1981 Mercedes-Benz 300-Series

Wagon

3.0 liter turbodiesel

Automatic

WDBAB93A9BN005063

Clear

Diesel

I'm the guy who bought this from the prior seller a couple weeks ago. Only thing is, My wife did not appreciate the car as much as I do. Another way of saying that is my wife told me to get rid of the car or sleep with the dog. Now, I love my dog, but I love my wife way more, so I have to reluctantly sell this after owning it only about 6 weeks. The prior eBay listing for this item was 261124808968. That record is still available, and his description based on more long-term information than mine, so please refer to that listing. I will also include his description below, but will add my own comments first. It starts, runs, and drives well. It needs a thermostat and monovalve. I have the parts, as I ordered them before the axe fell. The car does not get to temp, and even when it's close, the heat is sketchy. If you're familiar with these, you know about the monovalve. Easy, common repair. The transmission shifts hard, and flares between 3rd and 4th. Again, common. There are some great online DIY articles on this, it's a matter of vacuum adjustment. The odometer does not work. It registers about 92,xxx miles. The prior owner wrote the mileage as 96,356, based on his usage. I drove it maybe another hundred miles. I agree with the prior owner that the mileage is about right, but I felt like you should know about the odometer. Apparently this is also a common problem for this model (I didn't know about this one like I did the monovalve and the transmission flare). There is a metal cog on the odometer that is just seated on a rotating shalt, and you have to use loctite (or, like one guy, get access to a dentist's drill!) to keep the cog and the gear together. Although the odo doen'st work, I wouldn't let that scare you. The prior lister was completely straight with me, and I believe this car has about 96,500 miles. The hatch does not stay up. It needs new struts, which I have, as I ordered them when I ordered the thermostat and monovalve. The central locking system does not work. Vacuum I suppose. Common on these, I understand. Diesels and vacuum are tough together. The prior owner told me the a/c doesn't work. I believe him, but have not looked into it. Yes, it was really owned by Danielle Steele. I hope I'm not scaring anyone off by including the above info. All these issues were present when I bought the car. They are all minor, and I am unaware of anything more serious than the stuff that I have listed, and the stuff that was contained in the prior listing. I have owned and worked on W126s and currently have and work on a W140. I have had and worked on a MB diesels (300SDL). I am familiar, generally, with the W123. I am not a Mercedes mechanic, though. I can make no representations about the car other than what was in the prior listing, and my own observations for the last 100 miles or so. So, another way to look at it is that a local guy who isn't a mechanic but like working on old Mercedes cars looked it over, drove it for a couple of weeks, and said everything checked out. I am not affiliated with the prior lister, and was frankly surprised that I hadn't seen the car around town before I bought it. I take my feedback seriously. I have given my observations of the car as best I can. But, I am not a mechanic, and I've only had the car a couple of weeks. The car is being sold as is, where is, and I offer no guarantees whatsoever. I would NOT drive the car cross-country without changing the thermostat and monovalve. I will install both, if the successful bidder wants. Or, if you want to do it yourself, that's fine. Once those are done, I believe it would do well enough to drive, but I'm not guaranteeing it. I drove it to a town 30 miles from here and back. Other than the low engine temp and lack of heat, it was fine. To follow is the prior listing. Everything after this point is the prior owner's statements, not mine: Listed is a 1981 Mercedes Benz W123 300TD Wagon in the rare black variety. The photos don't show the hood ornament it is installed and on there. i can provide additional photos to those interested.A few points to mention about this vehicle:When I first received this vehicle approximately 1 year ago I immediately replaced all the injectors with Monarch diesel injectors. I also replaced some worn out rubber on the rear axle drive boots and at that time replaced the differential oil. Other than that the vehicle has needed minimal work outside of oil changes(currently using rotella 5w40 T6 synthetic). I also just replaced all the glow plugs and can assure you that this vehicle cranks and starts with minimal effort. The exterior of this car is quite nice for a car of this age I would personally rate it at 85/100 with some small scuffs but nothing serious to note. Before it got cold I washed and waxed it to help protect it through the cold months ahead. Interior has a little more character then the exterior. The dash has the standard cracks that come associated with these vehicles. The seats are all in good shape and the medical box and all manuals are still there. The underbody of the vehicle has no rust to speak of. for the folks that may be interested this vehicle will come with the plate that was attached to these vehicles that these vehicles were built for, this particular one was built for the author Danielle Steele.if i can answer any other questions i would be happy to. On Nov-07-12 at 18:51:15 PST, seller added the following information: a number of people have mentioned the issue of oil spots on the driveway in these photos. since the photos have been taken, oil leaks have been addressed and fixed. your pavement should stay dry! the mileage is accurate! before i purchased this vehicle and ran a carfax on it myself and all mileage was accounted for. the engine is not rebuilt or swapped. the carfax listed a very extensive history of service work done by the mercedes benz of san franciso where this car is originally from.On Nov-08-12 at 16:13:56 PST, seller added the following information: more information that seems to be need attention!the SLS for this vehicle is working and both accumulators were replaced shortly after i got the car. this included a flush of the system and new filter. the car originates in San Francisco and has been owned by me for the last 15 months or so. Those interested in its ability to drive cross country I can't really give you any kind of guarantees. I've driven it just about everyday for the past year and have taken some small trips totaling around 700 miles round trip. I've never had any issues that needed attention on the road and everything to date has been minor. Please continue to email me your questions and feel free to call me anytime just remember i'm CST. mechanic, though.