Allen:

All typical wear and tear on a 300E with this milage.

Water pump and radiator are must do items, as you will roast the head without them, and this gets seriously expensive.

Tune-up will pay for itself in fuel over six months, no earthly reason not to do that.

Struts can wait a while, the make it handle funny are ride hard, but you can live with that.

The front engine cover leak will re-occur in 30,000 miles max, my mechanic calls this "a typcial oil leak" and only fixes it when he has to -- not worth the customer dissatisfaction from a "broken" repair.

However, none of this is beyond the average home mechanic except the front struts (requires a spring compressor, I think) and the transmission. I'd replace with a rebuild (and check with someone else, too -- might not be the pump leaking). Rebuilt tranny is about $1500 plus removal and installation. The belt tensioner is a big pain, too.

What you need to think about is how you can spread out the repairs on a more or less monthly basis, then figure out what you will have when you get done compared to what you will have to pay for a newer car. For the cost of a car payment for a year, you will have a nearly new car, compared to the three or four years payments you might need to make to replace the car!

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!