Used Car of the Day: 1985 Mercedes-Benz 300D

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Once again we're plucking a Mercedes diesel from our forums -- in this case, it's a 1985 Mercedes-Benz 300.


This California-model car is actually based in Eugene, Oregon. The seller says the car has been "impeccably" maintained and that the service records all the way back to the original purchase are available.

Recent maintenance includes oil, fuel, coolant, and transmission service, new front brake pads, new rear axle CV boots, new differential oil, and a valve adjustment.

The mileage is high -- over 269K -- and there is some minor rust.

There are spare parts available.

If you want to pick up an old diesel Mercedes-Benz for a relatively low price, the ask is $4,700.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • Irvingklaws 2005 Honda Accord at about 125k miles - oil change, replace bad starter (also intake gasket), front and rear brakes, state inspection, about $1200 at a local garage. Front brakes were replaced free under warrantee because they were done last year. 2015 Mazda CX-5 with 102k - Took to dealer to diagnose "clunk" on takeoff and transmission slow to engage. After pointing out an apparent transmission leak and that nearly every bushing/boot under the car is cracked and/or failing in their inspection video, service techs said everything "looked safe". They tightened the cowl bolts in an (unsuccessful) attempt to address the clunk, completely side-stepped the transmission leak ("...it's a sealed unit, we can't touch it except to replace it entirely...") and charged me $450. About $33k to replace it with a new '24 Forester. Will be working on diagnosing and reconditioning the Mazda myself in the coming days...🙂
  • Ezekiel sani
  • GS340Pete All new cars, repairs only, in chronological order:1996 Eagle Vision Tsi: $400 in repairs in 90k miles, and an under warranty fuel rail replacement. Did I get lucky? 2001.5 VW 'New Jetta' 1.8T auto. Transmission self-destructed within six months. "You're lucky this was under warranty, this would have been like 11 grand." Traded it immediately. Electrical gremlins started showing up too. 2002 Nissan Pathfinder. One $400 repair out of warranty, 02 sensor, in 100k miles.2012 Nissan Maxima, $0 in 24k.2013 Nissan Altima, $0 in 50k.2014 Dodge Charger AWD. $400 sensor out of warranty in 130k. Again, did I get lucky?
  • 1995 SC The Ridgeline is too new so nothing yet.The FIAT needed a tire (nail in the sidewall) and a lower steering column cover and a set of wipers. Around 200 bucksThe 30 year old Thunderbird has been needy this year. Just did fuel injectors to add to belts, hoses, motor mounts, exhaust manifold gasket, shocks and a bunch of caps replaced on various modules.Rear main has developed a small leak so I will probably have the transmission gone through when I drop it. I want to do a few things to it. I have some upgraded front calipers too but they are junk yard parts I rebuilt. Like I said, it has been needy this year but old cars do that sometimes
  • Tane94 Mini annual oil change at dealership, synthetic oil and new filter, $129 but sometimes $99 when a coupon is offered.
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