Our '96 E300D had 248,000 miles when we bought it and 270,000 miles now. All three POs took good care of it and saved all of the service records. The first owner put 200,000 miles on it and took it to the dealer for everything (it was his "company car"). I would not have bought a car with so many miles without the complete set of service records. In spite of all the miles, it still looks and drives like an almost-new car. Average fuel economy has been 27 MPG, mostly around town and mostly on B20 fuel. On our occasional road trips we get about 30 or maybe a hair better.

The '96 is a little more electronic than I'd like but not bad; the later models are much more complicated and harder for the DIY owner to repair. The '96 still has the 722.438 4-speed mechanical-vacuum transmission, solid and reliable but not as sophisticated as the electronic 722.5 (or was it 722.6?) in the later 210s.

Pay attention to the Parrot, watch for rust! Especially if the car has spent winters in snow country, and especially look to the front spring perches.

Get yourself a code reader or better yet, something like the "ScanGauge," which can read and reset codes and also gives you a whole bunch of digital system readouts via the code reader port.

Let us see some pictures!

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970