Saw a '79 240d 4 speed,very good condition.173k...ONE OWNER!
The girl who was driving it said it is her dad's.Overall conditon is good interior has normal wear.Body is fine.Garaged all it's life.Been painted twice to original color.Mercedes serviced.She said her best offer is $1000.00
and she'll take any offer over that.Should I go for it?
I need a reliable vehicle for this summer to commute on weekends to my house from school.580 miles round trip.I'd hate to break down on the Jersey turnpike on a Fri. night.Towing would be a nightmare.I have heard that these are the cheapest of all Benz's to up-keep.What can I expect for highway mileage.Now that Gas(ewww) is almost $2.00/gal.Any trouble areas I should look for? Help me 240D
owners.
P.S.Filled up my 300D today...346 miles took exactly 10 gal.
of the stinky stuff.And NO highway miles.What a wonderful machine. . My gas driving friends are envious.

Grab it!

__________________
2000 Ford 7.3 Powerstroke 4x4
2006 Mazda Tribute
1983 Black 300 D (donated to charity)
1993 Teal 300 D (160K) Sold
"I love the smell of burnt diesel fuel in the morning, it smells like ....VICTORY"

Semper Fidelis
USMC 1973-1976

That sounds like a very good deal. Both the manual and auto are 4 speed units, but I think you mean the manual. The manual is said to be more reliable, much cheaper to fix, give better fuel economy, and performance. The auto 240D is supposed to be very slow around town. I remember that when I was looking for my W123 I test drove a very nice auto 240D. It drove great, but the recent 5000+ dollar (Canadian) engine rebuild was partly responsible for that.
Tell us what you decide to do.

Isn't it funny how every used car has a "story" behind it. You know, a little old lady drove it only on Sundays to Church and it was downhill both ways.

The story means nothing. To me it is easy to "see" the outward condition, and how well the car drives. With these cars, once the things you can see look okay, you need to do your best to determine if it's sucking oil. Ask the owner if it uses any oil. Make sure you are watching their eyes very closely when you ask this question. People will lie to you. If the car is sucking oil badly, you are looking at a rebuild that will probably triple the cost of the car. If the car has indeed been properly and frequently serviced, then it is probably okay, but do everything you can to determine if it's using oil. If it's using more than a quart in a thousand miles, then realize that you will be paying $3,000 for the car, not $1,000 for the car.

Good luck,

I'd seriously consider it. yeah the price is
reasonable. If it was garaged all its life, I wonder why it had
to be repainted? Anyway ,adding oil
now and then is a way of life for my '79 300D.
Ideally I'd like to have a tight engine
but it does fine.
Nonetheless I'd get it checked out
fer sure. Any used car purchase ends up with an extra
$1K work fast. So at that point you are in the ball park for some
really nice 240D. Unless they are hard to come by in your area.
Good luck and keep us posted!

__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD