This reminds me of a funny story. If yall don't mind and OT post.

My boss purchased a brand new Lamborgeni . He paid 380,000 cash or some such fantastic number. About a month after he got the car he had a heart attack and drove himself to the hospital in the Lambo. He's on the hospital bed with monitors beeping and tubes sticking out of him. He beckons his son over soz he can whisper in his ear. His son is thinking he's gonna hear the last words his old man is ever gonna say, so he steals himself for whats to come. The old mans says " My Lambo is in the parking garage, find my keys and get it the hell out of there!"

He did make a full recovery and is now in retirement enjoying his ride.
Good Day!

1) The new cars are all shaped like a bar of soap. Cookie-cutter rental cars with no soul.

2) Any jackass can drive a new car. To make an old car reliable takes some skill.

3) What else do you have to do on weekends?

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'81 300CD - 180K, cannot be killed by any conventional means
'99 Ford Escort - good MPG

I wonder if I am the only person that makes a distinction between restoration and reconditioning. Our 300D will never be restored, but it is in the process of reconditioning it. Perfection will never be the goal for this car, it just needs to operate reliably and look reasonably well used at best.

I think when you say restore, it brings to mind images of putting everything back to the way it was when new, and that's just not something necessary for a daily driver. Reconditioning, on the other hand, is perfect for daily drivers. Reconditioning a car for daily use is, and always will be much cheaper than restoring one.

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- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread

It was a tough decision for me.

About 5 yera s ago my 240D/77 with 300K miles reached the end of its life, engine was smoking blue, floor pans rusted out, sheets of plywood acting as flloor boards, rusted door bottoms, and other rust spots here and there.

Time for decision, either repair everything or junk the car. Structurally the rust had not gotten to the suspension so there was hope. At that time the good old 240D was my daily driver for about 19 years and I just could not see myself junking this old baby.

So I repaired it, brand new motor from the dealer, complete body work and rustproofing, new paint job, new clutch, new radiator, new carpeting, this all cost me about $10K, that was 5 years ago, the car is running just beautifully, I get about 32 mpg on highway with this 4 speed manual.

Glad for saving the old mama, the only thing that I do not like about this car is the fact that it will outlast me real easy.

Vahe
240D/77 350K

Reconditioning, not restoring. You guys nailed it. About the only new car I like - style & equipment wise would be an Audi A4 - 3.2ltr, manual, quattro, S-line which runs $42G+. Granted I work for a dealer, let's say $35G's to me. Safe car ? Sure. Great driving car ? Hell yeah. But as I started off this thread with the dreaded Check Engine light dilemma, what do I have to worry about in a 126 ? I already have a body estimate from one of our vendor body shops - $6500. This included:
-Removal of all trim,bumpers,etc
-Taking it down to bare metal as it's been repainted once in it's life with shoddy quality, hence the horizontal panels looking like a bad case of sunburn peeling.
-Repairing the rust at the right tail lamp, the left side of the trunk rain channel and under the back glass (new rear glass included) The undercarriage is solid.
-Repaint the original Gray Anthracite with Glasurite.

He has a line on a new dash cap. A customer that bought it wound up gtetting the rid of the car before installing it. New headliner and rear package shelf. Reupholster the front seats to match the back (front are black. interior is gray). I'd rebuild/replace all 4 calipers. Steel brake & fuel lines are fine. Replace rubber brake & fuel lines, trans & oil cooler lines. Other than getting the body done at one time, the mechanicals I'd be spending my weekends doing. So I'd budget $13,000 on getting most of this done. Even on the outside chance I spend $15,000 over a year, there's no reason I won't get another 250K out of this car. Yes, the Audi will have a warranty, as "Elias" stated in my first post, I'd probably hop in the 126 to drive cross country before I did the new car.

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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
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Do I miss being a service advisor ???