Originally Posted by renman

I have a lovingly cared for 1984 w123 turbo I have owned for over five years. Last summer after extensive maintenance, repair, and a really nice paint job I allowed my youngest daughter to drive the car back to school in Michigan with strict instructions to follow simple automobile maintenance guidelines, such as checking fluids often. You know where this story is going...... Whenever my daughters are home I always check fluids and service their cars; except this Christmas when the w123 was home for the holidays I don't remember doing anything in the way of service because i was pretty sick. Anyway fast forward to spring break about 6 weeks ago and my daughter is home again for a week. Service checkup!!! Imagine my surprise as I un-threaded the oil pan bolt the last few threads expecting to find oil gushing out the hole and filling up the catch pan. I got almost a quart of black gooe....... in total. No telling how long the engine has been run without oil but for sure she put over 500 mile on it just getting home. Probably the oil was never checked after she drove off in the fall and no telling how many miles she drove without oil.

FAST FORWARD: I kept the Mercedes home and sent her packing to school with my daily driver so I could keep an eye on the engine. In the six weeks before traveling up to visit my daughter in school this weekend it went through two quarts of oil over 1100 miles. (mostly highway) This weekend driving the automobile 350 miles resulted in the engine needing 1 1/2 quarts of oil to top it off.
BOTTOM LINE, IS THE ENGINE TOAST??

Performance wise the car doesn't seem to be down on power. Goes right through the gears quickly. Engine has always leaked some oil which was noted when a new exhaust was installed in November 2012. Engine seems to be now smoking a lot more on start up (black) but not a great amount I can see while driving. Before she took the car this fall oil consumption was maybe a quart every 1500 miles.

Kinda bummed. I have really made every effort to stay ahead of the repairs as they happen or even going out of my way to fix thing I think might fail in advance. I feel partly responsible too because it was probably wishful thinking on my part to expect her to fiddle with the car.