Hi. Thanks for everyone's input. We passed on the car. The owner was moving next day and pushing the sale too hard. Car drove and felt like a very different car from the prior year. I told my daughter "there's always another one." In fact we are looking at another, a 1990 with odometer stopped somewhere between 1995 and 1996 at 140,099. Was driven less than 10,000 miles year before that, per carfax, and can estimate under 170,000. Owner's teenage daughter was driving it and got smacked back left tail light. Pushed frame to back left door, trunk raised about an inch on that side. Daughter is going away and dad didn't want to put the money into fixing it. Being sold by autobody guy who was asking $750 as is. Starts right up and looks as if well maintained. Not registered so only could drive around his lot, but drove straight at those low speeds, and well. Auto body shop will fix it up for us, calling this not a big hit to repair, has to pull out the metal, bumper can't be re-attached but "used reinforcement cover is okay." He will do the fix and sell it to us for $1100. We are ready to go for it. Yes?

i just bought a 93 240 wagon sitting for a year on an off. last 5 months solid sitting.

here is your checklist since carfax is clean:

1. bring a good jack with you
2. crawl under the car and inspect the: controls arms, and all other parts that make up the suspension. rust per se is not bad it is the degree of rust you want to know. certain nasty suspension parts are not expensive to replace used and not that hard either.
3. inspect the floor for rot and rust. the undercoating is quite good on these so the floor should be decent
4. remove the wheels and inspect the calipers, rotors. they should be rust covered. get a large channel lock wrench and try to push the brake pads back into the caliper frame. this will quickly give you a sense IF any of the pistons a re frozen. this is not infallible but useful
5. note levels of brake pad wear
6. get is started with a jump if you can, now measure with a volt meter whether the alternator and VR is charging normally.......14.5 volts give or take ..you need not run it long to do this
7. if you buy it you will: change the oil and filter, forthwith.. siphon out the gas and replace with fresh, flush the cooling system forthwith, and TRY to flush the brake system of all its old fluid.
8. to flush the brakes you should have a pressure bleeder...search this site, and i suggest a propane blowtorch you can use to carefully heat up the bleeder screws because they will be rusted solid and you do not want to break them.
9. check the steering rack for leaks
10. check the oil pan for excessive rust and rot
11. MAKE SURE the oil pressure dash light alights at start up and goes out. IF the oil pressure light is NOT lit at startup it means the bulb is missing or some other problem and either: a check the pressure with a gauge or walk away.

One small click on eBay, some years ago, and I had bought a 1992 245. Just 1 state away. Easy, eh? Towed it home.

Long story short, and my advice: CRAWL under this car, with a bright flashlight, on some nice cardboard (or similar), and take your time!

If it is rust-free, continue your evaluation and consideration of the car.

If it has rust, middling or more, say "no, thanks" and walk away.
(Search Brickboard for 240 rust locations, incl. rocker panels, floors...)

You WILL spend hours on the car. Days, if you are a normal human being.
Is it worth it? (Experienced hands on this site do things faster, better, easier than normal human beings -- take into account.)

On my buy, which was said not to run (true), the crank position sensor was suspect, so I replaced it. And the main relay always suspect, so replaced it. And this, and that, and the other... while I was at it. Covering the bases. Establishing a baseline. And would not run, until I replaced the 561 ECU. Hours of bending over, contorting...

When the oil pressure warning light went on, I had then had TOO much, and set it aside. For a TOO LONG time. Like your situation.

Then our family needed a car. The ONE THING that kept me going on this 1992 245 was its extraordinary (Florida) condition. And now it is a gem, with WAY too many hours in it. (what is your time worth? Do you have the time? Will you pay someone else?)

More experienced people will respond to your post.
And you can search Brickboard for lots of old messages on "sitting" or "storage" or whatever.

Advice:
1. RUST and RECORDS. Rust shoots the equation all to hell, badly; while maintenance records (especially using high-quality parts) enhances everything.

2. Your mechanic said what MIGHT or could or may be issues.

3. Try starting the car. If it runs. Drive it some, and don't worry about the fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel injectors, whatever.

4. BUT if it runs, bleed the brakes NOW (getting new fluid in them), and while each corner is up, you will examine rust on calipers, pad thickness, etc, etc. so as not to be an unsafe idiot to self and OTHERS. :-)

It sounds to me like your mechanic mentioned a lot of things that COULD be wrong with it. It does not mean that they necessarily ARE a problem.

If they salt the roads up there, and the car was parked in the winter, that could cause more problems.

Charley