I'm looking at a 84 turbo diesel old style Mercedes, the round headlight type. As you can tell I'm a newbie with these cars. It's a sedan, 5 cylinder. The hood is rusty and missing the insolation. The AC is broken, the owner says it needs a compressor. The dash is cracked. The paint, sky blue?, is faded. The motor runs ok, a little rough but it wasn't warmed up. The seats are good, and the body seems good, the only rust I saw was in the holes of the running boards, (does the jack go into these?) and the bottom inside of the the doors. He's asking 2200. He just drove to the curb last night! What should I look for, is that a fair price? Does this car have an oxidizer trap? Cast iron head or aluminum? 198,000 miles. Will over heating cause the paint to peel off the hood?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Dave....soon to be moving up from a diesel rabbit

With the problems you describe and the condition otherwise, I wouldn't give more than $1,000 TOPS. These cars are quite numerous so keep hunting around before laying down any money. If you're willing to go $3,500, I have a friend who is selling a nice 1985 300D with working A/C and good tires/brakes, etc...It's black with Palomino interior. It's located in the Cincinnati area. He also has a 1983 300D which is grey with navy interior. Florida car so NO rust. Everything works properly and it has new tires. $4,600 takes it.

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Regards,
Aaron

There was a day when I thought the price would have been ok. No longer.

In watching Ebay, I think you can get a fairly nice 300D-T for 2k without a cracked dash, including cold air and no rust. We just passed on a beautiful black one last night in Phoenix that went for $2001.00

I would consider paying 1200-1500 for the car you described.

Yes, the holes are for the jack points but no one uses them. Just put a floor jack under the frame.

I have purchased several through Ebay, etc. and find that through good process, you can get a great southern, no rust car.

Don

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DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

sounds like at $1200-1400 it may be a good deal cause you would have a decent budget for repair/restoration. the cracked dash would be a problem to fix so you may end up with an aftermarket cover.
jack point rust is pretty routine for these cars
it has a cast iron block and head. as for the trap oxidizer unless it is calif. version it does not have it.

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

Cast iron head and block. Stay away from the car you described for that amount of money. I have a really good '85 300TD for sale if you are interested. I may be willing to sell my 300D if you prefer the four door version.

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Jim

Hey Jim, is the Sedan for sale? I have a daughter at Valdosta needing a car.