What do i look forward to?
 

I bought a 1987 300E 10 months ago. It had no records except for a rebuilt transmission. The car has run fine so far and cruises at 80 mph smooth so far. I have put about 10,000 miles on the car. The car has over a 150,000 miles on it. My question is have I just been lucky or are these cars pretty bulletproof?
This is my first Benz. I generally have a good feeling when I buy cars about their reliability from the test drive. Should I expect big expenses coming up? OR should it be ok with the oil changes and general maintenance? I know these questions may be a bit general but any feedback is appreciated.

They are good cars. But with every old mechanical device, things may break.

Depening on luck and how the car has been cared for, you may have a very trouble free car or you may have to spend a little money on it.

Most notable among common problems are valve guides and seals that allow increasingly larger amounts of oil to leak into the combustion chamber resulting in increasing oil counsumption. Monitor the oil consumption and if its steady and not excessive you should be fine. The remedy for this problem is a valve job.

Other than that, you can find more information than you will have time to read about your car by using the search function if any problems arise.

I have to say to a new owner that following the recommended maintenance schedule 30k/15k is the best thing you can do for your car. At 150K you would be due for the major service. :rolleyes: For that trans to fail at that mileage indicates the previous owner likely didn't have most if any of the services done. :mad: You should seriously consider doing it and then staying on schedule. :army: A well cared for older/ higher mileage Benz is an investment. A poorly cared for higher mileage Benz is a money pit.