As car enthusiasts, we all have our preferences. While some lines can’t be crossed, there are certain vehicles that are so useful in that one thing they do better than any other model that exceptions can be made in terms of our brand loyalties. While I may be a fan of old and expensive German tin, I’ll always consider a clean Fox body as a worthy addition to my garage. In the same vein, I feel most of can appreciate how overbuilt the W123 lineup of Mercedes-Benz products are, even if you’d otherwise never consider owning a finicky European make. Check out this clean 1982 Mercedes 300TD wagon listed here on craigslist for a somewhat heady price of $30,000.
Thanks to Barn Finds reader Barney for the tip. Now, a few years ago, prices took off on the best-of-the-best W123s. We actually saw a wagon wearing a rare shade of Petrol Blue paint sell for $100,000 in January of 2024. That was an outlier for sure but it did put the world on notice that exceptionally clean W123s had a new audience in terms of what they were willing to spend; no longer could you assume that such a vehicle would only appear to a college professor in Vermont. The car shown here has average miles for a W123 but still presents incredibly well, with an interior that looks like it belongs in a car with far fewer miles than the 236,000 on the clock.
But therein lines the great appeal of the W123: even when the miles are high, they are really aren’t. The interior materials hold up incredibly well, just like the overbuilt drivetrains. The bodywork on this particular car also looks to be outstanding relative to the number of years it’s been on the road, and the cosmetics are greatly enhanced with the addition of European-style headlights. The seller notes that the 3.0-liter turbodiesel inline-five runs well and has been regularly serviced; in stock form, it makes a respectable 119 horsepower and 170 lb-ft of torque.
The only reason for the sale is due to a pending move out of the country, and as this was the seller’s second car, it’s not making the journey (plus, due to the reliability of W123s, you can still find them in almost any international market.) The black paint is unusual on this chassis, as we mostly see blues, whites, browns, and silver; it’s a refreshing change of pace and makes the car seem more intimidating than it really is. The wagon would be my preferred choice of a W123, and the turbodiesel makes all the difference in this car being easy to live with on a daily basis. The price is top dollar but if the car is as good as it looks in person, it could be worth it.
Not too often you see one of these. Quite impressive although I’d have a challenge getting my wife to look at a station wagon.
Worked on lots of MB Ds and TDs. Not much to worry about there except that the turbo engines have an LDA/ADA (smoke control) that is set to the (Zero Smoke–Zero Fire) from the factory. I had lots of injection pumps on the test bench and when I was finished with them, you’d get a small puff of black out the tailpipe but at least when you pulled away from a stop light you would continue to accelerate through the intersection instead of getting the sensation of applying the brakes the moment the boost started coming up.
Never had any repercussions from customers, even those in CA (and I had some CA cars come through our shop).
I know I’ve said this before but I’ve seen some of these loosen the balancer and have the crankshaft timing sprocket oscillate back and forth, often causing the keyway in the crankshaft to erode. Some to the point where we had to send the crank out and get the keyway repaired.
Before this model came out there was an ongoing campaign change on the 240 and 300D. Every time the car came in for (any kind of) work, it was required to check the condition of the camshaft for pitted or rounded-off lobes. Yes, even an MB had camshaft failures.
Interesting because at that same time we were experiencing a lot of camshaft failures with gas engines from all over the country. I found it curious that camshaft failures began when the API changed the spec from SE/CC to SE/CD, and when the spec change to SF, camshaft failures stopped.
Coincidence?
Another interesting note was that I had a lot of farmer customers with MB diesels and American gas pots who had ZERO camshaft failures; the oil they used was the same as they put in their turbocharged field tractors and highway trucks.
I told a lot of customers to draw their own conclusions…
Only about 32 years left on that engine…before it needs a tune up :D Those things set records for longivity.On my walk to the grocer each month i pass a house that has one of these in the driveway.It’s one owner older couple in quality condition and has over 600 thousand km’s on it.Daily driven..LOL
I had always wanted one of these and an 81 showed up needing some work for 2500. My mechanic freshened numerous items and I did a middle of the line paint job. It wasn’t a show car but very nice. I drove it 100K and sold it for more that I paid.
very cool,but a victim of what I consider to be “LA pricing” unfortunately…
I could understand the asking price if it had under 100k miles on it but over 200k this car was obviously well used I think it’s only worth 5k tops good luck to the seller
Sorry Troy.
That’s not the market for W123 wagon.
I wouldn’t call what the price they are for sale for the market you can list it for whatever price you want but reality is its not worth that asking with those miles
appears to be a nice car. they are fairly bullet proof cars, but can be expensive to maintain. i’ve owned a number of mercedes. what remarkable is the price, I know the market, but 236M miles? overpriced.
I bought a newer edition of this wagon in a gas engine version. It was only 3 .months old as the owner changed jobs and needed a pickup truck in his new job. I worked at the dealer and was able to purchase it at very good price. It was such a terrible car that it almost broke me having to take itvin for warranty repairs. After the warranty was up. It seemed like it was my full time job after work to keep it repaired. Failed 4matic, failed auto level control, failed airbags, failed cruise control and failed head gasket. (twice pumping oil into the cooling system) My Subaru Lagacy wagon that I replaced it with had the same interior space, and only liked to cruise at 80 mph instead of 100 mph. It cured me from ever owning another Mercedes ever again.
I just sold my 1984 300TD Estate wagon with 180,000 miles on it- after going through EVERYTHING to make it work. It needed paint, and I did a nice job of home restoration of deteriorated clear coat using a one stage paint. I looked VERY GOOD in Silver!! $12,000.00, AND only 100,000 miles on the Factory blueprinted replacement long block. I looked at sales figures and found that to be right in the market- even though likely MORE valuable with the newer engine. One thing for sure. When the EMT goes off in the upper atmosphere, this will be one of the only vehicles still running! a cult car for sure! I greatly enjoyed this vehicle! I still have all the factory tools!
Yes, but the starter and alternator and fuel lift pump won’t work.
I rebuilt them all. including the EGR Valve, the vacuum multiple action “Enterprise valve” (Because it looks like the starship enterprise-HA!”) The throttle valve linkage connected Vacuum valve that few are even aware of. The vacuum system door locks. the over-extending Hershman radio antenna, the upgraded “green” transmission vacuum shifter valve, -The list of repairs filled two pages. Yet, my shop dives into these things that few are capable of even understanding. In my business of esoteric odd parts repairs we fix parts daily that master mechanics give up on. We serve hundreds of dealerships around the world. The buyers of my CA 300TD Estate Wagon are luckier than they know. They are from India where these cars serve as Million-mile Taxi cabs. The blue-printed factory supplied new long block was destine for power plant electric generator back up. Talk about Bullet proof- this is the legacy of the 5-cylinder Deisel!
You mean EMP? Electro-magnetic pulse? I’s hate to have to start worrying about exploding emergency med-techs!
I knew what he mentioned to say!
was I touting this vehicle (Y/M/M) here yesterday? (I listed all the pre-W123 kombi.s coach built). Wasnt my 1st time to laud this production car.
Too pricy for me I have a same era fox wagon instead (they used the Grenade-a wagon to creat somea da last pre-300TD). Each time I look, the price goes up and the waggy gets older. Shame~
I hate the grammar police (all ways on me ’s Y) but here’s one of my own, a Question:
“…would only ‘appear’ to a…”
would that B “appeal”? (one letter ‘off’)
But I still agree as can be seen~
Thnx Mr.Jeff. I’ll stop by anytime I see you write, a double visit if exposing the vertues of this great vehicle.