Re: 1984 300SD

Based on your description it sounds OK.

As it is a one owner car there must be a maintenance history, either in the owner's shoe box or at the shop(s) where it was serviced. In light of the busted odometer I'd insist on seeing the records that will document the car's claimed mileage.

A compression test will verify the engine's condition and a drive the transmission. The engine and transmission typically have similar lives -

250K to 300K miles - with regular maintenance.

If you will do the maintenance yourself buy the M-B paper manuals or the C-D ROM; it's $ well spent.

This five is very reliable if it's well maintained. Oil & filter change at 5K miles, valve adjustment at 15K miles and fuel, air, transmission, power steering filters and transmission fluid change at 30K miles. You do that and it will run for a long time.

These cars have relatively simple electrical systems, not a major item.

Reply to
T.G. Lambach
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No, they're not.

Drive it on the freeway for 30 minutes. Report any wierdnesses back.

ve it around in the city with the windows open near some brick walls, listed for weird noises, clucks or thumps. Check out to see how many of the electricial gizmos work. Some are easy to fix (c*ck) some arent' (cruise, seats).

Check to see if the power door locks work. Check how well the tranny shifts; it should be as good as a new chevy; barely noticable shifts both up and down.

See also

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Reply to
Richard J. Sexton (At work

Thank you all for the information. I drove the car and decided not to get it even though the price seems good. The windows did not work. The tranny shifted rough at first, the longer I drove it the better it got. But I still didn't feel very good about it. It seems to have been serviced on a regular basis. Several times for fuel system repairs. New injectors, tips, clean fuel tank. It sounds like dirty fuel and lots of city driving to me. While I was considering this car someone clipped the front end of my 95 E320 and ran for it. The car was drivable and I chased him till he stopped. Of course he had no insurance. So....at least I caught him.

Thanks again John

Reply to
DEKA48

Too bad about your car's damage.

For future reference, the diesel may have had algae contamination - yes it can grow in diesel fuel if there's also a bit of water present. A low mileage car may be more susceptible to algae.

The windows could be due to dirty switches or bad relays or bad window regulators (motors).

Reply to
T.G. Lambach

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