Mercedes 240D For Sale Sold! $2500

'79 240D

240D, 1979. $2500   Perfect for Biodiesel
e-mail: jimc@dogear.com or telephone: (509) 926-7801

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

The extras, that is! Some extra parts/items can go with the car, if the new owner wants them. (I would always want such items, but as my wife so cruelly points out, not everybody is like me!)

Pictures:

Exterior

Interior

Engine

Why Selling?

This car was bought as an experiment to see if this could be done as a (modestly) profitable venture while I am out of work. I found a non-running car that looked like it could be cleaned up with a little work, and then got it running. And then cleaned it up. As you might expect, it took a vast amount more time than I ever would have thought, and many more parts, but the car turned out nice! At least in the process I learned some things, so I don't begrudge (too much) the time involved. Over 100 hours of repairs and TLC, I could probably have made more money with this time ("You want fries with that?"), but at least I've been able to be home with my family. I can't say that I really want to do another one of these, though!

This car would make an excellent highway cruiser with its extra-large fuel tank system (and functioning cruise control). A fine choice for biodiesel operation as you only have to fill up every 1000 miles, so limited availability of fuel is not such an issue. (MB diesels also have the most robust fuel system of any of the automotive diesels, and can run well on nearly anything.) We took the car on a long road trip and filled up once in Idaho (cheaper fuel) before we left, and again when we got back. 1024 miles. We would have filled up twice on the road in any of our other similar cars, for more money (WA fuel tax, and sometimes you're not near the best price in an area or don't know where it is). We really enjoyed blowing past our usual filling stops, and the long range gave us considerable peace of mind. The auxiliary tank cuts into the trunk space, but there was enough to start with that we got all of the luggage for a family of three's five-day road trip in there anyway, along with a toolbox and protective clothing for a potential trip to the junkyard. We didn't have to put any of it up front with us. (Except the snack bag, but where else would you want that?)

After the trip the car was running better than ever, and I wouldn't hesitate tomorrow to jump in the car and drive it anywhere.

Oh, and if you're curious I have no intention of repeating the experiment. It takes far too much time to bring a car back to this condition compared to what you can sell it for. No problem if it's sweat equity in a ride you really want for yourself, but otherwise...

Things to do Someday, Maybe

The car is ready to go, but some things you might need or want to attend to in the future. (This is true of any older car.) If the car remains local and I remain available I may be willing to contract to do any of these items.

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