Surprisingly, no.

This is the Bay Area, and there's a large market for hybrid vehicles.
Many people use them as some sort of political statement.

I bought it at $20k-and-change in '03. I got an offer for $15k the other
day. With about $6k of bodywork put into it[1], it would seem that I
would come out slightly ahead. Even without the bodywork, I'm rather
surprised that a low-volume, never-very-popular car hasn't depreciated
far more than that.

2000-2002 Insights are selling on eBayMotors for about $10k, and they
have ~100k miles. This only has 20.5k, which is quite good.

Getting back to the Mercedes, I'm curious...on one hand, you say that
"they /are/ that reliable", yet also say that "248k is too much to buy".
How does that work?

Unfortunately, late-80s/early-90s 300D series vehicles with less than
$100k miles do not seem to exist, at least not on Craigslist, which has
numerous ones locally. Many of them have in excess of 200k miles. That's
what's in my budget, and the years when Mercedes seems to have made Good
Diesel Engines. Newer ones are much too expensive for me, and there are
several years where the number of diesels produced was rather low.

[1] Again, the body is rather...delicate.

Indeed. Hopefully by running on free waste vegetable oil, I should be
able to cut expenses even more.

I don't mind doing work like that on the car (leaving the oil and major
work to the shop), in fact, I'd rather like it. :)

I agree. That doesn't make much sense.

I'm going down today to examine and possibly test-drive a 1992 300D,
which has 198k miles. According to the owner, it's in good-plus
condition. Obviously, a thorough examination will determine if that's
the case.

While perhaps selling a 2-year-old car for a 20-year-old car isn't the
wisest of choice, selling it for a 13-year-old-car would be a bit
better. About 50k less mileage, less wear-and-tear on the car, etc.
Probably a better AC too.

There's another car, an '87 300D with only 119k miles which might also
be something to consider. Same price as the '92, though I may be able to
negotiate a bit on both vehicles -- they're asking double the Blue Book
private-party price.

The guy selling the '83 veggie-oil car also does conversions for a
living. I inquired as to the cost of converting the engine to veggie-oil
(it can, of course, burn regular diesel as well) and what the cost of a
home filtering/fueling station would be. It would be a far better choice
to get a better vehicle with fewer miles on it and do the conversion
than get an older, more worn vehicle with the conversion kit already
installed.

And I certainly wouldn't feel uncomfortable selling my 20,500 mile
Insight for a 119k Mercedes. 250k, that's a bit much. 198k...I'm not
sure. Depends on the rest of the vehicle and a thorough inspection.

Amazingly enough, I just got an offer for $16k for the Insight, which is
excellent. We'll see. :)

Long time no see.  Looooong holiday...?

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]

But weren't the '91 engines problematic?

cp

Indeed.

Update: Today I personally inspected[1] a 1992 300D (not sure of any
sub-models, but it had a turbo). 198k miles, but according to the wear
on the mats and pedals, it looks to be almost entirely highway miles.

Current owner says he bought it from a woman who used it almost entirely
for highway driving back in 2001, and intended to ship it down to
Uruguay, where he lives for a few months out of the year (gas is
expensive and diesel is cheap there). Turns out that shipping is quite
expensive, and one would need to pay an import tax based on the
Uruguayan sale price, which is nearly double that here in the US.

According to him, he's only put about 3k miles on it since he bought it,
as he drives a Volkswagen around a lot more. Car's been garaged with a
cover for all that time. He says the previous owner also kept it garaged.

Body is in incredible condition, with only a few very minor dents (but
no associated paint scratching or cracking -- no signs of impact either)
and scuffs on the plastic of the bumper. Far less than I'd expect for a
13 year old car.

Interior looks really great too. Only problems I noted here were that
the ABS light was on (seller said he'd investigate and have it repaired
if necessary before the sale), and a small crack in the fake-wood trim
right by the ignition, as if someone missed the keyhole with the key. As
long as the ABS works, the little plastic bit doesn't concern me much.
Hardly a deal-breaker -- are these pieces available on eBay? Could one
just secure them with adhesive after removing the old one? All
electrical, rubber, and other parts I could readily access look to be
great. Lights are bright, with no flickering. Everything looks solid.
The only odd things was that the oil-pressure gauge kept going between 1
and 3 depending on if I was pushing on the gas or not (is that normal?)
and that the temperature gauge seemed a bit low, (~60C), even after 15
minutes on a test drive.

Engine looks to be incredibly good. No signs of being steam-cleaned, or
otherwise made to appear better than it is. Normal grit and grime from
an engine compartment is present, but things look clean. Hoses are
supple, engine sounds good (though has a sort of metallic ticking noise
when running, which I believe is normal for diesels). Transmission was
smooth, and handled cruising (with and without cruise control, which
worked) and strong, higher-rev acceleration on onramps. I didn't want to
goose this guy's engine too hard, as it /is/ his car, but it seems to
have sufficient performance for my need. He also had European-style
headlights (which I like better) installed fairly recently, for reasons
unknown. My friend says that it may appear that the hood had been
repainted at some time, possibly by the previous owner [he made no
mention of there being any trouble with the hood, even when asked
specifically about any front damage]. No big deal, as it's a really
professional job, if it was in fact repainted.

Externally, the tires and wheels look great -- plenty of tread, and it's
the eight-hole wheels, which look really good on this car and color
(dark grey finish, with lighter gray interior). Very professional
looking. Suspension seems to work well -- one hardly notices cornering,
and speed bumps feel smooth and barely noticeable. Definitely has a
luxury car feel to it.

The guy wants $8,500, but he said he's willing to deal, and is willing
for my mechanic to examine it. I can probably talk him down to $5-6k,
which seems a bit more reasonable.

I like to consult with my father as a mentor in things involving Large
Sums of Money. He says that having 198k on it is too much, and that it's
going to fall apart at the seams. I didn't get a feeling for that at all
-- everything seemed to be in top-notch working order. It sure looks
that with regular maintenance the car could definitely make it another
200k, but I'll leave that to the qualified judgement of my mechanic, who
has a great knack for estimating such things.

Then again, my dad says that if someone offered him the exact same
Toyota Avalon he owns today, with 100k miles, service records, service
performed at regular intervals, he wouldn't take it simply because of
the miles on it, even if offered for a reasonable price. My folks are
very much in the "buy something new" category, and rarely if ever buy
used anything.

As an econ major way back in college, and as a marketer for 27 years, I
trust my dad (and my mother, who also was an econ major and a VP at a
major bank for several years) with financial information and decisions.
Neither of them are remotely mechanically inclined, and certainly not
familiar with cars. Thus, they tend to immediately reject things they
don't understand.

It's my impression that Mercedes diesel engines can run in excess of
400k if maintained regularly. This car appears to be an exceptionally
high-quality vehicle (and I like the 1992 body more than the 1980s-type
bodies), even with 198k miles on the clock.

I have a few pictures, and can make them available upon request.

Any comments, anything in particular for to be concerned about with the
1992 series of diesels? This one has a distinctive luxury-car feel about
it, and seems to be running well.

Thanks again to all for your help.

[1] And brought a friend who's more knowledgeable about such things. Two
pairs of eyes, and all...

noooooo!!

Had enough of Benzes?

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

[...]