Thier is a difference between having a nice old MB and a beater. I am in the process of having a neglected W126 bleed me. These cars will eat $200 parts at will if they want to, heck my blower motor is in the process of dieing. Sure these are tough cars that can suffer a lot of abuse but if you abuse one I feel bad for the next owner.

However I too think 86560SEL should get off the fence and figure out what he wants. These are old cars they will have their far share of issues, you cannot cross shop them with a newer Honda.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Have to agree in part with both replies except that 5,000 or so is not an astronomical figure unless you are looking at a Yugo. (Must admit that in my household it is up there but you do tend to get what you pay for.) Seems it will not buy you much more dependability in the 10 year old used car market, other makes that is, and even then, they will not be the same class of car.

At 20 years most are going to be "beaters" and will probably never see a "next owner". Run across one that indicates otherwise, jump on it. Run across a "perfect" one, then you are probably like me and cannot afford it. Fluid leaks are nothing compared to poor shifting trannies, spikes in RPMs, A/C problems, ect. If these things work right and it shows soundness in the test drive, trust your instincts.

You can't own the average car in this age bracket without having the idea that you may be the one to send her to the "junk-yard in the sky"! Most of them are not going to out-live us so it is a given they will leave us through last-ditch sale or death. The question then will be "What did it cost me to operate?" Mine costs me 35.00 a month(Gieco) to insure with 100,000/300,000/100,000 liabilty insurance, very high limits compared to my state's requirements. Still the lowest of the 3 on my policy. Kind of cheap if you consider that anything I might hit will "know it". Other factor is that there are so few of her siblings still running, their statistics of "involvement" are extremely low.

My "Indie" is 45.00 an hour and will let me bring my own parts that it seems I can usually find for less than him. (Gotta love the inter-net!!) At this age I do not look for OEM parts with life-time warranties because it is almost assured that the part is going to out-live most of the car. In a sense, I am giving her her last gasp at glory and I will know when it is time to lay her to rest. In hindsight, "Faded Glory" has cost me less than husband's MIT. Montero and daughter's Toyota! Her only shortcoming is her penchant for gas stations! (Price you pay for 8 cyl. power on demand!) When I say "Let's go!", she is there despite all of her other issues! Still 20 mpg. on hi-way if I don't harass her. Don't ask about in-town, she would make you cry and buy a "Yugo" or ride a bike! All in all, she gives me my money's worth even though I do not ask her to be the car of her "youth" that very few of any kind her age can be! If I had paid 10x's more (would have been 2,000) it would still have been worth the 3 years of operation I have had. Must note...,still rolling as we speak!

86560SEL, do not think you would have gone terribly wrong on any of the ones you have noted just have to wonder if your expectations are too high for the conditions.

I like your approach of just giving the car its "minimal" needs. Basically, you just try to keep the car rolling day after day with no plans to do anything that will supposedly help it for a very long time -- considering the car could end up at the junk yard any day. However, I read from the old mbz.org lists about a guy who bought an old diesel for just $900 with a broken odometer that read 290,000 miles. Since he didn't expect the car to last long and didn't want to throw too much money at it, he refused to fix the odometer. Seven years later the car is still kicking and he finally decided to get a new odometer since the car refuses to die. These vehicles are tough!

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver

AZUREBLUE said: Mine costs me 35.00 a month(Gieco) to insure with 100,000/300,000/100,000 liabilty insurance, very high limits compared to my state's requirements.
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You may be insured for more than your state requirements but that amount of insurance if totally inadequate. If you are in an accident that is your fault and kill or severely injure someone a judgement will be issued against you and the 100/300/100 won't even begin to cover the amount. One million dollars is the bare minimum liability coverage you should have. And it costs just a few dollars more than what you are paying now. Call your agent today and upgrade your auto liability coverages.

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1986 560 SEL (159K miles)

Rockman59, thanks for the tip on my ins. Truth is, I had no idea that you could buy such high liability limits and if you are correct about the small increase in premium, it would explain why my carrier has never tried to "sell" me such a policy since they would have to honor it if I ever was the cause of catastrophy. Will definitely be looking into into it.

Braverichard,felt like I may have upset you and never meant to do that. Burns me up that I can't throw the money I would like to at my old beater. Some might even feel like you have no business owning one if you can't. I dream of returning her to her former glory and would if I could even though I could never sell her for what it would cost to do so. Not a very practical view, but I would be content if it was the last car I ever drove. Those of us on the low end of ownwership love them as much as those driving the new ones.

As you said, they are "tough" and that is why I am able to get away with minimal care. It is also why I feel 86560SEL needs to get past feeling indecisive and Just Do It! Do not think (she?) would be too far wrong on any of the ones that have been mentioned. If I had the money, I would have already bought one (maybe even yours) or put in Faded Glory.