call me lucky! i bought my first diesel ,a '84 300d on ebay auction august 2001 out of jacksonville fla. car had 147k . i have driven the car 27k miles to date.i just love it! gets 27 mph running the air.igot it to n.c. and did full service on car ,all belts, hoses,fluids and had valves adjusted.my mechanic said come back in 80k miles and i believe it to be true.meantime i change oil every 4k miles ,does not use a drop but it does drop a little on garagr floor over night--i can live with that. diesel fuel 1.23 a gal.love it!!!