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Long X-Country Road Trip in an Old Benz
Have you ever wanted to make a cross-country road trip in a 30 plus-year-old Mercedes? I have always thought it a little “risky” unless the car was thoroughly checked over. I usually recommend if you are purchasing a car that old from “afar” you might want to consider having to truck it to your location. We have heard from a number of our customers who have made such a trip successfully and suggest I might be a little too cautious. A couple years ago I sold a 1980 240D to a buyer on the East Coast. I suggested he truck the car back east but he was adamant about driving it. Turned out he was a retired pilot, was not in a hurry, wanted an adventure, and was willing to take the “risks.” The more I tried to discourage him the more he wanted to do it. He really stressed the importance of this “late-life adventure.” Since I wanted him to “make it” I went ahead and did a bunch more worked on the car that I did not charge him for because I admired his courage. He flew into Bellingham and off he went in a 240D with a four-speed manual transmission. It took a while, but he made it without a problem.
When I recently thought about selling some of my old diesels I decided I wanted to “offer” this type of adventure to others. It would mean I would have to do more work on the cars to get them ready and I would have to charge for the work. :-) This means these Mercedes will be more expensive than the average old diesel you might see on Craigslist, BUT most need the work anyway - so it will all be done BEFORE you buy the car. Don’t forget the old saying, “there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes!
Over the next few months, I am going to offer 3 of my diesels for sale first to our customers ( so if you are on our mailing list you will be the first to hear about them). The only conditions I have are twofold: 1) The buyer must have enough mechanical experience that he could perform simple repairs along the way if needed. 2) The buyer must be willing to drive the car at least 1000 miles cross county and report back to us with some pictures and a story of the trip. The first one I am offering is my very special white 1979 300SD. With a little more work this one could be a show car, but it is not a garage queen. Extensive work has been done to it over the past couple years to make sure it will drive comfortably, safely, and reliably across the country. Rather than tell you more about this car in this email, I will give you the link to the full description, with many pictures and details of the work done. CLICK HERE if you want to learn more. https://mercedessource.com/store/kents-beautiful-white-1979-300sd-sale
Just putting the finishing touches on the 300SD this past week. Look at the video on it getting a new hood pad! https://youtu.be/uyRDnAhbzoY
I will also be offering up two W123 diesels that I am currently “going through.” You will learn more about these in my next newsletter.
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I also have a couple of parts cars for sale without engines for transmissions. These, of course, MUST be trailered. :-) Both are rolling chassis and have excellent interiors and other good sheet metal parts.
1968 W108 White Sedan with 67,000 original miles - the body is rust and damage free and amazing black interior. https://mercedessource.com/store/1968-280s-sedan-parts-car-sale-body-shell-and-interior-rolling-chassis
1980 W116 Green Sedan with 130,000 original miles - the body has right front end damage but rare green vinyl interior https://mercedessource.com/store/w116-300sd-280se-450se-complete-green-interior-mbtex-rolling-chassis
SPECIAL 50 PERCENT OFF SALE on all my PDF manuals going on now. CHECK OUT the full list of manuals. https://mercedessource.com/store/search?onsale[0]=1
Safe X-Country motoring. Hope to see one of you in Bellingham, Wa. sometime soon.
Kent Bergsma