I'm selling a great condition 1991 300D on Craigslist (and on this forum). My thought has always been to give lots of details and lots of pictures....the more the better. However, my wife wonders if, at least in the case of Craigslist, it might be better to put up something more succinct, with the offer to provide a more detailed description upon request. I think she wonders if some people, when seeing a lengthy description, just sort of glaze over.

Thoughts?

Offers?

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Depends on the content. I just put my Centurion up for sale on CL with a lengthy, detailed description. Had calls that day and sold it in four.

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1974 450SL White/Navy Blue

1983 300SD White/Parchment, VDO Boost Guage, 215/60R15 Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Positions on 15X7 15 Hole Wheels, Straight Piped, 298K?

2004 Ford Excursion XLT 4X4, 5.4L V8, 285/65R16 BFG AT KO

I had great success with the detailed approach when I sold my 86 300SDL two years ago. This car is in better shape and is less expensive....so I'm hopeing to sell it the same way.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

People that sell on CL are so vague on the descriptions of what they have. show 4 pictures, 3 of the front and one of the rear, or are so far away can`t tell what it is.

The more detail and pictures get`s my attention.
Advertising sells.

The guy that lists, old MB diesel for sale, if interested, contact me for pictures. is a turn off.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I found my 300D on craigslist with something like the following description:

84 Mercedes 300D
Great car for a great price.
$1900


I only paid half that but still...

The guy who I bought it from said he had a lot of people call on the car.

The first line is critical.

I never read more than 8-10 lines of description + a list of new parts installed, unless it is a truly rare/esoteric item, unless I am ready to buy NOW.

If there are no pictures directly attached to the advertisement it will be ignored unless it is an extremely difficult/rare/esoteric item.

A Link to more high resolution pictures is nice.

X2

And I'd leave out the "driven by one careful member of the clergy" line too - even though we know it is true!

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Haha....never even occurred to me!

Augustine once said something to the effect that both the best and the worst men are in monasteries....so buying a Benz from a minister could be a really bad idea!

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Augustine was a very very smart chap. I'm interested in him. You don't by any chance know of some readable but still academically based (and ideally non evangelical - I hope that doesn't offend!) Augustine influenced material written by someone other than Josef Pieper do you? Poor old Joesf meant well I'm sure but he makes my head hurt... I think I'm just too stoopid to wade through it all and get any real meaning...

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I'm interested in mileage, rust/body damage and what doesn't work - not how "it gets 30mpg or is ready for veggie conversion".

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

I sold my daughter's 2001 Honda Accord on CL.

Opening line was "This 188,000 mile car has survived one wife, 2 daughters and 8 years of college. It is ready for the next challenge. As bad as it looks, it runs great, is fully maintained and has been in my family since new"

Got 2 grand for it the first day.

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"Life is tough...it's even tougher if you're stupid." John Wayne


Dave
Pawleys Island, SC

'79 300CD

If you choose to go short-form, personally in those instances I always hope to see some indication that it isn't a curbsider ad (the problem is that bad around here).

That would include: how long you've owned it, that you are an enthusiast, etc.

Of course if you write a long description that won't be an issue.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

On the other hand --going into too much detail tends to make it appear you are a "motivated"--DESPERATE seller, and the flakes will certainly feel its their market.

Not in my experience with 50+ cars sold on craigslist. Yes add details but be concise. No more than 3 paragraphs, or an outline bullet list style that's easy to follow. Minimum 4 pictures, but I always use my photobucket account and link them in so they're high quality.

Always end your ad with something like "Please no lowballers or tire kickers. Thanks". This still does not stop them, but cut the time wasters by more than half with me back before I was a dealer. Don't agree to less than what you're asking over email or phone if at all possible. Encourage them to come look at the car and make a reasonable offer. All they'll do if you agree to less over the phone/email is show up and want more off.

Lot's of scum and bs to deal with listing on craigslist, but usually you get results since there's just as many legitimate buyers. I didn't think myself as racist or a profiler before starting the business, but when you see the stereotype fulfilled 99% percent of the time its hard not to be.

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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!!!

My best success has been with pics linked to photobucket or other onlline storage service. They pop up and fill the screen unlike the pitiful CL pics. I have seen ads that were so badly worded and the pics so poor that I couldn't figure out what was being sold. Check the difference between owner ad and dealer ads the dealers always have more info in the subject line. Cheers Dan

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It's always something simple
91 300D 603.960 (from japan) 194K
92 Toyota Diesel Landcruiser HDJ81-t 116K
02 Golf TDI new head courtesy of PO
87 300D
97 BMW 525 TDS Wagon 5spd
bunch of Onan and other diesel generators