This is a bit awkward, because, for one, neither my wife or I have ever owned a Mercedes and are not familiar with them. For another, she just inherited one and the Service manager at the Mercedes place is already asking if she would be willing to sell it. He came and got it to take it for an oil service and when he got back to the dealership his assistant manager called her asking if she would be interested in selling, because he is connected with some clubs with enthusiasts that would love to have the car. Now, she doesn't know that she would even sell it or give it to our son for a graduation present when he finishes med school. That said, she would like to know what the vehicle's worth is. Can any of you provide some insight?
Apparently, this was the last, or next to last year in which this model was produced in Germany. It's in perfect condition. I can't find a single flaw. It is gold in color, has a sunroof, and has low mileage. It's 20 years old, was garage stored, and has 26k miles. It's never been wrecked, never been in the shop for anything but scheduled maintenance. I would say it's only had one owner, but technically, I suppose, my wife is the second. No one but my father in law and the service manager have ever driven it, including myself and my wife, but I suppose you could say it's a two owner car. We have started it and let it run for at least 10 minutes once a month since her father passed, although I don't think that's so much necessary with deisels. I don't have pics, but I guess I could get some.
All of the above probably sounds like a sales pitch. It's not. She doesn't WANT to sell the car. I wouldn't either.
Perhaps someone could point me to a website that would tell me?

 

some of those engines have been corrected and some never have and still run for miles. Most of the "bent rod" problems actually occur before the 80,000 mile mark. Usually after that most of them tend to be in the clear. The first signs are high oil consumption, leaking of oil; into usually cylinder one, head gasket failure and other issue.

Many engines have been replaced under warrenty around the 1990-1991 time period but Mercedes never formally hada recall so many people didnt get the memo.

Also motor mounts are important as with bad motor mounts come vibration which sometimes loosen some bolts in the crankcase that fall into the oil pan leading to oil starvation when they clog up the pump, which leads to broken or thrown rods which usually severely damage the engine. This is one of the few ways these diesel engines can end up with a badly cracked engine block or a hole blown into it.
Whether or not the engine has been corrected or replaced should be deep in the early service records or you can ask the service manager that worked on the car if he or she is still around.

Remember not all 350SD have this problem and many on the original engine are still running around no problems with over quarter of a million miles on the clock.

The value all boils down to how quick ya trying to sell the car and to who.