Hi. I am thinking about purchasing a 1985 300SD for $6,000. It has approximately 175,000 miles and is in mint condition. Do the 300SD's have decent air conditioners in them? I live in Florida. Thanks.

The a/c is not able to keep up with FL humidity and temps if it's been converted to R-134, which, unfortunately, most of them have.

If it still has the original R-12, it will do fine.

IF it has been converted to 134a and the condenser AND compressor have been replaced with 134a designed parts, then it would be OK,
I agree, 12 is best.
John

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I don't think that any OE or OEM condenser will allow proper function with 134. The fact that the condenser is "R134a" designated is meaningless. You need a much larger parallel flow condenser if you have any hope of success in 110 degree weather.

All the AC info is good, but for $6000 you should be getting TWO 300SD's........

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

It depends what is meant by "mint condition." $6000 isn't bad for a decent SD driver with everything working correctly and a very good body/interior. Actual "mint condition" would cost significantly more.

$6000 for an SD I would expect some very good documentation, and under 100k miles.

You are being ripped off. There are many other SD's out there for a much better price.

I couldn't say without seeing it.

I almost bought one this weekend for $750.

AND it only has 130k on it.

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-E300d '99 350k
-Suburban '93 220k
-TDI Jetta '03 350k
Sold
-F250 '96 7.3
-Dodge Ram 12V
-E320 '95 200k
-E320 Wagon 1994 155k
-300d Turbo '87 187k miles
-E320 1994 200k
-300d Turbo '84 245k (sold to Dan62)
-300d Turbo '84 180k
-300sd '80 300k
-7.3 Powerstroke Diesel 15P Van 500k+ miles
-190d '89 Non Turbo 2.5 5cyl 240k (my first MB)
Tom's Imports of Columbia MO Ruined the IP in changing leaky delivery valve O-Rings - Refused to stand behind his work. Mid-MO MB drivers-AVOID Tom's.

True. It may really be a gem.

Also depends on where you are and how plentiful Mercedes are....not many around here compared to the south....

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79 300SD - $50 out of pocket purchase
03 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD
2003 VW Jetta TDI

Here in Seattle you'd be lucky to get a car with that many miles in mint condition for $6,000, I'm not sure where you guys all live but it seems some of the "costal" areas equate to much higher diesel Mercedes prices....

All vehicles must be judged individually, yet that does seem to be a high price. I bought mine for $2100 184k, it's alright, nothing special.

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83 SD

84 CD

i paid mine last month 7200 mint cond 97000 miles and im happy after looking for many junks for 2-5 k good luck

I normally would not use the term "mint condition" to describe any driver. I paid more than $6K for my 300D (with about 160K miles), and it was in very nice cosmetic/mechanical condition (maybe equivalent to a 3-5 year old, well maintained car), but that is far from "mint." To me, "mint" means it's a $25K show-car that looks like it just left the showroom floor. There is a huge difference between a 8 or 9/10 car and a 10/10 car.

There are tons of "OK" cars available in the $3-$4 range, and there is nothing wrong with buying them as drivers, they will probably run for a long time as-is. However, you would still have to spend over $5K on most of them to get them in decent condition (a half decent paint job costs more than that). In the long run, if you want to end up with a nice driver, spending $6K on a good one is probably going to be much cheaper.