Craigslist adventures: Selling to a seller and the 190D lives on! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

w123fanman · #1 04-04-2015, 11:42 PM

Today was an interesting day. I had two appointments with Craigslist sellers. I have too many cars already but had a good reason to be searching for more: My 190D is rusted out and needs a shell for it to be transferred into. My brother had also found a really cheap but clean 300E and I wanted to show my dad the size of a W124, and if the car was in good enough shape, maybe buy it. We know they are essentially worthless so we would only buy it if we could get it cheap enough.

The 300E was a 1991 with the 2.6 engine. The guy was selling it because the transmission had gone out. He bought it from the original owner who had it dealer maintained and it had been garaged. Full history since day 1. It had around 218K on it. I had talked to him on the phone and texted him back and forth and found out he really liked the car but his wife wanted him to get rid of it. He has 9 children, 8 of them in the house (uses a 22 passenger bus to move the family around), and works in the film industry in Atlanta. I could instantly tell that he loved the car so I did some research to find out if the transmission in my parts 190E 2.6 was the same and it is the same, a 722.409. Once I found that out I decided I would still go out and look at the car but not buy it. I would try to sell the guy the transmission.

I went out and had a look at the car. It was one of the smoothest M103s I have ever heard. Just dead quiet at idle. If the fan wasn't spinning some I wouldn't have heard it, even with the hood open. The exterior of the car was in great shape as was the interior. My dad liked the size of the car and thought it was easier to get in and out of than my 190D. I had a look at the suspension to look for stuff that should be replaced soon to make sure it would be safe to drive. From what I could see, it just needs the struts and strut towers replaced plus probably the ball joints. The fan clutch on the engine should also be replaced. Some rear end work was done as the shocks were new Bilstiens and the camber was not bad like most of these cars with worn out rear suspension.

I then told the guy I wasn't interested in buying the car but had a transmission to sell him. I offered it for less than I could get on eBay, $250, figuring that the hassle and fess of eBay were not worth the few extra dollars. He accepted and was excited, he has a friend who will install it for him. I'm going to help him get seals, hoses, springs and stuff he needs to have replaced before it is installed in order to prolong the life of the transmission, also advise him on other work that needs to be done to the car. I'm minoring in Music Technology at Tech which is important in the film industry so I figured it would be a good idea to connect with a 25 year veteran of the industry. It a personal first for me to sell to a seller.

My other thing was looking at a 190E 2.3. It was a one owner 91 that overheated. I wanted a shell to put my 190D suspension bits and drivetrain in as my 190D body is rusted out and cosmetically is pretty bad. This car was a good candidate: the body was in overall good shape besides needing a front fender, which I have already found. The interior was in great shape besides needing a armrest which is also easy to get for cheap. None of the vent frames or vents were broken. I have never seen that in any of the W201s I have looked at. Also the car was completely rust free. I bought it for $600, I could have probably found one not needing a fender for less if I waited but I didn't think I could find one that was as rust free as this one was or with as nice of an interior.

We went and got a Uhaul trailer and loaded the car no problem. Unloading it did not go as smoothly. We had to park it on the top of a rise, and area which was basically just dirt, very easy to loose traction. We had to roll it up hill slightly which is not easy with 3000 lbs of metal and guy sitting in the front seat operating the brakes. My brother and I pushed it off the trailer and onto the ramps which took a lot of effort but unfortunately with the incline of the trailer and the low ride height of the 2.3, the car bottomed out getting onto the ramps. Great. We then tried to push the car back onto the the trailer, which after about 10 minutes of trying we decided would not work, so I found my floor jack and jacked up one side of the car by jacking up one of the ramps. That made it much easier and we got the car back onto the trailer then placed blocks under the ramps to raise them up about 4 inches. We then had to push the car at an incline off the trailer again which was no easier this time. We finally got the front end off the trailer again but then the rear end didn't want to get over the hump of the trailer onto the ramps so it required one more round of figuring out how to push it most effectively while we were still tired from the previous three times having to do that. We finally used enough brute strength at the correct angle to get it it the rest of the way off the trailer. Next issue was we didn't have enough space to let it roll all the way off the ramps (we had back the trailer up as much as we could to get it as level as possible) so I jacked up each ramp, removed the blocks then we drove the trailer out from under the car. That ended the crusade of parking the car which was probably the best workout I have gotten in years. I've moved heavier cars with no power (w116 300SD parts car) but didn't have to deal with that much of an incline and we had 3 people pushing instead of only 2. Remind me to never buy a non-running car again.

The 190D will live one and I am helping a nice 300E live on as well. Good day overall, even if it was long and tiring.

w123fanman · #2 04-06-2015, 09:54 PM

Got it washed, it was filthy. The damage is on the other side but is very minor. The paint is overall pretty good, could use a nice buff and touch up in some spots but otherwise better than the 190D

biopete · #3 04-06-2015, 10:46 PM

Sweet! I like the white with grey trim. Pics of inside please? I want to see what they are supposed to look like

. Mine is pretty beat with a bunch of empty holes where switches should go. Lol

vstech · #4 04-07-2015, 07:11 AM

a little tip for pushing a car up an incline... push on the tires... it gives you mechanical advantage...