Let's face it: strapping yourself and your loved ones into a steel box and hurdling yourself along the highway at killer speeds (anything above 30 MPH) is just plain crazy!

Once you accept the truth of that, it then becomes reasonable to listen what your SENSES tell you about a particular car.

My 240D tells me that it feels solid and well-footed at any speed it is capable of travelling. It tells me that it can stop VERY well. It feels more comfortable than any other car I've driven (and I've driven a LOT of cars.) If you're the kind of guy who admires muscle cars, the 240D will always seem lacking in the one thing that you like: blinding acceleration!

Maintenance seems so much more straightforward than most cars... and the car just feels like it would not leave you stranded as long as you paid attention to its basic needs.

Compared to most of the other cars people drive today, when you're out tooling around in a 240D, you're not worried that some POS timing belt is going to snap or some computer or sensor is going to suddenly decide to pack it in. More than likely, that diesel will get you to your destination----and its certainly going to get you there in far better style than the majority of hyped up crap that oozes out of Japan and Detroit.

One last word... before you complain about the lack of acceleration in your 30-year old 240D, please take a few minutes to remove all the slop from your linkage. There are a LOT of links, levers and other geegaws between your accelerator pedal and diesel injector... and 30 years is a LONG TIME for things to stretch and get out of shape. This is one area that many professional mechanics overlook. They grab the throttle in the engine compartment, work it a few times and think, "Hmmm engine seems pretty responsive!" Well, most of us do not drive our cars that way... WE use the accelerator PEDAL to feed fuel to the engine. If the linkage is sloppy, you are going to always be thinking that your car is a real dud.

Aw, damn... I just love this car!

__________________
1977 Mercedes 240D. 4-speed transmission. Windows, A/C, and sunroof: all manual. Medium Red. 204K miles.
1988 Subaru GL wagon. Dual range 5-speed 4X4. Daily driver w/ twin parts car.
1994 Subaru Loyale wagon. 5-speed 4x4
1966 International 3/4 ton 4X4 truck. Ooh yeah!
1952 Ferguson TO-35 farm tractor.
1984 Snapper rear engine riding mower. Just like Forest Gump.
1988 Nimble 20 sail boat
--Older stuff is built better--

morgantruce....Well said....

I drove my first 240D for almost a year to detrerman if I wanted to get into fixing it up or if it wouldnt be better to buy a Camray or Sub and be done with it. I spent maybe, 3K rebuilding an "80" engine, plus lots of other items to make it a nice driving car. It really feels good to drive a car that you did all that work too,.. and that rebuild included seats and shocks for the sweet ride.
What it amounts too for me, is compaired to buying a new (or nearly) car, I would rether put some money into a 240D if its not a rust heap, of course.

__________________


1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

i visited wodnek the other day. he bought a n/a 300d in waukegan for cheeeeeeep. it sat for a long time and he had a hard time starting it. i discovered that the 80amp and a screw are missing from the firewall. i think it is a 78. anyway he says the car is peppy off the line compared to a 300t but once you get to about 35 the turbo is going going gone. yeah it is probably faster than a 240. i didn't get a ride in the car but hope to soon since we will be distilling bio d together.

__________________
currently
[1981 300 td tdidi 165500 dark brown/palamino-Brownie-mine-3k miles of ownership
1983 240d 162+++ Anthricite grey w/ henna red interior and hella lights-wifes car-Red

the above two cars are for sale
and can be seen on the cars for sale thread here. pix also available.


240d-144+ Manilla Yellow w/ palmino interior-greasecar kit-Blondie-the college kids car

23" gt 21 speed still on original tires-still got the nubs
21" khs tandem