I know some of these cars can go to 500k+ normally, but what do you think the realistic service life is really?

30 years? 40 years? 50 years?

Right now the parts are readily available, but what if/when they dry up? Do you think age will kill these beasts someday? You rarely see cars from the 70's anymore, and cars from the 80's seem to be less and less visible.

I have had my SDL for 2.5 years and I love it, but wonder just how long these cars will be useful for Daily driving before age and/or Mercedes makes it difficult.

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86 300 SDL - Vesuvius

96 SL 500

Assumption is the mother of all screw ups.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke

There are plenty of 50's/60's cars running in Cuba, even with the trade embargo. It all depends on how you improvise. At the end of the day, I think it is a matter of you give up rather than the other ways round.

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Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html

1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.

I think you can use these cars as long as you are willing to maintain them. MB is pretty good about supporting their old cars, of you are willing to pay. Just don't let them get rusty or drive them into a tree. At some point it will be cheaper to drive a new one, but who wants a new one?

realistically, these 1970's Mercedes have no more than 300-400k miles of life in them. i give it 5 more years before they start drying up and you don't see them driving around anymore at all

My thought is the reason you don't see many old cars in many areas is that everyone including kids are living beyond there means. They expect new cars and most families have several new cars. Maybe this little wake-up call will change a few poeples minds on buying new cars. I think we know it did or the auto industry wouldn't have had to shut production down. As for the life of the MB I think it has many years left. After WWII many Model T's and A's were pulled off the road but with over 15 MILLION T's produced they are still around. I have a 21 and a 23 that are original. Parts are still available and used parts can still be found. With the loyalty to MB's that many owners have they will be around for quite some time. Thanks

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83 300D 227,xxx miles, sold
86 300 SDL 130,000 miles, sold

In 10 years the 210 chassis E class cars will all be 20 years old. Their prices will be way down and it will be tempting to buy one of them rather than put a few more thousand into your 300/240D (arguably).

Scott

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

Depends on how much you want to spend on it. There comes a break even point when it's cheaper to buy a replacement. Only you can determine that point.

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92 300D 2.5L OM602 OBK #59

Please I don't want to think about the day I have to give my 300D up.

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

You can still buy all the needed repair and maintenance parts for a VW Beetle, A DeLorean, and even a Ford Model T.

Anything make/model was produced in sufficient quantities will fuel the demand for parts. The '80's diesel mercedes cars were sold in so many countries all over the world, there will be parts available for these for decades to come.

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'98 E300 turbodiesel

How about posting some pictures of the '21 and '23.

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85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60

They already are cheap. I've turned down two W210 E320s at the auction and had to pay more for W124 E320s, the 210s are less desirable and not built as well. The only thing about any W210 that is desirable to me is the 606 turbo.

It is evident in the other bodies also, that Mercedes' attempts to compete with the Toyota/Lexus and other low-price upstarts was causing them to lower their standards and thus the quality of design and build in their cars. It was a sad decade.

Keep the 126 running strong. I like to get my money out of cars, have kept most cars from new to around 20-years old and my criteria is simple: if it still looks good and is dependable, it stays.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I used to work at Napa and I was amazed at the range of parts still available. I specifically remember a guy coming in one time asking for a set of points for a '31 pontiac...we had them on the shelf.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I don't think so.

Considering MB still has the parts for 1960's cars and even earlier still readily available, I think the W115, W116, W123, W126 and W124 all have quite a long life ahead of them. At least another 20-30 years before they are considered pre-historic. I bet the biggest impact will be a fuel changeover or a massive spike in fuel costs to $6+ a gallon, so people buy extremely small efficient cars like in Europe.

The cars will indeed go forever with maintenance and keeping the rust/tree hits away from them. My W124 is almost 20 years old and has virtually no rust, only 142k on it, and runs perfect.....all it needs is a bit of suspension/steering refresh, and it will be perfect. All for about 14x less than a new E-class would cost, not to mention the other expenses (insurance, registration....etc....)

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

This thread makes me wonder about what parts I should start to look for to keep my 93 running for another 20 years.

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1993 W124 300D 2.5L Turbo, OM602.962
2000 Chevrolet Cavalier, 2.4L DOHC
2002 Ford Explorer, 4.0L SOHC
2005 Toyota Prius, 1.5L

http://www.fuelly.com/sig-us/40601.png