I would say the failure in logic would be in trying to finance :eek: a 30+ year-old car. :eek::eek: Why would she want to do that? No lending institution is going to write a loan on a car that old, no way, no how.

I would not finance a 5 year-old car, let alone one that is more than six times as old!

That sums it up right there. I'm on the fence about if its become a chore for me. I'm certainly overwhelmed with 3 cars! Whenever the CDI's get down to 20k I'm probably buying one. :cool:

Hattie, you hit it on the head right there.
My 02 Corvette with 29k miles on it left me stranded 3 hours from home, my 300D's with over 200k have never done that.

I think unless your uncle's MB was running on Waste veggie oil or biodiesel and had his driver seat replaced with different design(like newer 2000's MB or Acura), he did make a good decision- if that MB is 80's model. The biggest flaw I see in 80's MB is the seat design.
I'm new to MB(about a year). I have 82 300sd tubo n 84 300d turbo. Both came with bad bad designed driver seat(2nd worst, 90's Chevy Malibu is #1). The seat is tilted way too much and the back support has a curvy shape. This shape makes your butt sink and as a result, your back is curved and your head is forwarded in order to balance your body to compensate the movement. Spending too much time in this original seat, one'll develop a forward head syndrome(night mare). I did modify the bottom, still the back support's left to finish. I'll share with you guys about it later. I noticed that people that drive 80's MB, they drive w/ their head forwarded and their upper back, neck and, head unsupported. If u r a chiropractor, u will sell the car right away because of its really bad posture.

So, those million dollar collector cars are bought with cash?

$5k is penny's. They only ask for bluebook value when putting the car down on a loan.



no point in new cars. All they do is depreciate. Where do you think these fancey new cars will be in 30 years? - yeah, thought so...

Huh? The seats were adjustable for fore and aft movement, seat bottom tilt, and back tilt. I have mine set up with the seat bottom just about level and the seat backs pretty close to straight up and down. I've driven my 300D for ten hours at a stretch and never experienced any spinal discomfort as a result. I've done the same in similar vintage Cadillacs and a Lincoln and was not so fortunate.

But now that I think about it, I think the '90 International Paystar I used to drive probably had the best/most comfortable driving position out of anything I've driven extensively. The big steering wheel did sometimes interfere with my ammo pouches though.

Try using the adjusting wheel. Its tucked away on the left side. Much nicer than the stupid ratcheting style that most cars use nowadays.

This is a joke right?

- Peter.

All that means is that you need to work faster! :D :D ;)

Ours have been very low maintenance lately....we had to take our 300D offline because the alternator bearings decided to suddenly go bad....new unit will come Wednesday, I'll quick put it on, install some new light bulbs in the dash (CCU/spider are all out), stick the wood back on and it will be ready for many more miles! Nothing else is wrong with it at all.

All it has needed in 1.5 years of ownership: glow plug kit, fluid changes, tires, starter, alternator, a used oil cooler (old one leaked).....monovalve diaphragm.....and thats about it. In 1.5 years. Car was $1500....and maybe $1000 in repairs (including tires) so far.....2500, over 16 months....$156 a month + fuel....and insurance....which is about $220 a year. Amazingly cheap. Lets see a new car match that, with the same safety/quality/class.

My car on the other hand is more like yours....I spend on it with no intention or hope to ever recoup that money. :D :D ;) I simply want to keep it nice, don't care what it costs. :eek: :D

I do far more work on my car than I technically "have to"....mainly because I want to keep it as nice as possible. I have several rust repairs to do....might replace my damaged (dented) rear door this summer....etc. Mechanically there's not really anything wrong....aside from the need for a suspension do-over....but it drives fine/doesn't wear the tires and handles well....so I am not concerned with that for now. Insurance is cheap, fuel costs are relatively low.....I haven't had to actually repair anything due to breaking since my alternator last June....which I knew was failing for many months. Everything else at this point mechanically....is new....there's literally nothing that still needs replacing! :D

80's MB seats
 

First of all, assuming that we r talking about a good firm seat. All the height adjustment equipped in these MB can only raise/lower the seat's height relative to steering wheel and your sight, it doesn't change the angle of the seat at all.
May be I'm more sensitive than most people because of my back problem. Driving this car has made my back much worse. Anyway, when I compared them against a few good seats ie, 2004 Honda Odyssey(the best), 2003 MB C230, 93 Acura Vigor, and 95 Land Rover(excellent seat, but bad head rest that push your head down), 80's MB seats are baddddd.

What angle are you talking about? Every car I've ever been in you can adjust the seatback angle, except old cars with bench seats. I agree the W123 seats arent very good because they lack lower back support. But to compensate for that I crank the seatback forward more, works ok.

Noooo not where your back leans against(that's is bad too), it's where your butt sit on. For the best posture the surface of this part must be flat and horizontal like most trucks, vans, and chairs u have @ home so u can sit with your back straight, but it's not possible for normal cars due to(I think) limited height of the roof, not enough clearance under the steering wheel, a need to sit with our feet resting mostly on heels, and some other factors I couldn't think of.
Therefore, it has to be slightly tilted so u can sit with your feet resting on your heels and at the same time can drive n do those legs movement, braking n accelerating, comfortably and with convenience. But for 80's MB, this tilted way too much.

To see this problem, try sitting on a regular chair(not a stool) that has a height that will make your upper leg/thigh parallel to the floor(and your feet still completely rest on the floor). U'll need to lean your back so it has to have to whole back support part. Now put something 1 to 2 inches high under upper legs/thigh area and position your heels where the brake should be(with something to rest on under your heels and toes against something like a wall). Now see how u feel....a good driver seat is approximately about that. Then try putting something 2 inches higher underboth upper leg/thigh area...that's similar to 80's MB seat.( If that's too much work, for quick n easy one, just lift your knees up so that the space under your upper legs/thigh area is at the heights mentioned above.)

Now let's resemble the back support part of the seat for 80's MB. This one is easy. Try putting a rolled up towel (about 4 inches in diameter) right behind your butt(not under) with the approximately 4-inches thing still under your upper legs/thigh....now u r approximately sitting on the 80's MB seat.

To look straight, your upper back and neck muscle will have to work much harder in that position. The only safe thing (that won't develop back problem) u can do for sitting like this is to tilt your head looking up at the ceiling, but u can't drive like that.

I wish it's easy fix by just putting a lower back support available in the back stores. However, it's tricky when your knees is much higher than your butt (as in this case). When u put a lower back support, your your upper back curves even more to compensate the movement.

So the solution is flatten all the surface so the butt won't sink and back won't curve.

Peter, seriously.....no joke.
Because losing your back is not just a nightmare, it's yearsmare:eek:, u'll be more happy taking a bus than having unfixable back problem.
So the choices r redesign the seat or sell the car.
I chose the 1st one cause still wanna convert it 2 biodiesel. Ok got to go 2 bed now, I'll share about my simple modification later.

That's why I bought a 'new' 300SDL to replace the 300SD:D

I'm trying to be without car payments, but my darling wife just won't be seen in an older car so unless I hit the lotto, I'm stuck with at least one payment for the forseeable future. If you really want reliable, cheap transportation and are willing/able to tinker with it now and then, BMW E28's are amazing, especially the 528e. The E28 is nowhere near as well engineered as an MB from that era, but the silly things just run and run and run. Mine get 28 MPG in the mix of driving I do, the oil filter is easy to get to from above, 14 inch tires are cheap too.

I've always enjoyed my MB's but these mid-size BMW's are dead simple to work on and parts are relatively cheap as well. I have neighbors who lease Escalades and Range Rovers and it just makes me cringe. These are the same people who built huge McMansions and can't afford to go out to dinner on Sat evening anymore because their mortgage shot up and gas for the SUV is too expensive. We hop in our old square BMW that is paid for, and pay cash for a nice meal, and everything is right with the world!