New (to me) daily! Perfect for rally commuting.

Found this guy on craigslist at an medical charity auto sales thing. $1000 bucks. Runs impressively well for 356,xxx miles. Some old fellow owned it and took decent care of it. 1987 300D turbo. Has the OM603 engine with various decimal points like Mercedes likes to do.

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First Rally: 2010 First RallyX: 2004 (a bunch)
Driver (0), Co-Driver (7)
Organizer (3), Volunteer (3)
Cars Built (2.5), Engines Blown (2) Cages Built (0) # of rotations (3.5)
Last Updated, Apr 9, 2023

Niiiiice! I took my driver's test in my mom's 87 300D. I also had my first accident in one (I still maintain I was bumped in the tail and the Buick took off).

Those cars were quick for diesels! Hopefully the trap oxidizer thing is OK. I remember some sort of soft recall/free lifetime replacement on those….

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

Clean old Merc! Amazing how well their chrome wheels held up compared to the crap you pay thousands for at the tire store. Nice find.

I just sold my old merc. 81 300SD with 140k miles. Fantastic commuting car, terrible transmission. Neck snapping shifts, but it could boost well and get you moving pretty quickly.

Have fun with it, they're great cars! A little odd to slide around on pavement though, gravel is great but the trans limits power oversteer (gotta pitch the car in first).

Quote
fiasco
Those cars were quick for diesels!

Those cars weren't quick for January molasses. Combine turbo lag you could measure with a calendar with the Mercedes habit of starting in 2nd gear and it felt like crossing an intersection after a stop would take minutes.

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Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing)
1978
Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.

Here is my version. Bought it last week:

- 2003
- Low mileage 132k kms (82k miles)
- Few things to fix
- $2K
- It's a 2.0L. I avoided the 1.8T's on purpose (I have had one and didn't want another one).
- It is VW #6 for my wife and I. She still has her Cabriolet. The others are gone.
- Back into a VW after 3 years in a WRX.

Well, here it is after a little fixin:

- $85 for used rear Washer/Wiper motor
- $100 for full used suspension from Golf VR6 (with only 10K km on everything!). Only used the front VR6 springs for now. Keeping the rear springs and all the struts for spares. I wanted more ground clearance (I volunteer at performance rallies in Ontario). VR6 springs did that nicely.
- $28 for new strut bearings (dealer - ouch!)
- $300 in taxes and temp tag
- $15 for new RF ABS speed sensor
- So just a little bit more than $2500 into it.
- Fixed both door mirrors with JB Weld!
- Goes Monday for safety inspection

I love my 03 TDI Golf. 46 mpg on way to Idaho Rally.Gotta pee well before needing fuel.

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Grant Hughes

Quote
Pete

Quote
fiasco
Those cars were quick for diesels!

Those cars weren't quick for January molasses. Combine turbo lag you could measure with a calendar with the Mercedes habit of starting in 2nd gear and it felt like crossing an intersection after a stop would take minutes.

actually this year car is rather peppy all told.

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First Rally: 2010 First RallyX: 2004 (a bunch)
Driver (0), Co-Driver (7)
Organizer (3), Volunteer (3)
Cars Built (2.5), Engines Blown (2) Cages Built (0) # of rotations (3.5)
Last Updated, Apr 9, 2023

Ive been in the market for a daily. Actually, been looking at the new Dart. May be a modified Fiat chassis, but the more I see em, the more I like em.