So which car do I sacrifice to New England winters?
 

The 91 300D with 113k miles is almost entirely rust free, always has been....just a one inch wheel well spot that I will address. The 98 E300 with 85k miles had wheel well rust when when I bought it last fall, along with a few other spots....it was all professionally repaired. There are little spots here and there underneath the car that I will address with POR-15.

So which one do I protect...which one do I drive through the salt and snow?

You buy my 85 rusty wagon for winters, and park both cars inside

I wouldn't mind an annual habit of buying a beater/flipper....buy in late November, sell in early April. :D

If you don't buy JB3's wagon I would park the W124 in the winter.

I would not own a W210 anywhere they salt the roads. It will rust everywhere Get some for FWD ****box for the winter.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tom.jef...20surround.jpg

walk or public transport. Seriously, only you can answer it.

Yeah if you plan on keeping that W210, don't drive that in the winter. Never drove mine in snow ONCE and it payed off.

I say buy some fwd POS for winter and drive it into the ground.

I own similar 92 e300d and 99 210 the 92 has no rust and it get wax 2x per year. The 210 gets 2 x wax every year and lots of rust repairs. I only started driving the 210 in winter for the last 3 years.

Save Otis!
 

It seems you have a stronger bond with the 92. If there must be a sacrifice, I vote the E300 off the island. That said, you can't really go wrong with picking up a cheap n cheerfull fwd beater to get you through the winter. Both of the benzes are really nice & worth keeping that way. My $0.02.

Shame to put one of those through salted road conditions. You probably would spend more on rust repairs even as a result than a beater costs.

On certain dry days in the winter you could still use one as an alternative to the beater.

Having owned a '99 E320 from new, I couldn't agree more. OTH, they're very appropriate for sacrificial use.

I agree. That's what beater Subarus are for.

x2....that's what I do!

Just buy one, and keep it around.

Perhaps an old police interceptor so everyone gets out of your way as a special bonus. Lots of deals on those

Thanks for the input. Probably makes most sense to protect the 91. I've owned it for five years. Prior to that, one owner car owned by elderly woman in PA....probably didn't see a lot of snow from 1991-2009.

The 98 will drive better in the snow and it's probably already rust compromised anyway. I don't mind spending money over the years to repair the rust. I spent $700 to address all the deferred rust repair from 1998 to 2013. Not too bad. I wound't mind shelling out for rust repair every five years or so. When it eventually gives up the ghost due to rust, I will buy an 05/06 CDI.