1997 S320 should I??

[1969280s]

Hi Guys,

I have been shopping recently for a nice late 70's early 80's SD or CD to handle some of my 20 mile daily commute and for general entertainment purposes. I was very close to making an offer on a nice 300CD in my area when what should appear about 30 miles from me? A pristine 1997 S320 LWB with 49k miles, no options, full service records, immaculate ext./int. and the evaporator and head gasket done within 10k miles with receipts to verify the claim. The 1983 300 CD I was looking at had less than 75k miles, looked as new and the asking price was around $11k. This S320 is for sale at a very firm $13k and is A LOT of car for the money as we all know.

My intent was to purchase a nice used Benz that has some character and gets 20+ miles per gallon. Both of these cars seem to fit the bill nicely. I have owned a 1995 S320 and 1995 S600 in the past, both Starmarked, and both had very few issues. At most, these cars will be driven 5k/year and will not be garaged, but covered. The 300CD can be repaired at my local independent and the W140 will be beyond his grasp for sure. This will be a fourth car for me so I will not take kindly to big repair bills on the W140, the 300CD doesn't scare me so much. And, to be honest, with the bigger items already tended to on the W140 it's starting to scare me less and less. I like the antique feel of the 300CD as much as i like the bank vault construction of the S320. What would you guys do?

Best and Thanks,

David