Well, I stopped by work for a minute (literally) today to drop off a key for someone. I ran in the building, did my business, and came back out to find that my car was GONE. I look down the slight incline from where I had left it, and sure enough, it was sitting in the parking garage entrance up against the back of the property's salt/plow truck. What's worse is that is had gone over a 4" high curb and shattered the oil pan into tiny pieces. It was sitting there idling with no oil for approximately 1 minute.

Now it's off to Don Pool for damage assessment. I can't believe it. I was in such a hurry that I completely forgot to put it in park. I've gotten myself out of the habit of setting the parking brake because it has a tendency to freeze in this weather.

I'm a lucky SOB that someone wasn't standing in the cars path, or that it did any damage to anyone else's vehicle.

Thanks for listening, I'll update you all on the repair process.

Oh my.. didn't you feel or see the car rolling as you got out and started walking? Sorry to hear..

Nope. I shut the door and ran inside the building, without looking back. I'm not usually in that much of a hurry.

I've done that too. At a gas station, ran in to pay first. Guy said which pump, I said it's that one right......wait.....it was right there.....it rolled back 30 feet into a pole.

It was a 79 Scout II, barely dented it.

Um, it was a stick tho....good luck bud!

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1983 300D- silver blue, tan leather, 205,000.
1975 Datsun 280Z. Stock, ready to restore.
1983 San Juan 23. Dry docked.

Must have been a mighty stout Pole, I witnessed a Yugo rolling into an obese Czech with nary a scratch.

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I'm guilty of doing the same thing - goes back to the days when I drove my 240D manual. I've been lucky, though in that I set my parking brake religiously, which has prevented (so far) any rolling back. This annoys my wife to no end.

The "shift lock" found on the '90 and later models seems to address this problem. Basically, it's a cable going from the ignition tumbler to the shifter, which prevents removing the key unless the car is in Park. I thought of this as a vanity feature, but I see value in it now. I have a steering column from a '90 300SEL, which has this. I'm considering adding it to my '86 SDL, since I'm also changing out the wheel. If I do so, I'll let you know how it goes.

- Casey

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Casey Cooper
"From a long line of Mercedes ownership"

'86 300SDL 250K miles (Gone, but not forgotten); best diesel I have ever driven, too bad about the Achilles heel.

'81 240D 370K miles (Sold to my brother after 9 years and 150K miles of reliable driving!)

[Five other Mercedes in family clipped for less length.]

You reminded me of a story from my car's history that I had completely forgotten. When I was about 11 or so, my mother drove me and my sister to the library to drop off a book. She parked it outside the front door (and I use the term "park" loosely ... ) and left my sister and I in it. Well, she didn't put it park. After she had gone in the library door, Bo started going backwards down the hill in front of the building. Quick thinking 11yo that I was, I jumped over the console, leaned down and pressed the brake with my hands (I was really short; no way my feet were getting there). I had no idea about the parking break or putting the car in park, so I just sat there squatting beneath the wheel with my hands on that brake until my mom came back out. What a funny memory. My sister, who was about 8 (and has a mild mental handicap), had no idea what was going on. Who knows where we would have landed, but I think it would have been a tree or a small revine.

And that's how I learned that one should always put the car in park ...

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

I don't understand how this is possible. With the ignition off, I get it, but with the vehicle still running (with an automatic) I don't get it...

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1982 Mercedes-Benz 300CD
1982 Mercedes-Benz 240D - stick

Sorry to hear about your troubles.
Somebody damaged my car last night as well...

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Think Alternative Energy!
300CD '80 (now gone but not forgotten...)

I don't understand you left it running in drive? If the car was left in gear with the engine off I don't think it would roll?

Hopefully you didn't do any damage to the engine, probably not it wasn't running long enough or under load.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

If it's not in park, it WILL roll.

Scott

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

i just had a moment of silence for you.
but on a brighter side no one was hurt

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ez rider

I did that once in a Saab. Stopped for gas at one of those stations that you could buy gas after it closed by using a card at the pump. It's about midnight, and I'm doing my deal with the card at the pump, grab the nozzle and turn around, no car. Just the weirdest feeling, I'm looking around thinking maybe I got turned around and was at the wrong pump, nothing. Turns out the car rolled down the hill, through a pretty busy intersection and came to rest in a field about 50 yards away. I'm amazed it didn't hit anything because there were several cars stopped at the light just a minute before.

What a sickening feeling.

Similar story happened to me during the holidays. Stopped car, put it in park, got out, and then the car started rolling backwards towards the ditch. Luckily my girlfriend was still in the car and turned the steering to send the car in the street instead. Turns out that my auto stick linkage was loose due to losing one of the plastic grommets inside the loops at each end. Easy fix.

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Denis

1979 300TD 189,000 Miles, now running WVO with a home-made 2 tank conversion
1974 230 Gasser 189,000 Miles, For Sale
1961 VW Microbus 162,000 Miles
1961 Ford Fairlane 500, 53,900 original miles
1951 Oliver Super 55 Tractor
2002 Chocolate Lab

I don't get it either. How can you even get out of the vehicle without it moving on you? A 617 doesn't usually idle that slow. I'm not even sure if the 603 would sit there without starting to creep, and it idles at 100 less than the 617.