I never had one get close to 200,000K my 84 300SD '
would like to see my E320 get there and beyond..

Well, in fact it was in better repair than my E300 is now, when I sold. ha!


My money would be on the 84 300SD, sooner than the E320 - all things being equal.

My uncle had a diesel MB back in the late 60s that had around 100,000 on it when he bought it. He was a teacher then and didn't have much money. My grandpa scoffed loudly at the thought of buying a car with that many miles.

Of course grandpa, a farmer born in 1902 didn't really concern himself with changing oil or such things. He didn't ever wash his cars either, except for once in awhile I'd see him outside wiping off the car during a heavy rain. His cars didn't get used that much anyway. Only to drive to town for church or for groceries. Grandma didn't drive. His 1962 Bel Aire had about 30k on it when I got it in 1973, to use as a beater around the farm. I was 10 years old (and boy did I have some fun in that Chev - that 283 was as quiet as a church until I took the muffler off...!) Grandma forced him to buy a new car in 73, an Impala and that lasted until the end of his life in 1993 and still only had about 30k on it - it was quite rusted, smoked some, but still smelled new inside. On top of all that he only ever drove about 40 or 45 mph.

Funny enough, I can remember when we went to town to pick up that new 73 Impala. He had never driven an automatic to that point. My uncle was teaching him to drive and I can still remember the swearing from the front seat when he finally got fed up with there being no clutch and parked the car in the middle of the driveway and when to feed the chickens. The car sat there for 3 or 4 weeks before he would drive it. No one said anything to him. He just decided to climb in and figure it out for himself so he could take "ma" to church in his first brand new car. Grandma never had much patience for riding in the pickup, especially to church.

:confused:

So, what's the rest of the story of the uncle's late '60s 100K mile MB diesel??

Interesting story, I really enjoyed. I feel your pain on that decision too.
Just as a minor point aside, I am curious about the fact that this Charger was a convertible, because as I recall (having lived through those muscle car days), Chrysler Corp never built or at least never sold a convertible version of the Dodge Charger model to the public back in the day. No matter really...

I love the poll, old car guys unite!

Back in the early '80s, my father stopped on the side of the road somewhere, don't recall where, and took a photo. He took two photos. One photo showing the odometer at 100,000 and another photo showing where the 1975 300D was when that happened. LOL.

I actually pulled my old 89 Suburban over to the side of the road a couple of years ago to video the roll from 99,999 to 00,000 because it was the second time it had done it, and I thought it REALLY WAS a big deal. The truck has 306,000+ on it- sure the motor has been swapped for a high performance crate motor with a mild cam, the tranny swapped for a custom built unit, and custom exhaust, etc. but this old truck is my baby and has served me very well. The fact that it got nearly 200K out of the original motor and tranny was impressive. Once it started to smoke I had things redone. I have spent more time in that seat driving between homes doing home health, I can't even tell you. And whether it was driving the truck through 18" of flooding water to take my girlfriend the the emergency room back in the early 90s, or when I was hauling my mom and sister up-state with boxes of belongings to escape a hurricane in 70 mph winds- that truck never really let me down. (and I still have it.) I think having a 300K car says more about the car, and you, than having a 20K car. It's about commitment or something.

Actually, now that I think of it, we don't HAVE a car with under 100K on it anymore. If I had a garage queen with 5K on it, I wouldn't know when I'd actally drive it...

like I said it "WAS" a big deal...great story, as was your Satyr!

The MB was sold when my uncle died in a car accident a couple of years later. He was riding in a VW Bug that was broadsided. Too bad he wasn't driving the MB that day. He may have survived.

I remember riding in that MB and I guess it whetted my appetite. I distinctly remember the solid feeling of the doors closing on that car and it is still one of the things I like best about my MBs.