Hello All,

I am going to probably purchase this 1984 240 DL diesel:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/car/519300689.html

As you can see in the ad, the car has 153K miles on it. It is advertised as being in "good" condition. There are apparently service records for the first 75K miles. The owner tells me it has been taken to Firestone for its regular maintenance. That worries me because those shops don't tend to specialize and can miss important maintenance checkpoints.

Would $1800 be fair if, let's say, the timing belt will need to be immediately replaced? I assume it's at least a $500 job (I don't think I want to tackle it myself). I see the NADA price for this car is between $1200 and $2100 for a car in good condition. However I know that real-world prices tend to differ for various reasons.

As for the brake issue, I might feel more comfortable looking into that myself. From what I've read so far on this forum, many of you are servicing your own brakes without (I hope) loads of specialized tools.

What other issues should I look for or ask about?

Thanks for your help! I'll continue to search the existing posts.

+Matt