'85 300CD

I am looking at a 1985 300CD to buy. The car is super clean with just over a hundred thousand on it. I believe it is over priced as the guy wants $6K for it but maybe I'm off. Anybody have an opinion Thanks, Steve

Reply to
Steve
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Condition condition condition... The porice is high but not if it's utterly flawless (which few old cars are. $3500 if it's just "good". MB or not it's still a 20 year old car and needs ALL the rubber replaced; insulation on wires has or will crack etc etc.

Reply to
Richard Sexton

Four years ago I sold my 1980 BMW 528i for $6900, certainly well above market price. However it had 62,000 miles, original paint, service records, excellent interior and ran well. And I had another buyer in the wings. It's all in the condition.

Reply to
jav

Quality costs money.

The car has low miles and is very clean. Great!

It's probably a one owner car.

So how does one justify paying a premium for perceived quality?

Does the paint look like the car was garaged for most of its (non-driven) lifetime?

Does the seller have a complete maintenance history that you can review?

Clean CarFax?

Finally, what are YOUR intentions? Will you keep this car for say, five years? Longer? The longer you realistically expect to keep such a car the easier it is to justify paying a premium for quality.

The CD model is cute and a nice car if you don't need to use its back seat and don't need full headroom. Nice car for one or two, otherwise a sedan is preferable. Same power train in each.

I use this mathematical formula to judge a car vs. similar cars (insert your own values):

( equation assumes the engine & transmission have a 275,000 mile useful life before overhaul )

Cost per remaining mile = [ (Cost - scrap) / (275,000 - miles done) ]

[(6000 - 1000) / (275000 - 100000) ] = .02857 / mile

Insurance companies will immediately "total" an old car, regardless of its condition. So its up to you to avoid being "rolled" by being able to justify its premium value with records, pictures, comparable sales of similar mileage cars etc. They'll pay if a premium is warranted. Keep this in mind if you buy it.

Reply to
T.G. Lambach

Thanks for the info T.G.

I'll difinately agree, but only to a point.

Yep.

It really does look flawless. I may need to go back with a magnifying glass, but I couldn't find a single scratch inside or out. There is some black paint chipped off the undercarriage and the exhause is a bit rusty but no sign of sheet metal cancer not even by the battery.

Not complete, but some.

Yep.

Agreed. I have had other 123's and currently have a '77 300D with ~275k on it. I need another one to pound miles on for a longish commute.

Hmm. I didn't actually notice the available head room in it. I'm 6'2" so I'll definately have another look see on that. And no kids or regular passengers so the back seat is not a big deal.

Cool. I just haven't seen any of this era's 300's without being high milage. At only 100k it seems low milage to me.

Great tips

Cheers, Steve

Reply to
Steve

It wasn't even flawles when it was new. You are in love with the car, bye bye objectivity.

Scratches are meaninless. Engine compression, motor mouts, transmission vacuum, halfshat wear are meaningful.

Boom, $2000 in exhaust work right there. Take a magnet. These things rust.

At this age all the rubber should have been replaced. What percent has been done? Diff mount, trans mout, spring pads, motor mounts, flex disk and bnearing carrier, trailing arm mounts and on and on...

$1500.

Reply to
Richard Sexton

I've had four of these cars over the past twenty years and I've gone thru repairs on nearly everything you've noted plus much much more. No, I'm not in love with the car and that's why I'm doing research first thank you very much. At the prices you quote you must be a dealer. Anyone paying $2000 for an exhaust on one of these is being bent over a barrel. I've had two exhaust systems replaced from the header back. I don't believe the moulding rubber has been replaced but I could be wrong. It is not cracked or hard at all. Why do you think it has to be solely based on age? Maybe you're used to seeing cars from Arizona or So. Cal. that are subjected to the heat. The plastic around the headlights is still crystal clear too. I'm trying to be objective here. I KNOW this is a nice car but I'm just trying to collect opinions on it's selling price. And no, scratches in the paint don't indicate the mechanical condition of the vehicle but they do give an indication of the care the car has received over the years. Meaningless to you, maybe. All things said, thanks for the response. Steve

Reply to
Steve

vehicle but they do give an indication of the care the car has received over the years. Meaningless to you, maybe. All things said, thanks for the response.

Reply to
Central Florida

Look at other cars you can buy for that money and compare. If it is a stand up sample of the car and you like it, how big a mistake can you make?

Reply to
Roger Shoaf

Ok I'm confused. You know all about these cars and have replaced everything and are looking at a car that may need everything but is pretty so you think it's worth a lot of money.

Of coure you can do exhaust cheaply but the average joe takes it in to a shop and pays out the nose. What do youtell the seller? "Oh I can fix that cheap by shopping around and doing the work myself" or "huh, needs exhaust soon, $2K". Frankly I don't think he's being honest with you telling you a 20 year old 123 is worth 6K so you need ammo to get it down to a realistic figure.

It's worth whatever he/she can get for it. Not a penny more not a penny less. If I was gonna spend 6K on a 123 coupe I'd want to see the Pebble Beach concours trophey.

Reply to
Richard Sexton

Rubber ages through heat, UV and just plain old time. If you think your

20 year old suspension rubber is as compliant as new you owe it to yourself to replace it and see the difference.

Rubber brake hoses have date codes for a reason.

Reply to
Richard Sexton

Thanks for all of the input. I made a lesser offer ($5k) and told him if he changes his mind to let me know. If he can peddle it for $6k then good for him. If not, $5k is still a premium price but I feel it is a premium example of this years model. We shall see. Steve

Reply to
Steve

Reply to
Joel Johnson

Reply to
Joel Johnson

Probably not. You have to be pretty anal to replace thigns like spring pads, but it does make a difference. If you want it to ride like the day it did when it left the factory then every mount, bushing, pad and do-hicky has to be in the same condition as when it left the factorty, ie, new.

Reply to
Richard Sexton

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