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  #1  
Old 10-22-2008, 01:24 PM
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How to find a decent diesel Mercedes.

It's been awhile since I have posted but I follow the boards every now and then. I have to say the enthusiasm of this forum is amazing. I really have caught the fever of a Mercedes diesel. My parents purchased a 83 240D new and also a 85 300SD new. Both of them were passed down to my grandparents who stopped driving them in favor of a 98 S500 (not currently being driven either). I sold the 300 to a man in Chicago about 3 years ago and donated the 240D to purple heart ( Big mistake, it had leather interior which I now know is very rare for the 240Ds). Anyways 3 years later I have now caught the fever and would like to purchase one for every day around town driving. I live and work right outside of downtown Houston so a 300D would be perfect for the city ( not much freeway driving). My current daily driver is a 06 Jaguar S-Type R . My question is this.
How do I find a decent car for sale that is actually worth the asking price? I have been searching around for almost a year (craigslist;autorader) ect. and have not had any luck finding one. They either need to much work and are neglected or the owners want a fortune for them. I see people getting them for $500 - $1000 and wonder why I cant find a deal like that. However I am willing to pay a fair price for a decent car. Any thoughts/ideas?

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  #2  
Old 10-22-2008, 01:31 PM
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"Before you meet the handsome prince you have to kiss a lot of frogs."

My '85 300D is for sale but I am one of those people who "want a fortune" (although I think $8450 for a near-perfect car is fair). Keep looking, you are obviously smart enough to not buy the first thing that comes along.

Jeremy
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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #3  
Old 10-22-2008, 01:33 PM
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The DFW area isn't that far away.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/888055403.html

I will be selling the Squash soon, but I will be one of those that wants a good amount for him. Too good to just give away.....

edit
**Geez Louise, I'm only going to want a bit less than half of ol' Jeremy. I feel better now.....**
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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
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  #4  
Old 10-22-2008, 01:59 PM
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Wink

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeremy5848 View Post
My '85 300D is for sale but I am one of those people who "want a fortune" (although I think $8450 for a near-perfect car is fair). Keep looking, you are obviously smart enough to not buy the first thing that comes along.

Jeremy

At 231K it's barely broken in. A 50mpg car like that is worth atleast 8450
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  #5  
Old 10-22-2008, 03:43 PM
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Keep in mind he lives in California... There are plenty of people wanting to go "green", ignorant of the actual value of these cars, and pay insane amounts of money.

Heck, I could drive Norm to California and probably sell it for $8.5k. Perhaps more for Ol' Turbo.

What do you consider a fair price, if I may ask?
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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
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1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
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  #6  
Old 10-22-2008, 04:01 PM
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I think he lives in Houston.

Good prices down there, not a lot of rust.
Do you know about crazedlist.org?
Good way to search multiple craigslist areas at once.
Very hard to find a cheap coupe or wagon, regardless.
The guys on here who have are either a) lucky, or b) willing to take on a serious project. I bought my 300D in California, and I've spent more on repairs and parts than I bought the car for. An expensive, well maintained diesel is much more economical than a cheapie in almost every case.
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  #7  
Old 10-22-2008, 04:20 PM
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Mine was 3500$, an 84' with 155k miles, beautifull orig paint and no problems.
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  #8  
Old 10-22-2008, 04:28 PM
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You can't find one in Texas with a year looking? I find two remarkably excellent, cheap ones every year down here. I find mid-grade, mid-priced MBs weekly. You're either too picky or not looking hard enough. Put Craigslist Houston, Dallas, and Austin on your quick links and click it twice a day - you'll find one easily.
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  #9  
Old 10-22-2008, 04:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UriahT View Post
I think he lives in Houston.
.
I was refering to Jeremy and his asking price.
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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!
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  #10  
Old 10-22-2008, 04:31 PM
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unfortunately you have to look and keep your ear to the ground for a long time in my experience.

i had 'the fever' for my '82, which was my first automotive project. I got a rust free Texas car for 2k, but was too inexperienced to really identify the other things wrong with it. I just went for it, Im glad I did, but it took a lot of effort, time and money to get it where it is now. just do a search for my username and you'll see the long long list of stuff I did :-) it turned out to a good move, i have not seen another rust free reasonably priced car since on CL.

i had searched for a year on a CL for a winter car, and I found it when I went to a barrel factory in my 82 to pick up a steel drum. the owner said 'do you want another?' and had two just sitting out back. that's how i got the 83 and 85 for 2500 combined, a great deal considering they are well kept and only slightly rusty.

sat least you dont have rust to contend with like we do up here, that knocks out a lot of well maintained cars. makes getting a used engine easier though :-)

dd
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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car
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  #11  
Old 10-22-2008, 04:39 PM
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Yup, Ol' Turbo was an emotional impulse purchase after getting impatient trying to find the right one. It took alot of cash to bring it back up to snuff, and now have 6k+ invested in her as of now.

Norm was just pure luck. The guy was way out in the middle of nowhere, very eager to sell, and the wagon was a gem that only needed light refreshing. POS is right; Texas has a plethora of reasonably priced Diesels; are you really looking that hard?
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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!
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  #12  
Old 10-22-2008, 05:21 PM
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I really am looking. I look at craigslist Houston/Dallas/Austin usually once every few days to try and find one.
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  #13  
Old 10-22-2008, 05:29 PM
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What about Autotrader.com, Cars.com, and perhaps even Ebay if you can look at it yourself?
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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!
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  #14  
Old 10-22-2008, 06:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TylerH860 View Post
Yup, Ol' Turbo was an emotional impulse purchase after getting impatient trying to find the right one. It took alot of cash to bring it back up to snuff, and now have 6k+ invested in her as of now. . .
This is not unusual – most 20+ year old cars with 150,000+ miles and multiple owners have issues of some kind whether the seller knows and discloses them or not. Most cars have something that has broken but the owner chooses to ignore it and the new owner gets to fix it. Each of us, while shopping, has to decide (a) how much time/money to spend on inspections and (b) how much time/money to spend on repairs after purchase. You can save a lot by buying a car with a few dents, so-so upholstery, and a non-working sunroof. You can also get lucky and find the near-perfect car that grandma has had in the garage for ten years after grandpa died. I paid more for my '85 in the first place ($5900) because I didn't want to go on looking. Had I been lucky or patient, I might have found something similar for half that, even two years ago here in northern California.

My '85 had been well cared for by its former owners and I got most of the service paperwork history with the car, which does not always happen. Even so, there were things that had not been addressed (shocks and some other suspension items) and a lot of little interior details that are easy to ignore and that most buyers don't know enough to ask about. All of these I fixed with the exception of the cracked dash, for which I am still searching (Blue would be great, Black would work).

In the meantime, the economy has not helped the market and the rise in the price of fuel in general and diesel in particular has softened the market for old Mercedes diesels. This is always the problem when you buy at the top of the market, which I did, alas, two years ago. I may not get even close to my asking price but I can afford to wait.

Jeremy
__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #15  
Old 10-22-2008, 06:23 PM
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what-about-DaveM's-son's-http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=235529

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