looking at 1981 240d purchase

[dwcasey]

The indy shop that I get my C280 worked on has a Blue 1981 240d with 157k miles. Motor was just reuilt.

The shop guy told me that normally a rebuild will cost $2,750. Is this accurate??? What should have been done when someone says it was rebuilt? He said the cylinders have been re-bored(sp?). He said he would sell for about $3,000.

Paint is rough. Lots of oxidation and the driver side paint is crackled. Also looked like it would need some tires and the dash was cracked.

Everything else looked good. Seats, body, etc. Didn't see any rust.

I'm going back in a couple of weeks to have them fix a leak around the timing chain cover on my C280 and thought about driving the 240d.

This would be my daily driver. I drive about 60 miles/day mostly highway. What kind of mileage should I expect? I know the 240d is a slow runner, but that's not important. I have a couple of hills to and from work that would want to make sure it could climb, but if I could do 65-70mpg comfortably on the interstate, I would be happy.

I was thinking this might be a good car to cut my teeth on as far as learning how to do my own maint. How much life can I expect on a rebuilt motor?

I know a guy who got over 300k miles on his 240d with the original engine.

Does a rebuild "weaken" the engine in any way?

Thanks.