1987 Mercedes-Benz 300-Series

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.

when i saw the benz in person, i knew it needed some work. but after getting it home, with my wifes help, that car is now a great deal. it cleaned up real well, and the salesman made this transaction very smooth, thanks

Mercedes built a very good automobile. Smoothe ride and very good fuel economy.the major reason for the purchase was the diesel option.

This vehicle is not as described and has major undisclosed defects including questionable odometer (has broken more than once, leaving actual mileage on car unknown), non-functioning gas gauge (owner claims it works, if you know how to "read it right", but when asked how he could tell when car was empty, he said he would watch how many miles he put on a tank of gas), major paint scratches not shown in pictures, interior dome lights in rear non-functional, unknown function on rear seat belts, and a dirty/ stained interior. We highly suspect pictures were tampered with to show the car in better condition than it was.

THIS IS THE 2ND ONE I HAVE BOUGHT OFF OF EBAY .I LOVE THE FIRST ONE SO MY SON NEEDED A DEPENDABLE CAR FOR SCHOOL . I LIKE THE OTHER ONE SO WELL SO I SERCHED FOR ONE LIKE IT .THE MILEAGE IS GREAT ,IT RIDE REAL SMOOTH & I HAVE HAD NO BREAK DOWS SO FAR . IF I NEED ANOTHER CAR I WILL TRY TO FIND ANOTHER 300D.

Don't forget we are talking about a 20yr old car. When I got there to pick up the car there was a problem with the a/c, a relay, but seller got it fixed before I left. From there I got in the car and drove it 1400 miles and the only other problems were the instrument cluster gave me some trouble and a couple fuel injectors leaked fuel. The seller is sending me a replacement instrument cluster and I replaced the o-rings on the injectors and that fixed that. So right now I am very happy with my 87 mercedes that I am hoping to burn biodiesel in real soon. I would recommend seller to friends. Thanks

First - this is a 21 year-old car. It did cost me $1,000 to get a state inspection sticker, but this state is tough as an inspection sticker is good for 2 years and I had all the work performed by a Certified Mercedes Master Mechanic. This 300D is still a great riding and handling car with a suprising amount of power. I bought this Benz because of it's reputation for being able to last a long, long time. The initial problems encountered were due more to the previous owners neglect than faults with the design. As I catch up on the maintenance cycle and basic cosmetic chores, the car is responding and looking better every week. These old Benzes still turn heads!

Mercedes Benz has a reputation for quality but recently has seen a decline in servicability. The new cars are hard to work on and have too many electronic systems. 1987 300SDL is the last hand built luxery diesel sedan Mercedes Benz will ever build.I am not a mechanic but I have found enough information at mbusa.com to do some repairs on my car with very satisfying results.