Shopping for a Mercedes
Hi,
New to the forum. I'm a bit of a car nut and weekend mechanic. Mostly on antique Jeeps and GM vehicles, all gassers. Started a new hobby of making Biodiesel about 3 months ago. Purchased a 97 Suburban diesel. Now have my Suburban and my house running on BD. Time to add something with better mileage that the wife might actually want to drive. Options in the diesel category seem to be limited to VW and MB, and I lean toward MB. I see an '87 300SD automatic advertised locally and it looks attractive, and seller is asking $3000. I'm looking to this forum for guidance on what to look for as I investigate this vehicle. Are there big-ticket items (like IP, for instance) that are prone to fail on 300's of this era? Any quick tips on what to pay attention to when I inspect it? It has 260k miles. Thanks for the help. Mark in MA |
Honestly, the best thing for you to do may be to pay for a pre-purchase inspection. Do you know of any independent benz shops in your area? Unless you are pretty familiar with these cars, I would get the inspection and use whatever they find for bargaining. Expect to pay around $1-200 for an inspection. $3000 sounds reasonable if the car's in good condition.
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Either it's a "300D" which is the W124 body or it's the "300SDL" which is the significantly larger W126 body. They are completely different vehicles and perform totally different tasks. |
Sorry...It's a 300SDL. I guess I'm not totally clear on my MB nomenclature yet. Are you saying this is a totally different platform than a 300D?
Thanks Mark in MA |
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The 300D was produced in the W123 chassis up to 1985. The W124 started in 1986. |
87 300D is a smaller (124) vehicle. The 87 300 SDL is the larger 126 and has some very specific peculiarities to it.
the 300D is pretty stable. Can be very full of options or not. The SDL will have all the bells and whistles, but the motor is known as the "Rod Bender". If it's already been taken care of, you probably have no concerns, but the important part would be to get the following: 1. Maintenance Documentation back to day 1. 2. A prepurchase inspection by someone familiar with the vehicles... (maybe a member here that's near you and would like to help?) The SDL is a really nice car, however it can be an expensive toy if you don't have experience working on it. |
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I agree. |
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I don't think it was mentioned - the 87 300D and SDL have the same engine. Only the throttle linkage and oil filter cover are different. Sixto 93 300SD |
not that it is a big thing, but i found my sdl just fine around town. true a smaller benz would be better but it was not bad.
tom w |
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Find yourself either a shop that deals a lot with MBs or a dealership. There might be odd quirks that the indy might not know about if they don't work on them all the time. IMO, most indys work on anything that rolls or is pushed in. That makes them a "Jack of All Trades" and a master of none. Find the dealership that is there and get to know mechanics there.
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A comment on the latter: At the dealership where my brother is employed, there are about five techs that have any knowledge of vehicles that are out of warranty (older than five years). There is nobody who has any knowledge of vehicles manufactured in the '80s. The risk of the dealership performing incorrect repairs on an '80s vehicle is very high. |
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Yes,
House is running on BD. My heat and hot water are both from oil-fired furnace. Set up a 55 gal drum of BD beside my oil tank and valved it to run either. I went to look at the 87, and it turned out to be a 300D, not SDL. Car was beat on, and owned by college girl. Leaks oil, she adds it every 200 miles. Car won't start in park, you must put in neutral to start. Pass front seat motor and seatback were broken. Car wouldn't shut off. She usually floors it and then it will die with the key off, but it didn't when, so she hit a lever under the hood labelled "stop" and that killed it. Amateur bodywork to boot. Trust me, I didn't even entertain notions of purchasing this one. BTW, no glow plugs for an 87? There was no wait light and she said you don't have to wait to start it. Thanks for the help. Mark in MA |
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Scott |
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