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Opinions on Mileage, Please

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spyrou12

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hey, all... someone I know has a 300E I can look at, since word was passed to him that I'm looking to buy one. The car is cosmetically in perfect shape, supposedly the A/C even blows cold, and it is a 1986 vehicle. The only issue (without looking at the car) is the mileage... it has 313307 miles on it. On one hand, the car LOOKS to be very well maintained, and if the A/C works, it means the owner has kept up with fixes. OTOH, looks can be and often are deceiving... especially with old Mercs. Is it worth the risk to even look at a 1986 300E with that many miles?
 
R.P. McMurphy

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1984 300dt 1985 300 dt 1992 300e just added another 92 300e 1994 e420 1993 300te 4matic
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#3 ·
...if hes going to sell it to you for a few hundred dollars fine have fun with it but if youre serious I personally would look for fewer miles.
 
R.P. McMurphy

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1984 300dt 1985 300 dt 1992 300e just added another 92 300e 1994 e420 1993 300te 4matic
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#4 ·
...look for the clark tech tip. so an m103 had soft cam problems in early years. theres a letter S stamped toward the front of the head on upgraded cams. search for clarks tech tip for the specifics.
 
ps2cho

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2016 535i, 2019 Q5
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#5 ·
Its worth no more than 1k assuming compression is good and A/C works. If A/C doesn't work, $300 tops.

Its gonna be a money pit unless he has a stack of paperwork. Same on above soft cam. If its original cams they are without a doubt gonna be worn and performance, emissions and fuel economy might be a future concern.
 
spyrou12

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Discussion Starter · #6 ·
Thanks, everyone. The seller is asking for almost $1500 for it, which IMO is ridiculous considering the mileage. Armed with this information, I'm gonna call the guy and ask him some questions before I decide to actually go and see the car... I want to know if he's the original owner, if he has all his records, etc.
 
sbaert

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'95 E300 DIESEL, '91 600SEL, '92 600SEL
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#7 · (Edited)
Why even bother to see the car when you already know he's asking twice the real world value based on the high mileage for a very early W124 that is pushing 30 years???

Unless it's got a properly rebuilt trans or even the 2nd rebuilt trans, this one is not even worth your time making the call IMO.
 
Jayare

· W124 Moderator
86 190E 2.3L 16V, 95 320TE 02 S500
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13,365 Posts
#8 ·
sbaert said:
Why even bother to see the car when you already know he's asking twice the real world value based on the high mileage for a very early W124 that is pushing 30 years???

Unless it's got a properly rebuilt trans or even the 2nd rebuilt trans, this one is not even worth your time making the call IMO.
Click to expand...
100% agree. What's the point? Save your money and get a lower mile, newer model.
 
Clarkz71

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1993 400E
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#9 ·
R.P. McMurphy said:
...look for the clark tech tip. so an m103 had soft cam problems in early years. theres a letter S stamped toward the front of the head on upgraded cams. search for clarks tech tip for the specifics.
Click to expand...
No way with that miles the cam is original.

It's a $500 car. Spare parts are not cheap, so good parts car.
 
tjts1

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#10 · (Edited)
Quick search of LA Craigslist in the BY OWNER ONLY section reveals 97 300e, 80 94-95 E320 and 13 300te for sale in the area, the vast majority of which have far fewer miles. You're in the middle of the biggest used MB market in the country. Even in excellent condition these cars are dirt cheap and dime a dozen. Get the best one you can find. Whatever 300e you get, make sure it comes with a current (within the last 90 days) smog certificate. DO NOT buy from a dealer. These guys fake the smog certificates on old cars with alarming regularity and you'll be stuck with a failure the next time it comes to smog it.
 
Bruce Sloane

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300e 1991 34K
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#11 · (Edited)
sbaert said:
Why even bother to see the car when you already know he's asking twice the real world value based on the high mileage for a very early W124 that is pushing 30 years???

Unless it's got a properly rebuilt trans or even the 2nd rebuilt trans, this one is not even worth your time making the call IMO.
Click to expand...
^^^^ this

chances are he has a very unrealistic expectation of the actual worth
now, if you were to spend twice that, you could prolly purchase something that will provide decent transportation
 
spyrou12

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Discussion Starter · #12 ·
Yeah, I agree, I am going to pass on the car... it's not worth it. That being said, I am firmly set on a car no newer than 1989... the '86 to '89 model years are my range for a car.

Having said that, I have found this ad on CL for an '87 300D, again, with extremely high miles... but OTOH, it is a diesel, so IDK if it's even worth a look... I would LIKE to go and look at it, but if those miles are too high for even a diesel, I'll pass.

87 Mercedes 300D 450K miles
 
R.P. McMurphy

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1984 300dt 1985 300 dt 1992 300e just added another 92 300e 1994 e420 1993 300te 4matic
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#13 ·
spyrou12 said:
Yeah, I agree, I am going to pass on the car... it's not worth it. That being said, I am firmly set on a car no newer than 1989... the '86 to '89 model years are my range for a car.

Having said that, I have found this ad on CL for an '87 300D, again, with extremely high miles... but OTOH, it is a diesel, so IDK if it's even worth a look... I would LIKE to go and look at it, but if those miles are too high for even a diesel, I'll pass.

87 Mercedes 300D 450K miles
Click to expand...
...pass, keep looking.
 
Zeitgeist

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'87 300TD Myna 7mm pump and HX30 /'89 Vanagon TDI 12mm pump and GT2052
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52,336 Posts
#15 ·
spyrou12 said:
Yeah, I agree, I am going to pass on the car... it's not worth it. That being said, I am firmly set on a car no newer than 1989... the '86 to '89 model years are my range for a car.

Having said that, I have found this ad on CL for an '87 300D, again, with extremely high miles... but OTOH, it is a diesel, so IDK if it's even worth a look... I would LIKE to go and look at it, but if those miles are too high for even a diesel, I'll pass.

87 Mercedes 300D 450K miles
Click to expand...
That sounds like a decent $600 to $800 parts car that you could double the investment by parting. Probably looking at three times that just getting it back up and running.
 
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R.P. McMurphy
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