Mercedes-Benz 300-Series

This 1985 300D Turbo Mercedes was converted to run on vegetable oil - which is why I bought this car. It was represented as being road-worthy and driveable from Tampa to Washington, DC. I spent 2 weeks in Daytona Beach, FL having $4K worth of work done on ther car. I made it home finally and it had to go to the shop again b/c the window wouldn't roll back up and it was about to rain. Two weeks later, the transmission went. After 2 months of owning this car, I have been able to drive it a total of 8 days. I got it for $3800 (Buy it Now was $6500) and have since put $11K into it. I actually don't mind, b/c the engine and the body are fine and it is converted to vegetable oil (not that I've been able to use that feature yet!), but I just wish the car had not been represented as being "road worthy."

When I was a child in (born 1958) the people who bought Mercedes tended to be engineers. Cars like the 300D were the reason why. To be sure, it's a well thought out car, well designed but not over designed. Crafted to last - probably longer than the typical American wants it to.

I have owned a previous model, a 1981 240D, that I put 90K miles on(purchased with 180K). I sold it only because my wife insisted we by a car with two airbags (my son was starting to drive.) I grew convinced that with proper maintanence, that car would literally last forever. The family who bought it from me is still driving it and has put almost 100K more on it. Just a warning though, you'll spend almost as much in maintenance as you would on a car payment on a "disposable" car.

If you can stand the lack of acceleration (no, the turbo doesn't really help that much) you'll be impressed by how well the car handles itself at highway speed.

If you are looking for a plush, ultra cushy car with all the trimmings, no, this is not the Mercedes you want. If you want a full size car that will last forever - look into it.

This could be / should be a great car. My particular experience has been soured by non-disclosed mechanical issues, confronting me with a $2,000+ bill within 24 hours (and 10 miles driving) of taking delivery. Added to the problem is that my particular car has a lot of hidden rust (previously owned in Maryland, even though I bought it in NC). The repairs to the engine and addressing the rust would far exceed the value of the car - which is a real shame, as the car was well presented and with an excellent interior. Learning from my experience - have the car thoroughly and professionally inspected prior to purchase (do not rely on seller's description, undertakings and photos). Parts are expensive and they are also very labor-intensive to fit.

Would I have another one? Yes, if I followed the advice above!

The car advertised was not the car I received. It said "good condition and A/C blows cold." The car had no brakes and the estimate was $2000 and the A/C did not blow at all. Ebay did not help and falsely laid claim and misrepresented itself since on the actual car listing it said it was eligible for the VPP. It was not and that should not have been on there.
The seller has since changed his account name from chriscoolie to Action-Intel... why? This is him running away from a bad situation and from a lying to me. Ebay, after many contacts from me, did nothing.
My first experience with an eBay purchase has been horrible. The car does not work and was not pictured as represented. I do not recommend anyone buying cars from eBay since eBay does not follow through and only wants their fees. The car was falsely advertised in every way and it does not work. So beware of your purchase and beware of the seller Action-Intel. His name is Brandon Moosy and lives in Dallas, TX and he is not a good person. He stopped all correspondence with me and will not give me money to help with repairs.

The mid-1980's Mercedes are incredibly well made, solid cars. This one probably retailed new for $35,000 24 years ago and I paid $3,100. I think I could part it out for that much. It had been well maintained and that is the key with these cars.

The diesel engine will last half a million miles if you take care of it. That means regular oil changes and fuel filter changes. It is an easy car to work on to do the basic maintenance. No computers or electronic BS that requires expensive "factory trained technicians."

With diesel still under $3.00/gallon, it does not make a lot of sense to do a WVO conversion at this point. If diesel doubles, I'll consider it. You have to meticulously change your fuel filters if you are running WVO and be prepared for a premature death of your expensive fuel pump.


Only issues so far have been replacing the worn alternator belt and plugging a vacuum leak that was causing the transmission to shift "hard." Many of the systems on these cars run off vacuum so you really have to be mindful of leaks.

Very comfortable car. On the highway, it rides like a dream. A little clunky around town, but I feel very safe in this car.

If you are considering buying one of these, get to know the operations of a diesel first and ask for all maintenance records. Be sure the oil and transmission fluids were changed regularly. Other weak points on these models are the original radios (garbage) and the A/C system.

I decided to buy this car because I was looking to replace a Mercedes 300TD and, even though I could have afforded a new car, I knew nothing can really compare with the Mercedes made in this era. When I saw this 300 series for the Ebay price, I "bought it now" without hesitation and, so far, it has been the wisest move I can remember making. I picked it up in California and drove it to Texas over back roads, day and night, no trouble, totally smooth, comfortable and enjoyable. If you've never experienced a Mercedes you won't know what I mean by the feeling of being in command in conditions that might be kind of scary in any other car. It's very different.
This is a massive, overengineered tank of a car with the 4-wheel independent suspension and six cylinder turbocharged diesel engine that make it feel a lot more light and nimble than it should. The particular car I bought had the kind of obsessive care that these cars seem to inspire and, even though it is 22 years old, it seems like it's about 2.
The features are totally modern - climate control, power adj. seats, power sunroof with two configurations, AM-FM CD with power antenna, lit mirrors on both visors, alloy wheels that are chrome plated (how do they do that?), windshield squirter fluid level warning light plus the other usual warning lights, first aid kit, etc. And, even though there are the usual "idiot lights", there are analog gauges for oil pressure and engine temperature. There is an analog speedometer and (on an automatic!) an analog tachometer. The front seats are heated - if you were in the Alps at night in the winter, this might not seem so much like overkill.
Since, in Europe, the cars only use headlights in the country with no oncoming traffic (running lights only anywhere else), the dashboard lights don't have to be nuclear-level bright so, to American eyes the instrument lights will seem pretty dim.
The natural fuel economy of diesel engines slightly more than offsets the higher price per gallon and the enormous range of the full tank gives you a secure feeling when driving over stretches where diesel stations might be scarce. You can even make your own fuel (diesels were originally invented to run on peanut oil) and biodiesel is getting to be a widely available thing. Since diesels run by compression ignition, started up by glowplugs, they have no ignition system with sparkplugs, so the black helicopters can't track you by the radio noise sparkplugs give off - the Germans think of everything.
Get one of these in good condition for a reasonable price and then plan on spending that much again to cherry it out and keep it for the next million miles or so.

After having owned one of these back in Germany I was not surprised. If you are looking to a 22 year old car that is all in all pretty much original you have to give Daimler Benz compliments about the shape a car with good over 200,000 miles is in. The seller advertised it with 129,000, but doing my homework and pulling a carfax I found that some work had been done 2 years ago and the odometer reading was 176,000 at that time. Though the seller had obviously lied about some facts (mileage, no accident (it had a light front accident easily visible by the new radiator, the missing A/C condenser and some crumpeling in the structure holding the radiator in place)) and had advertised the wonderful gas mileage the car would get with (obviously homemade) his on demand hydrogen generators (he even provided an invoice from some shady mexican Mercedes dealership) the car is what it is, 22 years old and still kicking. I didn't expect any "miracle bargain" and those cars have by design a gas mileage of 30 mpg - pretty good for a 2500 lbs full size vehicle. The thing that blew my away was that Mercedes Benz still honored on this car with a salvaged title a recall for the faulty diesel catalyst (trap oxidizer) and gave me a brandnew exhaust system including turbo charger for free. This is service! Others than that I would recommend to the seller, to be honest with future buyers. I am pretty satisfied with this car and I knew that I would have to invest some TLC and money - 22 years is 22 years and the price fair. The seller delivered the car to my house at a very reasonable rate and the car was what I had expected, so I gave him positive feedback on the deal. If he wouldn't have lied about so many things in his description and responded to some of my many emails after the deal asking him simple questions, for example the faceplate of the radio was missing though it was on his pictures. I was asking if I could buy it from him and if he still had it and that I wouldn't get upset, if not. He never responded and so I threw the radio and the CD changer in the trash. This is just not good style!
As for the car. It runs and I have fun fixing the little querks one after another. Domestic manufacturers and dealerships could learn quite a bit from Mercedes. Service makes customers come back and they are prepared to pay for good service.

This car surprised me very much as to all the problems I had to deal with after the purchase and only 88,000 miles. (wiper arm was stripped and changed positions often) (Hard starting, needed electrical box $575) (Brakes needed to be bleed) (Tie rod needed replacement) (Heater blower needed replacing) (Motor oil leaking from valve cover) (Transmission line leaking) (Water pump leaking)(Steering dampener needed replacing) (ABS light stays on)The owner swore that the car was in very good shape and only started hard. I owned another car same model and year and seemed to be bullet proof.

US Auto Limited Ft lauderdale FL or Deerfield beach
Buyer beware they suck US Auto Limited Ft lauderdale FL or Deerfield beach
Buyer beware they suck US Auto Limited Ft lauderdale FL or Deerfield beach
Buyer beware they suck US Auto Limited Ft lauderdale FL or Deerfield beach
Buyer beware they suck US Auto Limited Ft lauderdale FL or Deerfield beach
Buyer beware they suck

Stay away from all 90s 3.5 L. diesels.These engines were made fast like the Chevy 350 converted to diesel.If you buy save money for a Better engine,from a SDL.