wife drives our NA 77 300d daily, but if you go west on I-70 you'll be crawling up the hills. The turbo makes a huge difference at this altitude.
With the others, I'd be cautious with the seller. It doesn't take more than about 5 minutes to check the glow plugs and fuel flow, so the fact that they can't do that is a huge red flag for me, especially given how far you are travelling. If I had a buyer coming that far, I'd say, let me make sure it starts and runs well before you drive that far, unless I knew the buyer was bringing a trailer to tow it home.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

You havn't looked hard enough then. 3 out of the 4 jack points on my SD would crush up into the car if I tried to jack from them. W126's rust from the inside out, from 20ft away a rust bucket and look real nice.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200