1987 Mercedes-benz 300td Wagon With Plantdrive Wvo System on 2040-cars

1987 Mercedes-Benz 300 Turbo Diesel Wagon

The much coveted 1987 w124 wagon with the powerful and smooth 6-cylinder diesel engine.  Incredible car.  Super-comfortable, reliable, safe and economical.  Originally U.S. car.  Krown rust proofed and meticulously maintained.  No rust at all.  Fresh service from S&S Motors (vintage Mercedes specialist), previous work also performed by Charlie McNally at McNally Auto in Toronto - both top-notch shops for these vehicles.

Brand new battery and records back to near new; upgraded Sony CD stereo with removable face and aux input.  Plantdrive WVO single-tank system with pre-heater and auxilary fuel pump.  You can drive on straight WVO, straight diesel, or any mixture of the two in the regular fuel tank!  Included with sale are six fuel system filters.  If you're running straight WVO and driving often, the filters should be changed about every six months; at that rate the car comes with a three year supply! 

The only technical weak link in the engineering of this model was the exhaust trap oxidizer.  The trap oxidizer was replaced on this car with the improved factory replacement when it was virtually new under the original warranty and looking at decades of records, the vehicle has been otherwise mechancially bullet proof.

I am reluctantly selling because I am a corporate lawyer by trade and I need something that is a little more presentable at black-tie work functions.  In addition, although I am still passionate about WVO, I do a lot of international travel these days and just don't have the time to indulge the hobby any more.  It doesn't make sense for me to keep this car and not drive it; this car would be IDEAL for a tradesperson that drives a lot for work and requires a lot of space.  The interior is huge with the seats folded and with a WVO supply, someone could make a mint charging current mileage rates while driving this car.  Mileage on WVO or diesel is consistently in the range of 36 MPG; about 6.5 liters per 100 km.

Highlights:

- Records back to day one, meticulously maintained by Mercedes specialists.  Oil changes have been with high-end synthetic only for about the last six years.

- Original brochure

- Original paint in great shape; no fading or peeling.

- Totally rust-free U.S. car that has been rust proofed by Krown.

- All factory options (same appointments as a luxury car today only minus GPS!) including heated orthopedic seats.  The only option missing is the additional rear seat; this is a 5 not a 7 seater.

- Some additional Euro options including Mercedes leather wrapped steering wheel and storage area with discreet power receptacle instead of in-dash ashtray (original assembly included)

- Absolutely everything works exactly as it should unless specifically noted below.  A/C recently recharged and is ice cold.

- Plantdrive waste vegetable oil system with onboard auxiliary fuel pump, inline hotfox pre-heater and coolant tank heater (the latter two for winter). 

- Will include six filters for the fuel system with sale (about a 3-year supply) and driveway fueling funnel assembly that I constructed. 

- Headlights upgraded to European high output halogen H4's with driving lights - much brighter than the stock sealed beams.

- Taillights upgraded to current model line appearance red/white lenses.

- Recently replaced factory-correct Hirschmann power antenna mast - looks/works like new.

- Body is very straight overall; very few imperfections.

- Factory stainless steel roofrack bars included.

- Will include 4 snow tires on Mercedes alloy rims; treads likely good for one or two more seasons.

Imperfect items:

- There is about an 8" scratch/minor dent in the quarter panel near the gas flap (see close-up pic); unfortunately I touched the side wall of my driveway when backing up.

- The interior is a light colour and is in great shape but carpet is not perfectly clean.  I took it for local detailing and asked them to shampoo it, but I'm not thrilled with the results.  It would probably be brought back to near new with some elbow grease.

- I hit a small stone on the highway that made a quarter-sized dent in the top chrome of the original grill.  I had a replacement put on (I kept the original and it will be included with the sale), but it is after-market.  The original is much more sturdy and I would repair that instead if I could turn back the clock.

- Current tires (great Michelin HydroEdge) are down to about 50% tread and a bit noisy.  They should still last a long time, but that's my observation.

- I recently had the rear wiper motor repaired; I haven't had a chance to replace the rear door interior panel.  That will of course come with the car along with the necessary clips; a purely cosmetic point.

- Very slow leak from the top plate of the transmission.  Mechanic says that to stop the leak the plate will need to be replaced at a cost of about $150.  The leak never bothered me, so I have lived with this for the past six months.

- Fuel guage sometimes bounces to zero and back up again once fuel reaches about 1/3 of a tank; it's otherwise totally functional.

- Trunk door cannot be opened or locked with key (power locking and manual opening/closing button mechanism work fine).

- Outside temperature gage (LCD at bottom of instrument cluster under speedo) is missing a digit.

I'm a perfectionist, so I'm listing everything; you won't be disappointed!

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NOTE:  I'm frustrated with the Autocheck feature of eBay as I believe that this car gets an unfairly low review for no apparent reason.  Looking at the full history report it's obvious that it was a trade-in and sold to a broker in 2003 but the car has been flagged as having an "issue" because it appears that too few miles were driven when it was held by the broker in the fall of 2003.   That is a glitch in the system, but I don't know how to address that with Autocheck and I don't have the time to devote to figuring out how to.