How can I convince my wife that we should get a mid-80s 300TD as her car?

Question

She's concerned with the reliability of an older car and is afraid that repair costs will always be astronomical, but my research tells me that a 300TD will last forever if maintained properly, so it would be a good investment. Help me out here.

Answer 1

Have your wife read this: I bought an '85 300TD Turbodiesel in 1997. It had only 70,000 miles on it.
I drove it in every possible conditions - cities, congested freeways in hot Southern California, cold and snow in the mountains, Los Angeles to San Francisco at least 30 times, LA to Los Vegas at least 10 times and so on. I used it to move heavy boxes for my business, my wife drove it, when she needed a larger car.
The car was lost in a stupid accident when it had 200,000 miles on the clock. If was PERFECT right up to the last moment (it's not the car, it's the driver - me, who was at fault when the accident happened.)
It was the best car I ever had. Yes, I had to fix some things, but NOTHING big. It never failed and it looked great.
I did take good care of it. Oil changes are very important, but every 4,000 miles is fine. I always took it to the same Mercedes mechanic, whom I know for 20 years and trust completely. Every time when I brought the car for an oil change I'd ask him if he checked EVERYTHING and 95% of the time his answer was: "Nothing to fix, it's fine." When he told me something needed to be fixed, I did it right away.
Now I drive a Mercedes E320, which is a great car and feels like a rocket comparing to a diesel, but I still miss my 300TD.
Find a "clean" one, take it to a good and trusted Mercedes mechanic before you buy (I'm sure I do not need to tell you that if a seller doesn't want you to take a car to YOUR mechanic, you do not want to buy this car) and go for it. It's a great car!

Answer 2

Mercedes diesel engines are usually good for about a million miles if the oil is changed on a regular basis synthetic is great.Safety is a good issue,one of the safest vehicles on the road.Repairs cost no more than driving a Cadillac.
I drive an 85 300D turbo diesel wouldn't trade it for anything well maybe a 2007 model.Great buy,get the engine checked over before you part with the cash,if it starts first time and doesn't blow blue smoke after it's warmed up or white smoke you should be OK

Answer 3

First of all, don't even attempt this unless you find a good one, preferably with low mileage (under 125K). My suggestion would be to buy it as your car, and let her get used to it.

Advantages:

1) It's still a very classy vehicle, especially if well maintained.
2) Incredible reliability. Once you fix something, it stays fixed. Sort the car out, and hundreds of thousands of miles are easily achievable.
3) Parts are readily avialable, and cheap.
4) It can't stall in the rain, because it has no electrical ignition system.
5) It will burn cheap fuels, like home heating oil, waste vegetable oil, or homebrew biodiesel. It will even tolerate kerosene or waste motor oil in small quantities.
6) Buy her a fur coat with the leftover cash.

Just be aware of the disadvantages:
1) Climate control system can be a bear to fix.
2) No neighborhood mechanic will know how to diagnose the vacuum system, so you will have to learn how to do it yourself.
3) Relatively frequent maintenance: oil change every 2500, valve adjustment every 15000, fuel and air filters every second or third oil change.
4) Even with a turbo, the car is sluggish by current standards.

Answer 4

your wife has legitimate concerns, however if the right car comes along ...have potential candidate thougherly checked out before purchase and here are some things to watch for.and stay away from.
1 rust at the 4 corners of the passenger cabin [behind front wheels and in front of rear]
2 rust below battery trey [a new trey will hide the damage so remove battery and inspect for this]
3 vacume system: on these cars the vacume pump powers the assist for brakes, climate control, door locks [includes fuel door and tailgate/trunk], engine cutoff solinoid on injection pump. the system faults that usualy occur are pump failure[hard brake pedal] door lock servo[s] and leaky connections near oil filter this is almost always the result of a failing vacume pump [note if a old style v.w. fuel filter is installed in vac supply line[s] the system will be protected and when oil residue shows up in filter this means the pump needs service. note in extreme cases the brake booster has failed because of this.
4 the upholstry will last probably forever but the drivers seat bottom cushion will have to be replaced or your wife will never be happy with the car no matter the shape of the rest of the car
5 the fnt suspension lasts for about 200k at this point every one of the 123 bodies needs lower control arm bushings and radius rod bushings as well as idler arm bushing kit and steering damper when this work is done a [proper] 4 wheel alignment must be done. [note rear springs have probably sagged so these may need replacement also as well as all 4 shocks]
6 climate control system : check operation of circulator pump and mono valve these in a failed state will ruin the pushbutton set note a/c air is to come out of dash vents only [minor cold air leakage out of the defrost ducts is normal] in defrost mode there is a delay in automatic blower operation if engine is stone cold and it is expected to take between 30 and 150 seconds for a mode change note if slower operation is noted [but correct] suspect collapsed air tube for cabin temp sensor
7 transmission should shift firmly but not bang slight lift of throttle should cause an immediate upshift smoothly. no slippage should be felt at any time [test for this at max torque :[3200- 4300 rpm]
8 have trusted mechanic pull valve cover and inspect position of timing chain tensioner if extended you will need a chain and guides.
9 inspect valve clearance and have a compression test preformed [400 psi is considered normal]
10 if touring diesel is purchased with hydraulic rear suspension that rides hard, replace the nitrogen balls also at high milage the pressure hose at suspension pump will leak giving the appearance of a fnt crank seal leak
.good luck there are many of these cars out there that were kept up and driven right so be choosey and after you get one don't be afraid of it [if everything checks out] these are real interstate cruisers not just around towners

Answer 5

Give her some proof of why it's good. Show her your research. Hope this helps and have a great day! (By the way, it's a cool car. Hope you talk her into it! :-)) -question001

Answer 6

Bought a 83 300sd in feb.A little maint.Last week drove from Knoxville TN to San Antonio Texas, and back,over 30 mpg,no trouble.Back home I run used cooking oil.
I don't want a new aluminum block,computerized,plastic piece of crap.

Answer 7

It would be a great car, but if she isn't happy with it, you won't be, either. Buy it for yourself and get her whatever she wants. It's much easier than a divorce!

Answer 8

well its a classic car that turns heads and it gets 35+ mpg becuase its a diesel. nuff said

Answer 9

have you shown her your research? I would start there and make sure she's understanding the information ask her questions that require more than a yes or no answer so that you know she hasn't misunderstood what you have shown her or explained to her

Answer 10

They really last forever. Low maintenance, can run on biofeul and cooking oil ( mcdonalds!!) . awesome feul mileage.