Diesel soot and NOx is bad for you. Not as bad as smaller particulate matter, but it ain't good. In NYS, school busses are no longer allowed to idle more than 5 minutes when waiting.

In buffalo the neighborhood near the Peace bridge (canadian border crossing) has well document and long standing high prevalence of athsma and other lung problems. This is caused by the NOx and soot from trucks waiting for customs clearance.

Geographic Clustering of Adult Asthma Hospitalization and Residential Exposure to Pollution at a United States

not to mention... Working on a w116 is a breeze compared to working on any modern junk.
Room to reach in, Quality fasteners that don't turn to dust when you need to remove them and so on. Mercedes cars of this era were designed to be repaired rather than most of the jap crap that was designed to be easily assembled, used then junked.

these are the last of the all hand built mercedes cars... they are a treasure...

Agree. The 300SD W126's look like pimp mobiles too. :-)

It looks nice. But before you plonk down 6 g's for this vehicle you need to inspect it closely in person. Rust is the #1 thing to look for. Unless its lived its entire life in the desert it has rust. And as Mercedes Benz service advisor told me many years ago now "on these car's it's not the rust you can see that you need to worry about".

The kick panel next to the drivers and passengers feet needs to be removed and you need to see what lies behind that. The carpets need to be removed and dampness/rust looked for beneath them. As do the rear seats. They are easy to pull out. Just a couple of clips at the base of the seat to push and the whole thing pulls straight out. Check beneath and beneath the rear carpets to see the condition of the floor.

Take a screwdriver or something and poke up at the underside of the body, right beneath the drivers and passengers feet. Should be solid. The undercoating can harden over the decades and deteriorate allowing water to get in and attack the metal. If they screwdriver penetrates you have a problem. Not necessarily a terminal one but you need to check thoroughly.

These are an awesome car, in verifiably good condition. In comparison a Honda Accord (bizarre that one would even compare the two) is a piece of crap.

- Peter.

Thanks Peter.

What else can one buy for $2500 in the rust belt? My car has needed work because it was owned by a frail old lady and it sat for a long time. Just make sure if you buy the car that it is actually in like-new condition as far as all the little things go. Things that a person can maintain over time. Otherwise you're getting ripped off.

I don't plan to keep the car any longer than I have to. I'm thinking about buying a 2006 ML350 to be honest. Can get them here for $8000 with 125,000 KM on them. Still will have things to repair, but it won't be an avalanche of repairs like it is with a 35 year old vehicle. Not to mention starting easy in winter, not using dirty greasy diesel fuel, and all the safety innovations.

I've been a DIY mechanic going on 25 years now. I don't enjoy crawling under cars and feeling like I've been beaten with a crowbar for days on end. Sick of it. If you have money to pay somebody else a fortune to do all these repairs then that's cool. I'd rather have a new car.

My car isn't a turd either. I looked for months for a good one. People stop me constantly to fawn over it.

SO even though the car looks good. You have no idea what it might have in store for you. :)
I knew the car would need work when I bought it, but it's been a challenge to keep up. I think most stuff is done now. Maybe a bit more brake work, and the rear axle boots need replacing, but otherwise the car is really a low mileage car, and it runs and drives really good for the age.

I would probably try to get $4500 for mine if I sold it at this point. I could not find another that had anywhere near the amount of effort put into it that mine has in the last 6 months. Plus it has new tires. I guess $6000 isn't a bad price if the car is really superb, but I doubt it is.

That's another thing, make sure the tires are good. The DOT code prior to 2000 used the last 3 digits to tell the week (2 digits) and the year of manufacture (1 digit). Newer tires use 4 digits, so the last two digits are the year. You don't want tires more than 6 years old. They will be hard and a hazard on wet roads.