So my friend since high school for about 30 years, and who has been a parts manager for Mercedes for about 20 years, says all these old Mercedes diesels are junk 100 dollar cars.....

True they may offer you a hundred, or a couple hundred, on trade in but i have been asking him to snap me up one for several years and all the employees at the stealership snap them up NOW.

So anybody want to sell me a few more for a hundred bucks each???? i didn't think so....

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"NEW" 1984 300D TD needs some love

That is just a statement coming from "parts manager". A lot of people call them "unreliable" and "junk" because they expect to never fix something when it's wrong, or shell out the dough when it requires attention.

most of the people in this area either seem to fork over the money or just tell them they will drop off the pink.... can't believe some of the deals he gets that way.... he is pretty savvy about this stuff he actually is over several dealerships but he seems to have no patients for old diesels

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"NEW" 1984 300D TD needs some love

Yeah........that's true for all new car dealers. They get folks that want to trade their old cars in on something new. The dealers just lick their chops when they get a gem in - especially when they can steal it, so to speak. From that point, any savvy dealer employee gets first crack at it.

Try to buy a part using your 'vintage' VIN number at the dealer.

Its no longer on their data base !!

yeah, if you have the part number, they can look it up that way.

Don't expect them to want anything more than promoting new cars.

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1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

When I was working for a MB dealership, a salesman gave me a heads up that one of his clients called and said that he wanted to trade in his low-mileage W210 diesel for something new. If it came in, I was going to snatch it up since employees could purchase trade-ins at wholesale. But, the guy changed his mind and kept his W210.

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

about 3 years ago I was working at a dealership - a guy came in with two trades, one was a POS pacifica and one was a light blue 300TE 1990.

The used manager took them in as

Pacifica 3800/-
Mercedes - 1/- (yes, one dollar)

The sleazebag dealership said that if I wanted it, it was 1500/- plus paperwork etc. (and I was employed there)

All new car dealerships appraise cars with age - for them a 300SL gullwing would be 200 dollar junk because its "grampa age"

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

I managed to get $750 out of my '90 300E at my dealer when I traded it in for our TDI. It had a massive list of issues too. Would have cost me a mountain to fix it all, plus the paint was pretty much all worn off the car.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

The new car dealer world is a complete alternate reality. It must be so, in order to make people believe that the sticker prices on the new stuff on the showroom floor are reasonable. Luckily for me, the parts guys at my dealer work in that world but I am able to connect with them on a real-world basis, no BS.

Dealers buy at wholesale-minus and sell at retail (or retail-plus, if they can manage it). Same thing whatever business you are in.

If you think car dealers are bad... anyone experienced the 'antiques' trade?

Same idea as when I hear people complain about their shop bill.... First thing I ask is, "Hired a plumber/drain deblocker company lately?"

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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

HEHEH yep a plugged drain is just their opportunity to get their feet in the door next thing you know you need a repipe with all new fixtures....

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"NEW" 1984 300D TD needs some love

You need a better parts guy. Joe at crown Mercedes in Columbus has gotten me tons of parts for my 190SL without the vin. Same goes for my 220, my 350SL, and my dads 123s. The only time I give them the vin is for keys or split model years (from/to serial numbers).


Many dealers don't care, but there are good parts guys out there who care about the cars and the owners. Don't assume they are all bad.

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68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

My local dealer is a joke. They bait and switch, i.e. quote you a lower price on the phone and then charge you 25% more when you get to the counter to pick it up. They pretend they don't know what you're talking about.

Also tell you they give you a MBCA discount when you're talking to them on the phone and then say they don't when you get there...and talk down the person who told you they did by saying "oh, THEY wouldn't know..."

I'm going to basically forget there's a dealer here.

On the other hand I've had very good experience with an out of state dealer. I'd rather pay shipping and get good service so I'll stick with them for dealer only stuff.

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1979 300D 040 Black on Black - 1985 300D Maaco job (sadly sprayed over 199 Black Pearl Metallic) on Palamino

http://i.imgur.com/LslW733.jpg

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Visit the W123 page on iFixit for over 70 helpful DIY guides!

The prices actually are reasonable, considering its a NEW car. Keep in mind your cars were new once, and a new car does not cost $500 to produce. A LOT of materials and work goes into making a car, especially the luxury cars.

If no one bought new ones, used ones would be rare and cost nearly as much as new.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I'm sorry but to have a friend generalize like he did, is just plain ignorant.

That's just like saying all parts managers are the same. There are good ones too.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

When I used to work at the auction bodyshop that the local benz dealer ran the trade ins through, that was the same mentality. Only these were 2, 3 , 4 yr old ones they wouldn't spend any money to repair correctly.