I may never make it to Kiwiland, but my car sure did. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

volosong · #1 05-20-2009, 11:00 PM

I'm back into diesels!

Several weeks ago, I had my '89 300CE in the shop for a nagging problem that was difficult to diagnose and fix, (stall at idle speeds, turns out mechanic tried the simple, easy to fix things first - finally fixed for good). When I was there, I wandered over to a car in the lot to take a gander at it. Turns out to belong to my mechanic and he just recently purchased it from the original owner. It's a 1985 190D 2.2 sedan. He said he snapped it up because there aren't many around, especially in its condition and was planning on using it as his retirement car. The perfect run-about: great fuel economy, inexpensive to maintain, not too big of a vehicle, and in pretty much perfect shape for a 25-year old car. Half joking, I asked him if he wanted to sell it anyway.

He called me at work yesterday and said he just returned from the autoclub and was overwhelmed about all the insurance he has to pay for so many cars he owns. He offered me first crack at purchasing his manual transmission 190D. Asked him how much and in response to his answer said, "Yeah, I'll take it." He said to come in and take it for a test drive before deciding.

I knew I really wanted it. Terribly miss my 240D stick shift diesel. The 300CE is a neat little car. Very fast, sporty, somewhat unique, and has plenty of power. Even has a working air conditioner. That's something unusual for older MB cars. Drew a check from the credit union today and made the trip out to see him.

Took the car for a short drive. Boo-Hoo. Cruise control broken. Rats! Every thing else is fine. Slow as a snail. Driving the coupe, I'd forgotten how awfully slow these four cylinder diesels are. The interior is in just about perfect condition. Only thing needing replacement was the visors, which he had already done for himself.

Engine wise, he installed a new radiator and gave it a major tuneup. I gave him the check, then asked him if he would fix a few things I noticed. He's going to adjust the driver's mirror adjustment knob, replace the worn window up/down button, recharge the air conditioner, lube the sunroof, get a tire iron (and maybe a toolkit), and replace a cracked tail light lens.

I took the owner's manual and records home to read until I pick up the car. Even have the original window sticker. Car was sold by Mercedes-Benz Hollywood, Inc. Base price was $23,240.00 and with the options, $26,045.00. The standard features we all know. The options on this car was Nautical Blue Metallic paint for 290.00, SRS for 880.00, ABS for 1,285.00, and Mandatory California Diesel Emission Warranty for 350.00. "Gas Mileage Information" is listed as 31 city mpg and 39 highway mpg.

I did notice something unusual about this MB. The temperature gauge read in Celsius and the temperature control thumb wheel was also in Celsius. Haven't seen that before on a United States car. I asked him about it and he said that he was aware of a few W201 cars getting into the states with Celsius thermometers and wheels. He offered to change them, but I told him to leave them. I need to learn the metric system anyway and even though I have a decent grasp of distance, weights, and liquids...I'm still stumped by temperatures. This will force me to learn that missing puzzle.

Now, I've always been told to never purchase a used Mercedes without having service records. Well, in this case, the car being the mechanic's retirement car, I figured it was in good condition, or he wouldn't have it. According to the Maintenance Booklet, from very early 1985 to mid 1988, the vehicle was serviced religiously by MB Hollywood, up to the 35k service.

Then, for the 40k service, there was a stamp for Takapuna. Takapuna? Where the heck is that? A very quick Google search reveals that it is a suburb of Auckland. Yup, the New Zealand Auckland! From that undated 40K mile service to the end of 2000 for the 90k mile service, this W201 was serviced by various dealerships in the Auckland area.

No stamps since then, and here it is now eight and a half years later, and the car only has an additional 21k miles on the clock. That works out to an average of less than 2,500 miles a year for the past 8.5 years. Must have sat in the garage most of that time. No cracks in the dash. Paint flawless except for one small pea-sized clear coat flake-off. Somewhere in that timeframe, it made the return trip across the ocean back to SoCal.

I've rambled on long enough. Looking forward to driving a diesel stick shift again. It will probably be "my" retirement car. Only another seven and a half years till my official retirement date, not that I want to quit working at that time. Having too much fun. Also looking forward to picking your collective brains on keeping my putt-putt going well into the future.