The reason I ask is that my son who is just learning how to drive does not like driving my diesel. He prefers the zippy-ness of my wife's Honda Civic.
He does not like to floor the accelator to get it going.

Oh, well....

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

My first car was a 1970 Austin-America....

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

Tell your son that MY son has been driving my 92 300D for close to a year now and finally is able to appreciate that it's a REALLY COOL CAR. Lots of kids at school said, when he first started showing up with it, "Whoa, dude, you're driving a BENZ?" Your son will never get any comments if he drives your wife's Civic.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 159k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 179k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 77k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

My wife loves her 1995 E300 for this very reason. She used to pull up to work and get worried that someone would think her VW Passat Wagon would make her look like the "weird mom type". Now she's made it a point to tell me that people compliment her car all the time.

I'd say tell your son to get over it. I will totally give a diesel (hopefully a slow one) to my son for his first car. They teach good confident driving habits (you have to be aware of how much power you have to merge) and they require a more relaxed driving style (no zipping in and out).

I really think that most diesels require just a bit more finesse and appreciation to drive and own. Gassers are just disposable cars in my eyes now.

EDIT: my first car was a 1994 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight LSS (non-supercharged) and my wife had a 2005 Kia Rio (which I ended up totaling and allowed me to buy my first Benz!)

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Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat

I recondition w123/w126/w124/w140/r107/r129/ steering boxes!


1984 300D "Elsa" odo reset 6/2011 147k
1983 300TD "Mitzi" ~268k OM603 powered
1995 E300 "Adelheid" 262k [Sold]

Pontiac Fiero! Still have it too.

I didn't get a diesel until I went to college.

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68 280SL - 70 280SL - 70 300SEL 3.5 - 72 350SL - 72 280SEL 4.5 - 72 220 - 72 220D - 73 450SL - 84 230GE - 87 200TD - 90 190E 2.0 - 03 G500

Nissan GTR - Nissan Skyline GTS25T - Toyota GTFour - Rover Mini - Toyota Land Cruiser HJ60 - Cadillac Eldorado - BMW E30 - BMW 135i

Harder to seriously injure yourself in a car that tends not to get away from you when first starting out. A lot of differances between young people factor in as well.

The only certainty is that driving is better than walking everywhere. Some of the cars I drive are really a little too much for a new driver. A 240d around town is a great starter car in my opinion. If dad is paying the freight he has the choice in my mind.

Once you go Benz, you never go back! tell him that one

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97 W202

The first car I bought was my 1979 300D. The day after I bought it, I commuted to work for the first time. I thought I made a huge mistake. It seemed way under powered. But 2 days later I absolutely loved it. It takes a couple days to figure out the torque curve, how to get the autobox to shift just right by regulating the accelerator.

I can see why your son wouldn't like it. IF he's switching between the two and not getting used to the mercedes. Have him drive it alone for a week or so, and he'll get used to it. A word to the wise though. If he does start regularly driving the 300D, the next time he uses your wives car remind him not to floor the accelerator as it become a habit. There amore than a few members here that have gotten into something and instinctively floored it and almost ended up in a hedge or something.

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2004 F150 4.6L -My Daily
2007 Volvo XC70 -Wife's Daily
1998 Ford F150 -Rear ended
1989 J-spec 420SEL -passed onto its new keeper
1982 BMW 733i -fixed and traded for the 420SEL
2003 Volvo V70 5 Speed -scrapped
1997 E290 Turbo Diesel Wagon -traded for above
1992 BMW 525i -traded in
1990 Silver 300TE -hated the M103
1985 Grey 380SE Diesel Conversion, 2.47 rear end, ABS -Sold, really should have kept this one
1979 Silver 300D "The Silver Slug" -Sold

My first car is the '84 (I'm 16)! I haven't driven it yet, though...

I like the zippiness of our Corolla, but I also like driving our Sienna for the "big car" feel -- in that one, I am always accelerating and turning slowly and ponderously. It's fun

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

...of course, our Sienna can also burn rubber with the best of them, if need be. I have spun the tires a couple of times without meaning to (and I don't drive aggressively).

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

My first car was a 1969 Austin America

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

My second car was a 1978 Peugeot 504 Diesel Sedan....very reliable car and a solid 30mpg....

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership

Had one of those too, same year. Nice car, but no where near the W123.

First car was a 1950 Chevy panel truck. Bought it for $50.

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2012 B Class

1981 300D - Now with greazzer

Ha someone tried to give me an Austin 1100 (more or less the same car to those who don't know) as a first car but even at a tender age of 17 I realised that I couldn't tackle that much rust!

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

My first car was an Austin Healey Sprite Mk3. I think the car had 46 hp in a 1098 cc engine. I kept it to the floor. I would pass other cars on interstate entrance and exit ramps. Sometimes on the inside and sometimes on the outside. Felt good. Somehow I have survived 45 years since those days.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.