300td Wagon. One Owner For 31 Years. 144,900 Miles, All Original & Unmolested on 2040-cars

This outstanding 300TD was purchased new by Mr. Moon on 9/14/1981 directly at Mercedes Benz of Knoxville, Tennessee and manufactured in germany leaving production line on 5/27/1981, remaining on the Moon Family until I purchased it last February 2012. The wagon was transferred to Mrs. Moon on 3/24/1998 after Mr. Moon's passing, and then from the Estate of Mrs. Moon to me on 2/7/2012 by Mr. and Mrs. Moon's 3 children. The Moon family kept all maintenance done at Mercedes Benz of Knoxville, TN until I purchased it and ship it to Florida. I personally called the dealer before buying it, to ask for previous maintenance and when I mentioned a white 300TD, the dealer's service manager asked me immediately if I got Mr. Moon's 300TD. They remember it and he related to me the latest maintenance performed the last 24 months before that call.

Look at the records at CarFax and you will see all maintenance done at MB of Knoxville, TN. All other maintenance prior to online availability is on the MB Original Maintenance Booklet that comes with the car. The maintenance I performed has been at MB of Pembroke Pines and all other myself. There is an error on the CarFax report stating the I changed tires at Midas, but I just paid them for tire balance and rotation. Please see some pages I included in the pictures.

Mr. Moon and Mrs. Moon seamed to be a very methodical people in relation to maintenance and care. The wagon has the original Pirelli spare tire (Made in Germany) barely used (if used at all), with all color marks and its brand new allow wheel, as you can see in the pictures. It's spectacular.

Original MB Maintenance booklet shows all service records from delivery until January 20, 1999 at 112,841 miles (as seen in the pictures), about when all dealers begun switching to digital records, but according to MB of Knoxville's service manager, he recalls '"Mr. Moon's Wagon" coming back for everything, including tires, all MB scheduled maintenance, battery, etc., which matches what available in the CarFax report.

Please see all maintenance records at this link:  https://sites.google.com/a/pinzon.net/1981-mb300td/maintenance-records

By no means, I want to imply this car is brand new or perfect. I just want to give you as much information as I have. I personally believe this is a very rare opportunity enjoy one of the best Mercedes Benz ever made (W123 Wagon) in great shape like this one.

• Highlights:
• No Dashboard cracks or hairlines
• Wood trim in near-perfect shape
• Upholstery is in great shape, except for the small issues clearly documented bellow.
• All vacuum operated systems working (5 door locks, cruise control, etc.)
• Speedometer & Odometer working fine
• Original paint in great shape. Only the lower driver's door panel seams to have been sprayed on.
• Just to test overall condition, I have driven the wagon a couple of times up to 85 mph without any problem at all. Very strong acceleration and torque.
• Very little smoke at initial acceleration when cold
• A/C and heater working fine, including all automatic controls.
• Lights-on buzzer and seat-belt warning buzzer working just fine
  
  PLEASE SEE ADDITIONAL PICTURES HERE: https://sites.google.com/a/pinzon.net/1981-mb300td/other-pictures
  
  
• Work recently done (since I purchased in February/2012):
• New rear door struts (123 980 0064)
• New rear suspension accumulators (123 320 0215)
• New torsion bar links (123 320 0989)
• Restored SLS control valve (123 320 0158)
• New Front Biltein shock absorbers (123 320 0030)
• New top shift brushing for automatic transmission control (115 267 1250)
• New grear neutral switch (000 545 4606)
• New instrument pannel light bulbs 
• New injector nozzles and fuel return hoses (001 017 2912)
• New fuel pump idle adjuster (000 074 2674)
• New air-cleaner bracket 3 rubber mounts (617 988 0111)
• New Voltage Regulator (002 154 2506)
• New Bosch Starter motor (003 151 0701)
• Adjusted and serviced glovebox latch
• New front-driver side door-stop (123 720 0516)
• New Hirschman antenna cable (Q4820002)
• New wiper blades (front and rear)
• New windshield washer reservoir's seals (123 997 3681 & 110 987 0039)
• New windshield washer front nozzles, elbows and hose (123 860 0247, 010 997 8982)
• New Meyle hood-pad (123 680 0625)
• Engine bay drains cleaned (no rust at all)
• Steering play adjusted and safety nut changed (000 990 4050)
• New oil, fuel and air filters
  
  
• Known issues or things to fix: Please see these pictures  Click here  
• Exterior:
• All paint looks original and in good shape, except minor stone-chips. The lower pannel on Driver's door seams to have been repainted and probably fixed from an small impact. You have to look closely to notice.
• Navy Blue original trim-line is damaged in 3 parts (as seen in the pictures).
• Rear lid: when you look closely on read door's inside/hidden joint, there is some minor rust from this door's drain holes not being correctly maintained. This is a very common problem on W123 wagons. It doesn't look at all as any major problem, but will need some attention to stop the process some time soon.
  
  
• Interior
• 2 smalls tears in driver's seat (one in the left side back rest and one in the left side pannel, driver's seat bottom)
• 1 small  tear in Passenger's seat on left front cover, seat bottom
• Stain on headliner on the back-rigth side corner of the sunroof (no current leaks, but seams to have been caused by a leak before)
• Passenger's sunvisor is a bit loose, dropping at 30 degree angle while driving
• Driver's door map pocket has a 1 inch crack
• Driver's B-Pillar's cover (in Navy Blue DB132 MBTex is teared. Very common damage caused by the seat belt's metal bracket)
• Center rear-view mirror is loose and moves too easily. This is due to the first owner's obsession with taking care of the dashboard. I found two windshield sun shades in the car and the dealer's service manager talked to me about the car never being parked outside without the windshield sun shades, even when it was always garaged. That's why the dashboard looks like new.
• Automatic Antenna is acting-up: although I replaced the antenna cable and it worked fine for a year or so, it has been acting up lately and I have had no chance to diagnose and correct this.
• Rear power window (on Driver's side) is slow. I think is just lubrication, but I have not done this yet.
• Electric clock works fine, but I unintentionally disconnected it while changing the dashboard bulbs.
  
  
• Mechanics
• Automatic Transmission: when cold in the morning, first one or two shifts from 1st to 2nd are a bit slow and hard. Once it warms, there are no issues at all. Good smooth shifting from neutral to D or R and between all gears in D. vacuum-operated down-shift is a bit slow, but engages well.
• Engine idle: a bit rough. I think the engine could use new engine mounts. It runs great at probable 1,000 RPM or more, but on idle is a bit rough.
• Oil leaks: there is an oil leak, as far as I can tell, coming from the Turbo (Garrett T-3 Model). I have found in forums that with 120,000+ miles, the turbo should be rebuilt. This leak is not dramatic or profuse at all, but it is evident and it seams to come from the front of the engine. The Turbo seams to operate well.
• Brakes: My next project was to change brake rotors and pads. I noticed some minor vibration when braking at low speeds and I don't think is worth to resurface brake rotors. Brand new ones are less than $150 for all 4 corners.
• Steering: after dealer adjustment and safety nut replacement, still has some minor play (about 1 inch). They diagnosed that tie-rods and arms should be replaced. This is not urgent but important.
• I recharged the A/C refrigerant once when I got the Wagon in February/2012 and once last month. There is a potential small leak and this last recharge I went to an A/C specialist in Ft. Lauderdale and they included a dye to detect the actual leak. It might take another year or so to need a recharge, but the dye will help find this small leak.