IF spending a $1000 a year on repairs is too much you dont want a 20 year old car Any 20 year old car

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commercial fisherman diesel in my blood in my boats trucks and Dear old Dad has had me drivin them since i got my first license in 1968
1986 300 SDL 427654
1999 Chevy Crew Cab Dually 225423
1986 300 SDL 287000 Dad's
1987 190 Turbo 158000 Mom's (my inheritance)

$1000 a year? I've spent more than that on parts alone. Granted I'm a slight perfectionist when it comes to my car and will spend lots of money just to to get it as close to original as possible.

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

Find the right car and it won't depreciate much. Maybe find one in here on this site that someone has already done most of the work on to get it up to snuff. If you not picky like myself you may get a car that rarely needs anything close to $1,000 a year.

The 87 300TD is an interesting car for sure but it may not be the car you want to get you feet wet with, but it depends on what your wants and needs are.....

I know its apples to oranges but I'll bet there are 240D owners with standard transmissions who don't spend $1,000 a year on their cars....

Good luck.

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Currently driving a very clean 1985 300SD from the West Coast.

I haven't spent $1000 on my 190Dt in a year including oil and fuel!

If you're thinking about $1k-$2k/year in maintenance, compare that to many people's $400+/month lease or car payment which barely keeps ahead of the depreciation of a new car.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I went through the same thoughts of TDI or 300TD, 2 and a half years ago.

The 300TD is an incredible people/stuff hauler and amazing road trip machine. It is very fast and comfortable. Mine gets about 22MPG on b99 in town and about 28 highway. This is much less mpg than a TDI, but it holds 7 people or a family of four and a ton of gear. That said, I think $1,000 for maintenance is not a bad trade for no car payment. I did the tranny at 277k miles and that was $2k, so over my two and a half years, I think I am at ~$1,600 per year. That feels pretty damn cheap to me.

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87 300TD -"Frita"