Diamond or Lemon? 87 300 SDL, 600 mile drive to get it home...
#1
06-25-2006, 08:04 PM
Diamond or Lemon? 87 300 SDL, 600 mile drive to get it home...
here she is...
I average 4200 miles a month with my sales job and have almost 200K on my '98 Maxima, so I've been thinking what my next car will be for a while. I wanted something I can drive for the next 300K miles, so, after listening to enough old salty 'Benz mechanics I decided on an 86-87 300 DSL. I found this one over the weekend, put in a couple test bids, and now I might win it.
The miles check out on Carfax, but I'll be rolling the dice on this one. It is a 2nd owner car with superficial paint damage from roof debris from a hurricane last year (the car was in a warehouse and part of the roof fell, damage pics below.) The body is straight, the interior is above average (no tears in the leather, no cracks in dash.) The miles are correct, the current owner has recently replaced the front brakes, the complete AC system, and the battery. It was purchased 4 years ago to be a first car for a 16 year old who quickly lost interst in it (the dad is well heeled, owns 30+ cars, but this one is not high on his radar...after the AC bill of $2500, the hurricane damage, and the front brakes, he is cutting his losses. It has been sitting for most of 2 years until recently.) The current owner says that it starts quickly, runs well and has never overheated, but he can produce no service records or documented oil change records. I have a compression test and inspection scheduled before I pick it up, but here is my question...
I don't have a trailer or know anyone who does, so I plan on catching Airtran down (the car is just north of Palm Beach) and driving it back to Atlanta, about 600 miles...Assuming everything checks out with the compression, what do I need to do before I drive it back?
I'm excited, but a little worried. I'm over my head a bit.
If you have any thoughts, thanks in advance!
Lafayette (soon to be a proud SDL owner!)
[IMG]local://upfiles/3774/4677D026B7214805B442A0D9BA5042BC.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/3774/59C1A2CAB30640DF916A3CB82BA2E72C.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/3774/4A8A902C7C90468593E6A870FBFEA674.jpg[/IMG]
I average 4200 miles a month with my sales job and have almost 200K on my '98 Maxima, so I've been thinking what my next car will be for a while. I wanted something I can drive for the next 300K miles, so, after listening to enough old salty 'Benz mechanics I decided on an 86-87 300 DSL. I found this one over the weekend, put in a couple test bids, and now I might win it.
The miles check out on Carfax, but I'll be rolling the dice on this one. It is a 2nd owner car with superficial paint damage from roof debris from a hurricane last year (the car was in a warehouse and part of the roof fell, damage pics below.) The body is straight, the interior is above average (no tears in the leather, no cracks in dash.) The miles are correct, the current owner has recently replaced the front brakes, the complete AC system, and the battery. It was purchased 4 years ago to be a first car for a 16 year old who quickly lost interst in it (the dad is well heeled, owns 30+ cars, but this one is not high on his radar...after the AC bill of $2500, the hurricane damage, and the front brakes, he is cutting his losses. It has been sitting for most of 2 years until recently.) The current owner says that it starts quickly, runs well and has never overheated, but he can produce no service records or documented oil change records. I have a compression test and inspection scheduled before I pick it up, but here is my question...
I don't have a trailer or know anyone who does, so I plan on catching Airtran down (the car is just north of Palm Beach) and driving it back to Atlanta, about 600 miles...Assuming everything checks out with the compression, what do I need to do before I drive it back?
I'm excited, but a little worried. I'm over my head a bit.
If you have any thoughts, thanks in advance!
Lafayette (soon to be a proud SDL owner!)
[IMG]local://upfiles/3774/4677D026B7214805B442A0D9BA5042BC.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/3774/59C1A2CAB30640DF916A3CB82BA2E72C.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/3774/4A8A902C7C90468593E6A870FBFEA674.jpg[/IMG]
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
