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potential sweet vehicle - opinions, please

Opportunity to by what could be really nice car - 1981 300TD wagon. ~132K original miles, rebuilt engine with about 2K miles on it. Has been sitting in a garage for at least 9 years, not running. Any ideas on value or particular pitfalls about me purchasing this vehicle? It would be my first MB, and first diesel. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, but don't have a ton of extra money at the moment.

Suspension "seems" good, no obvious leaks, engine compartment is immaculate. Still haven't tried to start it yet, sort of leery without gleaning advice from people with some experience. Rear hatch supports are shot. Interior is immaculate, body better than fair, medallion broken off by vandals a decade ago. Other than that, I just don't know.

Thanks

Tweaks

Reply to
tweaks
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Get it running first and drive it. Why was it sitting for 9 years? Why was thr engine rebuilt at 132K? Is there a major problem lurking? I have 4 MBZ diesels and love them all, my favorate is my 1984 300TD - 200k miles with rebuilt engine. runs like a dream and is almost as handy as a PU Truck. Be prepared for some reconditioning for over 100K mile car, radiator, breaks, etc. Check to see if car has rear gas/oil shocks, they can be expensive to replace, look like a pair of black cannon balls in rear area mear the shocks, also has an oil reserve/pump in engine compartment. If they are bad, car will bounce as if there are no shocks connected. $1000 to $3000 would be a fair sale price - depending on condition, offer less and see. Don't pay full MBZ price to restore, this body style and year are showing up in junk yards for parts. also check

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for mail order parts and quotes.

Reply to
WF

With any car that has been sitting that long, I'd be concerned about the seals in the transmission (they dry out and get hard), and the brake hydraulics.

Reply to
Steve

The lady who drove it passed away, and her daughter has had it sitting in the garage since then. The daughter let the original engine overheat when driving it in Colorado, had the rebuilt installed up there.

I'm planning on a complete flush of the cooling system and a flush of the auto trans fluid.

Thanks for your input! I'm really excited about getting this car. everybody who has one seems to really love it.

Tweaks

Reply to
tweaks

Thanks - I'm planning on getting the transmission thoroughly flushed and filled. Any additives you know of to help refresh the seals?

tweaks

Reply to
tweaks

No first hand experience here but lotsa guys swear by trans-x.

Reply to
Richard Sexton

trans-x is good stuff... my mechanic but some in the used tranny he installed in my 300D and it worked great after that.

Sitt>>

Reply to
terry solomonson

Thanks for the response - just got it started - absolutely the first turn of the key! Had to buy a new battery. I'm really jazzed!

Reply to
tweaks

Thanks for the response - just got it started - absolutely the first turn of the key! I'll spend the next day or so cleaning and checking for leaks, but I'm just walking on air right now.

Reply to
tweaks

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