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Old 08-15-2006, 01:37 AM
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katja katja is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 307
In 1981 my parents wanted to buy an economical sedan as a second car. I remember we test drove a BMW 320i, Mercedes 240D, and Peugeot 505SD, all with 4-speed manual transmissions.

My parents settled on the Peugeot. If they had bought the Mercedes, I would be driving it now, no doubt (so, I had to buy my own).

The Peugeot seats and shock absorbers are the best (when new). The 505 was 'peppier' and better handling than the W123, and to an extent, the W115. However, I think my parents' car was cursed from the start: Lights and parts on the right side kept going bad. On the first trip, before even 1500 miles, the aux fan didn't work, and the engine repeatedly overheated. The sunroof belt broke many times. The lights in the electric window switches burned out constantly (expensive and difficult to replace).

I learned to drive on that car, and before the drivers test, the starter didn't want to work, then once running, the turn signal died halfway thru the test. Sometime afterwards the water pump failed, and the head gasket failed, and the sunroof broke again. The car always had a tendency to heat up at idle and activate the aux fan...my 240D will idle forever and the temp stays constant.

The engine in the 504 and 505 diesels seemed to be pretty reliable all in all (blown head gaskets apprently are common, though), and we got better fuel mileage than my 240D. It sounds similar to the 240D too, on the road, but the Benz sounds better at idle. The 505 never puffed smoke, never broke down on the highway and had no rust (of course it was garaged its whole life).

My mom sold the car at about 105K and knew the next owners. The engine blew shortly thereafter (not sure why) but the car lives on with new paint and a 2.5 turbodiesel coupled to the 4-speed.

I think the 504's are ugly but I like the wood panel in the cargo compartment of this one. BTW the plastic thing in the back is the factory winter front that clips to the grill.

-AC
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1976 240D "Katja"
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