Mercedes 300td Wagon on 2040-cars

I looked for a RUST FREE 300TD for a long time.... Here on the East Coast, they are very difficult to come by with a rust free body so my focus was to find a Mercedes from California. I am a vintage car & motorcycle collector.  I found the car in San Diego. She was a one owner, now two owners including myself and had just over 85,000 miles when it was delivered by Intercity Lines in an enclosed truck. When she was lowered from the truck's elevator, I was amazed at the overall condition. According to the seller, the car remained in a car port for many years, being started and driven around the block occasionally... but it never ran consistently for the last decade.  

The car has never seen snow or salt !! I began to work on the wagon while she was in winter lay-up & most of the work was done by the best W123 Shop in Northern New England. There were many little issues with the car that needed attention. Following is what I have done in the last few years... 

I have owned the car for nearly a decade. 

(1) 6-7 Complete Tune Up (Filters, Belts, etc. etc. etc.)

(2) New Ball Joints

(3) New Windshield & Gasket (No Water Leaks in this Wagon) However, it still needs a right rear door rubber seal.

(4) New Tailgate Shocks

(5) New Right Front & Right Rear Door Stops

(6) Transmission Service, adjusted Modulator Valve, etc --> The tranny still needs the B2 Piston conversion for perfect shifting.

(7) New Aux Water Pump

(8) New Climate Control Unit --> The old one just wouldn't' operate correctly so after about ten hours of messing with it, we replaced the entire unit.

(9) New Control Arms

(10) 4 New Michelins 195/70r14 Tires (Existing Tires have about 3000 miles)

(11) New Speedometer Cable & Speedometer. When I got the car, it registered about 20 mph too high in speed & the needle bounced. We tried to fix it, but the speedometer was just beyond repair with broken gears, etc. If you are not a Mercedes person... you should know that just about every Mercedes on Earth has had some speedometer work. I had a complete cluster with the odometer reading 175,000 miles on the clock and I used this as the replacement. It was documented on November 20, 2009.

(12) Installed Factory Block Heater & New Thermostat. I have never needed it, but wanted to have one just in case; it can easily be in the teens here in Maine in November before the snow starts to fly. I installed a heater that will turn the oil from Tar to thin in about 30 minutes.

(13) Installed New Trailer Hitch & Wiring... I wanted to be able to pull a very small Utility Trailer for a family vacation this summer. Never ended up towing anything.

(14) New Windshield Washer Pump & Vac Hose

(15) Rebuilt Rear Wiper Assembly

(16) Complete VAC System over-haul. New Motor, a few valves, vac elements, etc.  Converted to R134 - needs a recharge every other year.

(17) New Motor Mounts

(18) New Ignition Tumbler & Keys. The old one was loose and driving me crazy.

(19) German Auto Services in Southern Maine completed the following in the Fall of 2013:  German Auto Services acquired a 300TD engine from a car that had 85,000 miles on it & we transplanted into my car as the original engine had some blowback.  At the time, we replaced every hose & gasket possible.  At the same time, we rebuilt the transmision.  Bascially, the car's heart has 87,000 miles the tranny has 2k on the clock.  There is a small tranny pan leak & so it will have to be dropped & a new gasket installed. 

The wagon needs the following:  (1) Cruise control amplifier & (2) Radio Antennae does not go up and down smoothly. It has a non-factory radio that I installed a few years ago with IPOD hook up as well as four new Boston A speakers.  The sun in Cali most likely has done it's job on the dash so when I purchased the car.. it arrived with a Coverlay dash cover. My intentions were to change out the dash with one that I have, but I have not gotten around to it.  The car was been painted fifteen years ago... It looks good from ten feet, but there is a little overspray here and there & I think that it should either be repainted someday or wet sanded, etc. The interior needs very little; it is very nice. It has the typical fading in the rear (no third seat by the way) and a dog has scratched up the tailgate trim.  The woodwork is in good condition, carpets are good & I would say overall... the interior is a 7.5/10.  If the seats were restained, a few pieces of trim replaced, the interior could be a solid 9.  Not a show car, but a great daily driver.  There is a little rust in the sun roof well that was caused by a clogged drain at some piont in it's life.  There is also a small rust spot on the drivers side rear quarter panel shown in one of the pictures.  It was there ten years ago and has slowly doubled in size.  A very easy fix but I have always held off as I planned to strip the entire car and paint it... The headlight doors should be replaced as they are cracked.

Bottom Line... This car is very well sorted out, 99 % rust free and with very little work will be a wonderful example of maybe one of the best cars ever made. (I am getting 26 mph on straight diesel, no conversion system) You can drive from Maine back to Cali right now with no issues at all. She drives as it should, no pull, no break problems... smooth as a vintage Mercedes should drive. All the glass is great, Chrome is great... .aluminum window trim needs a weekend of polishing. Carpets and MB-TEX are in great condition. One tear in drivers seat, easy repair.  You will be very hard pressed to find one in this condition on the East Coast.  As far as the mileage, to the best of my knowledge... there is about 125k on the body, 87k on the new engine & a few k on the rebuilt tranny.  The odometer says 197k, but I replaced it years ago.  So, not much matches... but this car is a GEM & ready to go 200-300k.  The perfect car for you college kid if you want a safe tank that gets good MPG's.  Overall, I have put about 35-40k on the car... every mile has been a joy to drive.  Uncle FRED is the car's name by the way.

The four wheels are in fantastic shape, spare is similar. Spare tire was the best of the last of the tires that I removed when replacing the set. There are no big dents or significant scratches on the MB. There are two scuffs about the size of a nickel, one on the drivers door that happened when the door was opened into the post of a lift this past winter and the other on the right rear quarter that was there when I purchased the car. It doesn't bother me because I have always planned on re-spraying the car when the mechanical work was completed. If you clay bar the car or had it professionally buffed, the paint would really be improved... but I suggest that whomever buys the car plans on painting someday. The car would be 99% if had a proper two stage paint.   

The interior.... If you know MB 300TD's, you know that almost everyone in existence has a carpet fading problem in the third seat row area. This one is faded, and the spare tire carrier carpet is rough; I would say the worst part of the MB. Again, hunting on EBAY and you can find one much better for cheap money.

I am so anal about the condition of my vehicles that I just want to make sure to convey everything. This is not a show car, but again... a very well sorted out MB that could be spectacular with some paint and a few odd's and end's.  I have sold about 100k of cars and motorycycles on EBAY, all my stuff is exactly as described. If you need more pictures, email me. It is very easy to mail additional pictures as the car is inside my office...