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Want to get a diesel wagon...

It seems from browsing the group that if I want to get a diesel wagon, I want to get a 300TD from 1987 or earlier, to make sure I get iron heads on the engine.

...so what I'm wondering is how much these cars are truly worth to those who know. I'm in Southern California (United States) and I keep an eye on the used car ads but saw a '76 (this was a 300D I think?) that was priced at $17,000 which seemed a bit, umm, crazy to me.

So here's one that's got just over 290k miles, it's an '85, it's been repainted recently and needs a new radiator and they're asking $7775. Are these cars really worth this, or are they trying to milk the hippies who want to go biodiesel (me, except I don't have the hair )?

Here's a link, and it's not a lot of info, but...

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Can anyone give me any idea what this car might actually be worth? Edmunds.com tells me it's worth about $800. Does anyone know of any good diesel folks in San Diego that I could call to have check it out? Any other info I should be aware of, and if I go to take a look at it, anything I should particularly look for?

(If your response is posted here there's no need to email me a copy, thanks!)

curious and desirous,

-tom!

Reply to
Tom Plunket
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I think Edmunds is a bit on the high side.

Reply to
me

The 1987 model was the -only- diesel wagon offered in the 1985-1995 W124 E class chassis. So there is a rarity factor, but I don't think that is enough to justify the prices....

You may also want to look for a 1980-84 W123 Turbo Diesel wagon. Should be cheaper than an '87. And there are still a few around with less than

200k miles. Compared to the '87 model, they are much simpler mechanically and electrically. If you find a good one, it is easy to handle most of the maintenance yourself.

I've thought about getting a 300cd....

Best,

Ross

Tom Plunket wrote:

Reply to
John Doe

Good ones are 5-6K. Subtract $1 for each "minor" problem.

Rust and sagging back ends are the most common problems you'll see. Expensive to fix. Electirc and minor mechanical glitches are the next most common.

Reply to
Richard Sexton

Thanks for all your help, everyone. Very good information.

I know a bit about tinkering but don't really keep up on it; rebuilt a GM engine once upon a time and it ran for the rest of the life of the car despite having, "what are the bolts in this tray for?" when I had the engine re-mounted in the car... Have a GM van that won't pass emissions testing in SoCal that I'd like to convert to diesel, but really just don't have the time. However, beyond being a competent wrencher I really don't know how all of the stuff works so am not worthy to evaluate an engine, nor do I know how to spot what might be leading to any problems (and the rebuilt engine was a project started by my father and he had bought all of the necessary parts before I took over the job of simply putting it all back together; new rings, new cam, modified crank, and new rockers as I recall).

However this NG seems really helpful in general, so I can't wait to get myself a pair of MBZs and ask the questions of y'all! ;)

thx,

-tom!

Reply to
Tom Plunket

Oh sure. It STARTS with a pair. Then they breed.

(looks around) Uh, yeah.

The older ones are fnu to work on. It's almost like they were designed to be repaired. Actually, it's exactly like they were built to be repaired.

Reply to
Richard Sexton

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