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#1
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Should I buy this 300SD or run away?
I just checked out a 1983 300SD with 210,000 miles on it today. I'd love your opinion as to whether it's worth buying or passing up. I'm 50/50 on it so let me ask you folks who know the car much better than I do. I'm looking at the car as my first look into the world of diesel. No intention of restoring it to like new condition or anything like that. I just want it to be solid reliable transportation. It actually doesn't look that bad to begin with.
It's at a new car dealer and was taken in on trade. Got the price down to $1750 due to rust on the quarter panels and some on the driver side rear fender. AC does not blow cold and back window won't stay up, the power to it is out. The good: 4 brand new tires, brand new Interstate battery, definitely straight body, every seam lines up flawlessly. Alpine stereo with remote, seems like a higher end model, sunroof works, not one single rip in the leather seats front or rear. The engine seems strong, I drove it for an hour on the highway and when I floored it, say from 45 up to 80, it sorta felt like a runaway freight train. Very powerful feeling. The bad: The dashboard is cracked / split in about 3 places which looks bad. One piece of wood on the driver's side is hanging off and looks shot. The transmission holds 1st gear too long before engaging 2nd. Otherwise seems to shift OK. The paint on the roof is burnt out and faded. Some of the edge spots on the car have faded paint too. Though about 80% of the car's paint looks like it could be restored nicely with a solid waxing. The doors all have that worn out clicking sound, they close level and perfect though. The inside is on the dingy side of the spectrum. I can smell diesel fumes while driving it. I took it to an independent Mercedes shop and they looked it over for about an hour, including test driving it and putting it up on the lift. No compression test though, they didn't have the time for it today and the main guy there told me they'd get a pretty clear idea of what issues the car had. Here's what they came up with: They thought the transmission's long shift from 1st to 2nd could possibly be remedied by adjustment. When I asked them what the prognosis was they told me that the amazing thing was the trans had been rebuilt so recently that the fluid was perfect and the Torque converter looked new. The emergency break doesn't work. They found the valves need adjustment and the valve gasket is leaking. It will eventually need front suspension parts, not right away though, which include L/R tie rods, lower ball joints and idler arm bushings. Should I run like hell...and if so, which way? Thanks Walt |
#2
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Actually sounds like a pretty good deal if it is presentable...get the MB tech to do a compression check and see what is hiding inside the motor...
How are all of the power goodies? (seats, etc) those get spendy quick
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Nick ***** 2002 Sprinter 2500 140" High Roof : |
#3
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the rear window is a pain to fix, but it's not expensive if there are parts yards nearby.
not staying up wouldn't be a power/motor issue, but a regulator issue... have fun there. paint is no biggie. rust is. if the rust is only in the upper area's it's not too bad, but in the frame, sidepanels or window areas are annoying to the nth degree. 1750 is not a bad price, but I've found better examples for much less. my latest is a 175K all maintenance records, perfect interior/exterior, minor tranny problem... $350.00 the deals are out there, peruse craigslist, and local papers. I'd tell the dealer you'll go 1000, and not a penny more. and walk away with the dealer having your phone number. have cash in your pocket and see how fast the dealer takes it. he's got nothing in the car. I guarantee he spent 0.0 on the car. 1k is total profit for him, and the car has plenty of issues. are you sure the seats are leather? most leather that old has cracks and tears in it. the vinyl (MB Tex) seats hold up very well, and look very much like leather, but they do not have the large horizontal areas up front just the verticle/inline with the body lines on the seat.
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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! |
#4
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Sounds good to me too.
A K1 spring kit (~$10) might take care of the transmission. Are you sure it's leather? Leather upholstery has a defined bolster at the leading edge of the seats. MB Tex (vinyl) has pleats that run all the way to the leading edge. Difficult to tell the difference otherwise. MB Tex is much tougher than leather and IMO is a plus at 200K miles. I'll bet the window can be repaired with a $15 part. The Diesel fumes could mean the injector return lines are leaking. $10-15 for a meter of braided fuel hose from an MB dealer will take care of that. I'd have asked the tech who checked the car. The bigger concern is that you can smell the fumes inside the car. That could mean rust has eaten through the firewall, particularly under the battery. There are a couple of surrogates for a proper compression test. Cap the valve cover vent and see how long it takes for blow-by to stop the engine. The archives will tell you how long it should take on a healthy engine but I remember something like 15 seconds. Someone mentioned a tea kettle test - set the oil filler cap loosely over the oil filler hole on a smoothly idling engine and see how much blow-by makes it dance around. I don't know how to judge the results but tea kettle can't have too many hits in a search I'm more pragmatic. I disconnect the glow plug relay and see if a cold engine will start. If it will, it should have no problem starting with the glow system working. If it's already 40*F or colder where you are, this might not be a fair test. AC can be expensive to fix specially if it's been a while since it last worked. Avoid an R134a conversion if you want maximum cooling performance. Sixto 87 300D |
#5
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It all depends..........are you going to DIY? If so, then most of the problems are fairly straight forward to fix. The A/C is probably the biggest question mark.
If you are going to take it to a local shop for the repairs, I would hesitate even more. It sounds like a great candidate for DIY, especially at that price.
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Sam 84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle ) |
#6
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Where are you located, that makes a big diffrence in price. Here in the Pacific NW that would be a good buy. How bad is the rust? Check under the trunk liner in each of the "pockets" just behind the rear wheels, and the bottoms of the doors.
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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver 1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver 1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine |
#7
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That sounds very possible. The fumes were really strong. I completely forgot to tell the mechanic to check that. Maybe I should run from this.
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#8
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If it runs and drives well it will probably provide some excellent transportation if you can live with some flaws while you work your way through the things that need work.
A compression test is always nice but if it runs really well it probably has good compression. Good luck.
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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC] ..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis. |
#9
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It sounds good to me. I'd try for $1500, but I think you alluded that it was already higher and you got him down to $1750. He may not go further, but I think $1750 is still good anyway.
The transmission can be fixed with a $10 K1 spring kit. The window is probably a $5 plastic part. I've replaced both on a couple of my cars.
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Michael LaFleur '05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles '86 300SDL - 360,000 miles '85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold) '89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold) '85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold) '98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold) '75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold) '83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-( '61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes 2004 Papillon (Oliver) 2005 Tzitzu (Griffon) 2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba) |
#10
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Well that is a cheap fix if I ever heard of one. That part is responsible for the delayed 1 to 2 upshift?
Do you think the diesel fumes leaking into the interior are caused by rust that ate through the firewall? That sounds like an expensive repair, if it were the case. |
#11
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The shifting fix could be as simple as a few twists to the Bowden cable.
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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver 1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver 1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine |
#12
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This sounds like a decent car. I just did the front suspension work (upper control arms, lower ball joints, front bearings, center link, right side tie rod end, and guide rod ends) It cost around $700.00
I also did 4 new shocks and tires which cost around $500... Just remember to budget for these jobs and you will be OK. Valve adjustments should cost under $150 or you can do it yourself. Gaskets are cheap for this car I think the valve cover gasket is less than $25.00 Oil filters, fuel filters are pretty cheap too. I use Synthetic oil with a 5000 mile change interval. I change the filter every 2500 miles. Join MBCA and go to your local chapter meetings. You will learn a lot! Good Luck!
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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy" Current Monika '74 450 SL BrownHilda '79 280SL FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee Krystal 2004 Volvo S60 Gone '74 Jeep CJ5 '97 Jeep ZJ Laredo Rudolf ‘86 300SDL Bruno '81 300SD Fritzi '84 BMW '92 Subaru '96 Impala SS '71 Buick GS conv '67 GTO conv '63 Corvair conv '57 Nomad |
#13
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Not sure that the "tea kettle" test will tell you all that much about how many miles the motor has left in it. I had a 240D with 370K on it when I got it, about 390K on it when I had to junk it. The blow by was so bad the oil cap would just blow right off the motor and bounce off the underside of the hood when I tried that. Still started perfectly, ran great at 70mph on the highway and got me average of 30mpg though. So a compression test would be a better bet than the kettle test in my opinion. Where are you located? I suspect your biggest headache, assuming rust is not to bad and the engine's ok will be the climate control. Other's can be more specific about that than I can.
- Peter.
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2021 Chevrolet Spark Formerly... 2000 GMC Sonoma 1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021 2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels 1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles. 1984 123 200 1979 116 280S 1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille 1971 108 280S |
#14
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Quote:
I thought the dealer would have called me back, and knocked another $200 off, but nothing, I guess he really feels it's worth the $1750. I think I'll give it till Monday and make a decision. Thanks for the input. |
#15
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Quote:
Do any of you think I'm taking too big a risk if I buy the car without getting the compression checked? Since I already had the Indy check it over pretty good, I'm not really inclined to hand someone else another $150. I guess what I'm really asking is do you think if the compression was bad, it would have been somewhat obvious to the mechanic that checked it out, at least in some sort of reduced performance way or not really? |
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