240D Love at First Sight
When I’m browsing used car listings (pretty much a daily habit), there’s really one thing in particular that I’m looking for. It’s not a specific year, make, or model. It’s not an unusual color or rare option. It’s not a crazy low-mile example. All of those things can be important to be sure. But the thing I’m really looking for is a car that’s enjoyed an absurdly high level of care from its prior owners.
Though the listing for the soon-to-be-mine 240D had only one photo and just a brief description, I knew it was special from the moment I laid eyes on it. First of all, it enjoys a rare combination of 70s era colors: Colorado Beige (470) on the outside against Tobacco Brown (103) on the inside. While I love even wilder colors on a W123 — they contrast nicely against the classic styling — orangish-tan on dark brown is wonderfully period correct.
And this was one of those listings where the colors really popped. The paint, which was noted as all original, still had a level of purity and depth that even new cars don’t seem to be able to achieve. The seats, in legendarily durable MB-Tex, looked almost free of wear. It was clear this 40+ year old example — with 250,000 miles, no less — was not your average W123. It was a gem.
I emailed the owner to learn more — including the asking price, which turned out to be $12,000. Certainly not cheap. But not Bring a Trailer crazy either. Later I would learn that this was the price the car’s longtime mechanic had suggested when the owner noted he was putting it up for sale.
Turns out the owner had done a feature story on the car for the Mercedes-Benz Club of America’s The Star Magazine just a year earlier. In it, he detailed his entire ownership history, from placing the order at Stahl Motors in Monterey, to fetching the car at the Benz factory in Sindelfingen, to daily driving it for four decades to his veterinary practice in Pacific Grove.
The more I learned about the car, the more I fell in love with it — especially the way it was cared for. If the car needed anything, it was addressed, no questions asked, and with OEM parts, when available. The owner even kept a written maintenance log with every single detail down to each refueling (totaling over 10,000 gallons!). Its mechanic, recognizing the car’s specialness, recommended it be entered in the 2018 Legends of the Autobahn show, where it garnered the attention of The Star.
Normally the idea of buying a car with 250,000 miles would give me pause. But knowing the level of care this car had received — and knowing the reputation of the 240D for piling on the miles — it was not a deterrent. If anything, it was something of a comfort to know the car had been used regularly throughout its life rather than sitting idle for long periods.
The only thing left, at this point, was to negotiate a deal. It didn’t take long. I made a full price offer. There’s really no point in haggling over a few hundred dollars when there’s a car that you really want being offered at a fair price. Just wrap up the purchase before someone else comes along and snatches it. That way both you and the seller can feel good about the deal.
When the seller has done such a great job of preserving the car for its next owner, they deserve it.
Next Post: Picking Up the 240D and First Impressions