Looked at the '92 300 SD that is for sale locally. God bless that Starmark warrany! These folks have owned it for a little over a year and had both the engine and AC evaporator replaced no-charge. The car is immaculate, especially under the hood with the brand new engine gleaming in there. The car has never been touched by snow so we didn't violate it with a test drive yesterday (SE PA).

However, they are asking substantially over book for the car and I probably couldn't be sincerely interested in it unless it could be had for somewhat under book. So here's my technical, if somewhat academic at this point, question. Is the new engine any different than the original engine that had the problems? What exactly made the diesels in these cars perform so poorly when Mercedes has such a good reputation otherwise for their diesel engines? Or is my impression of their reputation in error? Also, was there a flaw with the evaporators that has been remedied or can that horrendous bill be expected to be seen again?