Hi guys, I am going to go look at an '88 300TE soon. The seller is the same lady I bought my 240D from a couple of years ago, both cars belonged to her elderly parents.

The 240D was meticulously maintained, and came with all records from new. With a little restoration work, it won an award at last year's MBCA June Jamboree.

This 300TE was purchased in Florida in '96, with 47k miles. It has 103,000 miles now. I'm sure all the records are included since then. The pictures show a very nice car, especially the interior. It's white with blue MB Tex. I'm not sure if it has a sunroof, I hope not.

The seller tells me that everything works except the radio. She put it in the shop about a month ago to get it serviced for the sale, and said that the AC didn't work. She texted me yesterday that it was finished, and while it was in there she had the compressor changed and the system converted to 134a.

I'm pretty certain that I want this car. Even better, my wife really wants it. I am trying to schedule a time to go see it in person. When I do, what should I be looking for as far as deferred maintenance or problem areas? I know to check the jack points for rust and to keep an eye on the head gasket. Also I have read about the various suspension noises to look for. Otherwise, what else should I consider? There's a good chance this car has seen very little, if any, driving time over the last several years.

At 100k, these cars don't show much wear unless abused. The interior and exterior should be very clean. However, if the car is from an area with salted winter roads, it will show (rusty underbody, and possibly sheet metal). Mechanically, the transmissions are long lived if maintained (30k fluid changes). The engines can use oil (valve stems, front seal), but these are fixable and hard to identify with inspection. Otherwise they're good for many miles (mine was sold with nearly 250k miles and it was running strong. The AC evaporator is a weak point and replacement requires dash removal. It's good that it was just converted to 134a, but I would look closely at those records.

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07 E350 4Matic wagon, 06 S430 4Matic, 99 SLK 230
retired W210 (x3), W124, W126

Talk to her mechanic about what else is needed.

Get a pre-purchase inspection by a reputable independent MB shop. Or maybe you have a good relationship with an MB dealer.

Sixto
98 E320 sedan and wagon
02 C320 wagon