85 300SD or Newer
 

I have a 85 300 SD with 220000 miles on it. It is my daily driver (around 800 miles a week) . The age and miles sometimes makes me think I should trade it for somthing newer like a newer mb diesel . I do love my car but has a few issues that will need to be fixed soon . What do you think ?

That is only something you can answer. How does it run? Does it have any issues? How much money do you have into it? The list goes on.

Do you really want aluminum block,head,and electrical nightmares.

If I were driving 800 miles a week, I'd want something with better fuel economy but that's just me. A newer (in both years and miles) Benz will cost more up front, yet have its own issues, and be harder to work on because there's more stuff to get in the way. I can do pretty much the same things to my '87 (W124, OM603) as I can to the '85 (W123, OM617) but when you get to the '96, all that electronics can be mighty hard to diagnose and expensive to replace (you are rarely able to "repair" those electronic modules).

All that said, my '96 has been very reliable (260,000 miles). Your car at 220,000 miles is not really a "high mileage" diesel Benz.

This is a decision that we cannot make for you but we can advise you on the estimated cost of repair, be it do-it-yourself or pay someone, if you will share with us the "issues" that your car has.

Jeremy

Newer cars are nice if you do not mind paying a mechanic to service the car. Or mind paying higher insurance and license fees. If you are a DIY then you might want to take a second look. What are the issues with your current car?

It doesn't have anything major repairs other than the air conditioner . The rest would be shocks and valve adjustment , and just little things that I will not have time to do for at least a month or so. Right now I am working 7 days a week and don't have time to do any of it myself .

220,000 miles isn't a lot for a 617. Shocks and valve adjustments are relatively easy, and can probably wait a month if you don't have time to do them now. AC I'm not sure about since I haven't done AC work on a Benz. I'm fortunate enough to live somewhere that AC isn't really needed (don't have it in my house or any of my cars).

OTOH, if you're really just itching for another car, go ahead, but you don't have to get rid of your SD. Caveat: following this advice may lead to you being in my situation-three Benzes, probably going to get a fourth one in a few weeks, still no garage.

Keep it. You should be getting around 24-25mpg on the highway and 20mpg in town. If you factor gas cost against the cost of a newer car, it will probably be cheaper to keep it. My '81 300SD has 255K miles and runs like a top; everyday driver. I just never have a problem with it; in fact hardly ever had a problem in over 25 years of ownership.