Looked at a 1980 240d automatic tonight. It has 211000 miles,inside is in good shape,does has some rust under one door and rear fender. Paint is in average shape,was wondering what it is worth?

Check out the rust - it can be a deal killer on a unibody car! Take a sharp pick and start poking around the underneath - the undercoating can cover up a multitude of rust - a pick will go through the undercoating and through the rusty metal if it is bad. Take the rear seat bottom out and start looking around the rear subframe mounts. I naively bought a '76 230 about three years ago that had very little rust that I could see, I drove it off and on for a few months and one day after driving 30 miles at freeway speeds I was four feet from my parking spot when the rear subframe dropped and the car stopped right there. When I looked underneath a 1' x 2' area of the sheetmetal was gone but the factory undercoating was still there. It would have flipped the car and most likely killed me if this had happened at the 75mph I was going 10 minutes earlier! If the rust is confined to the area you speak (and I seriously doubt that it is confined there, rust never sleeps) and can be easily fixed the car is worth about $1,200 give or take a few hundred depending on how nice it looks. If the rust is past fixing, then its a running parts car and worth $400 or so.

Agreed, my 80 240 still runs but I watch it very closely, as I noted a few small rust spots on it here and there so I dug into it. After that I had found out it is in every welded seam under the body, in the suspension parts, in the area under the battery, in the trunk, in the.....I'll put it this way, when it gets retired for parts, the only body metal I can use on it is the hood and trunk lid. I can't complain, that car was free with a blown engine and I've had my use out of it, the engine I put in it will be reused. Recently I noted the undercoating is developing fresh looking cracks about 4" long in the area where the front subframe bonds to the floorpan, I believe this car's time is getting very limited.

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Chris
64 190D R.I.P.
80 240D W/617 engine -for sale
82 240D -for sale

I agree, if you buy a car with rust you are buying a parts car. You may be able to get away with driving it far a while, but it's going to be a parts car sooner or later, you will not be able to preserve it. Pay accordingly.

A 240D with rust and an auto tranny is not worth much as far as I am concerned.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

Perhaps I should add...
I got my 80 240 free from a friend. Rusty, blown engine (#1 rod). put a 617 in it and drove it about 3k miles so far $1200 roughly into it now, in parts that can be reused with the engine, odod reads 135K, was 133 before I fixed it and has paint pen from wrecker on back of odo "77 240D", so who knows on actual.
I got my 82 240 for $100, solid body, great interior, odo is broken (and PO says has been for a while), reads high mileage (over 300K), has dead transmission, has euro triangle, complete first aid kit, tool kit minus the lug bolt tool, all pamphlets, etc. in glove box, known history, fair paint, engine runs (PO said ran great daily 2 yrs ago when trans died) runs labored now (black crud in filters), brakes not working now from sitting. Most parts to make run will be swapped over from the 80.

My point being, if you put some flags out and have the patience to wait a bit, and the gumption to see the horizon/put a little love of labor into one, you can get some really good deals to come along.
The 190 fintail was free too, but that one's going to cost a bit to get going, it just looks neat though...

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Chris
64 190D R.I.P.
80 240D W/617 engine -for sale
82 240D -for sale