A "Should i Buy??" thread

[Phillytwotank]

I figured i'd toss it out for discussion considering that i have, up to now, no hands on experience with w124 diesels. Specifically, '92 w124 300D 2.5 turbo om602.

I went to look at it the other day at my local independent Mercedes mechanic/dealer.

I'm having a tough time weighing my options of spending on something new vs maybe putting a bit more money into my current vehicle. Deciding whether it will be better to take on a new project or stick it out with the old trusty. For who knows how much longer??

Current Vehicle: has been a labor of love coming to understand it and repair/improve/maintain it over the past 8 years
'78 300CD. aprox. 300k miles, Solid,Reliable,nice. Everything Works. Cruze, OD and Trip, fuel sender good, sunroof,rear windows dont work,Auto Climate Control,AC all modes,
New brakes,20k on nice Michelins,
bad rusted passenger door bottom but no other significant rust,new paint very nice new windshield and seal,
no oil leaks,engine and trans bone dry,no tranny problems,two new axles in back,all new rubber mounts,new flex disk,DS center support,front end partially rebuilt with new lower ball joints,track rods,
new paint, H4 headlights, custom LED running lights,ipod/aux/MP3/cd, four new speakers plus two more sound system,
interior 6/10,dash cracked,driver seat flat,few knicks in the headliner,custom fit floor mats over decent '78 style carpets with some minor/stable deterioration.wood trim mostly good but one little piece.
other outside rubber seals mostly deteriorated but still intact, slight leek at rear windscreen
25k on new monark nozzles by greazzer, hot compresion 350 + each, turbo Rad upgrade,vac pump diaphragm rebuilt. vac locks work. antenna replaced by aftermarket telescoping antenna

Potential New Vehicle: '92 w124 300D 2.5 turbo om602 225000 showing. I don't know about any records but it has definitely been a one owner. locally maintained by the business who is now selling it.

my first impressions after spending some time with it, driving it and looking around on anything and everything i could think of..is that it has a lot of good points and some things that make me a little nervous.

Goods: not a dent or ding one to be found, paint is mostly good with just a few clear coat peels on the roof and some fading on the bumper black,glass is all good, all four windows work and sunroof tilt and slide, interior is 7.5/10, seats are all firm but pinkamino,small wear on driver bottom, carpets are good,headliner fine but sun visors jacked up,interior lights work, interior wood not too badly cracked, no evidence of rust that i could find,tires and wheels decent,power locks work,trunk clean

Starts,Runs,Drives well, no clunks or pull in the suspension,steering smooth,brakes good, engine feels decently strong , somewhere between my '85 SD and the '99 e300d that i drove recently. kickdown works, shifts decent most of the time.

My Concerns: No glow plug light, started with minor difficulty, ether spray in driver back pocket, a little rumble on cold idle, OD frozen, Tranny shifts a little hard sometimes, mono wiper a little sticky, Climate Control not fully functional, NO AC, did cycle from fresh air to heat but vent settings not right,fan speed setting seemed to work ok,aftermarket radio powered up but i couldn't her anything, antenna didn't work,driver side power seat adjust didn't work. rear defrost didn't work, power mirrors didn't work, glove box door wouldn't latch, headlight "doors" all jacked up, RF side marker cracked, not excessively oily but definitely some wetness on the engine,

So, i appreciate any input from those who may know much more about these cars than I. Oh and they're wanting $2900 for it.

[Smoker]

I am far from the expert on MB diesels, a newb really, but the ether spray would scare me away from that car.

It would scare me on a gasser, which I do know very well, as anything other than very occasional use can really screw up an engine, but a diesel is a lot higher compression and ether...well....boom.

[sleepstar]

for me, ether spray = run far away

[Skippy]

It's more a matter of personal preference. Either one is going to take money and effort to keep on the road reliably. I wouldn't worry too much about the ether, since the glow plugs are out and ether isn't that horrible if its used in the absence of functioning flow plugs and grid heaters. (Ether+hot grid heater=amusing, provided it happens on someone else's vehicle.)

[Phillytwotank]

Thanks for the replies so far. To be clear.. i do know about the ether situation.

I do realize that either is going to take more work to keep on the road for years to come.

My primary dilemma is in determining weather the advantages of w124 over w123 are in balance with the amount of work that would have to go into the w124 immediately just to bring it up to par with what ive become accustom to with the w123.

Is $2900 an acceptable price to pay for a w124 in such condition?

How much better could the w123 be if i put some fraction of $2900 into even more new parts and such??

[sleepstar]

well, glow plugs are part of routine and low cost maintenance on these MB diesels. so i wonder if someone didn't look after that, and instead just resorted to using starting fluid, what else they haven't paid attention to or maintained...

[Junkman]

This sentence says it. "Current Vehicle: has been a labor of love"

I would take the $9k and dump it into your current ride and have a car few others are driving. I'd drive it until I could no longer get fuel and then put it into a Museum. Add a remanned turbo 617 if you so desire.

You won't have to spend that amount to fix yours. $9 k is too muckin futch for the other car. For that price you should only need maintenance and have plenty of documented records.

[vstech]

1500 is too much to pay for the 92 in the condition you describe.
I've paid a LOT less for better examples...

I'd offer 1400 for the 92, and explain why. if they are willing to fix ALL the issues with the car, then it's not a bad price at 2900, but no EFFn way I'd pay 3K for a car needing that much work.
NO WAY.

[shertex]

Yep, price is clearly too high....they're dreamin', living in a fantasy.

[sixto]

Minor peeling clear coat now will be complete loss of clear coat on the vertical surfaces in 2-3 years if it's out in sun. AFAIK, you can't fix clear coat.

It's at a shop and they can't fix the glow system just to sell it???

As a start, remove the plugs in the side cladding covering the jack holes to check for rust.

Is AC a deal killer? It could need a charge (ha!) or up to $2000 in work including removing the dash to replace the evaporator. But some folks don't care if AC doesn't work.

Will they share service records with you? Things to look out for are head gasket and timing chain replacement, major transmission service, suspension refurbishment, how long ago did the AC quit?

It's difficult to say what it's worth without pictures despite your excellent description. $2900 won't buy a perfect car but it should buy a fully functional car with deferred maintenance that you'll tolerate being deferred a little longer... which clearly it's not.

Sixto
87 300D

[barry12345]

Glow plugs could be inoperative or only partially so because they are seriously messed up in the head. This shop that claims to have maintained the car over the years has it in pretty miserable condition.

You are looking at a car with the odometer frozen? A lot of issues with some that could be pretty involved to correct. If you think you want one of these cars go find a better one. The price up front will probably prove a lot cheaper in the long haul

[ROLLGUY]

I will echo what others have said about the price. However, the 2.5 turbo 124 is a great car, and worth making it a "labor of love" as well. I would say buy it only if the major issues are fixed first, or get it much cheaper.

[Stretch]

Ignoring the major issues!!!! => It sounds like the minor issues are gonna "nickel and dime" you to death...


Please note I know not what a nickel nor a dime is but I think I got that saying right!

[Skid Row Joe]

I wouldn't buy it at anywhere near asking. Way, way, too many things wrong with it. Read; thousands in parts & labor...... When I buy a car for the BIG dollars, I want everything functioning perfectly on it.

[compress ignite]

If and only If they pay me the $50.00 USD tow fee in cash up front.

1.No Air Con
2.F**ked Up Pre-Chambers and Glow Plugs [From the Ether use!!!!!]
3.Clear gone Bye Bye.(On a Black Car in the Southeast)

$2900.00 should buy you a 124.128 in functional condition with major systems
operating.A little "Deferred" Service would be acceptable...BUT this chassis
will take THREE TIMES the Asking Price to reach even that basic level of
Functioning!
On the KNOWN Problem areas.