Taking the tractors I own with the cars i now consider head gaskets as a maintenance item, not a catastrophic event. I bought my current 190 in pristine condition, owned by a 90 year old original,owner only 80k miles and it still needed a head gasket in the first year.

Thanks to the forum, it is not all that hard to do, and doesnt cost much. going back to the rust, none of us here on this forum are driving 30 year old benzes because we cant afford honda civics, so get one that looks good, because its cheaper to find a nice one than fix up a dog.

i seem to get about 33-36 mpg with an automatic in mountainous country-- its floored most of the time. on the interstate it drops back a mile per gallon, and thats going seventy, not to mention that its earsplitting at higher speeds. the fewer miles on the clock the better mileage, in my experience.

15k miles per year, assume #2 diesel is $2.50/gallon, the difference between 30 mpg and 40 mpg is about $310. How long will that return on investment in the manual transmission 190D take?

The '92 or '93 124 diesel, with the 2.5 liter turbo engine (5 cylinders), which will probably return around 32 to 35 mpg.

The '87 124 diesel has a 3.0 liter 6 cylinder engine, maybe 28 - 30 mpg.

__________________
Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

New variable just came into the equation. The 1987 2.5 N/A with 5-speed on east coast is still for sale. Seller said he wasn't replying to my e-mail the last week or so because he was traveling. I don't care for the color combo, but this is a low mileage car (125,000) that seems in very good condition. I'm not going to just go fly out there, buy it, and drive it back. Buyer beware! It needs inspected. This raises the question: How do I get a car 800+ miles away inspected by a trustworthy individual or shop?

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NOW: 2017 C43 AMG, 2006 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, 1966 230SL, 1980 450SL (for sale!)
PAST: 2006 C230, 1997 E300D, 1994 E420, 1994 Neon Spt Cpe, 1984 300ZX, 1983 Celica GT, 1976 Electra Limited, 1984 Honda Nighthawk 650, 1979 Suzuki PE175, 1978 Suzuki DS100
www.mbca.org - www.sl113.org - www.ohio4x4.com

to,search cl nationwide type this: 190d site:craigslist.org this will give you every reference to 190d in all of cl. most will be expired, but its very fast when you get the right search terms

Yes, I tried that but I didn't think I was finding them all. It may be the date restriction I use (see attached) as some sellers leave posts up a long time.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
NOW: 2017 C43 AMG, 2006 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, 1966 230SL, 1980 450SL (for sale!)
PAST: 2006 C230, 1997 E300D, 1994 E420, 1994 Neon Spt Cpe, 1984 300ZX, 1983 Celica GT, 1976 Electra Limited, 1984 Honda Nighthawk 650, 1979 Suzuki PE175, 1978 Suzuki DS100
www.mbca.org - www.sl113.org - www.ohio4x4.com

You could have someone here do it, or call a local Mercedes dealer.

The other big scam: low mileage car, odometer was working until last week.

At the time I bought my 190DT, I was commuting 150 miles a day and hitting heavy traffic. So economy was important, but I also didn't want to wear out my arm shifting. The 190DT gets about 35 in mixed driving, and on the open road can hit 40 if I don't push hard. In really bad traffic, it still returns 30 mpg. So I don't feel I gave up much economy with the automatic. The automatics seem to last around 300K miles, mine needed a rebuild at 320K. I drive it 20-30K miles a year.

Check the driver's seat.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

I made my plea for help here: Diesel expert in Central NJ needed for pre-purchase inspection

In that thread are a few shops an MBCA member said I should look into.

I understand your points. That's impressive MPG, I've read lesser numbers on forums. There's a TD in St. Louis area that looks reasonable, and another in northern CA that looks really good. But....
- I'm still relatively young and sold my last manual transmission car just 2 years ago, so the clutch muscles in my leg and shifter muscles in my arm should still work fine.
- I want to maintain the car myself, I want to keep it as simple/easy as possible.
- On average, a manual transmission should have less servicing/repairing than an automatic.
- The turbo & its plumbing are more things to have problems with, and more to remove & replace when working on other things around it.

The only thing that entices me to look at automatics or turbos is that most of the W124 diesels should have fewer things to fix than the W201 diesels will. Don't know why. Maybe because they cost more to begin with, so the first and second owners took better care of them?

__________________
NOW: 2017 C43 AMG, 2006 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, 1966 230SL, 1980 450SL (for sale!)
PAST: 2006 C230, 1997 E300D, 1994 E420, 1994 Neon Spt Cpe, 1984 300ZX, 1983 Celica GT, 1976 Electra Limited, 1984 Honda Nighthawk 650, 1979 Suzuki PE175, 1978 Suzuki DS100
www.mbca.org - www.sl113.org - www.ohio4x4.com