3K mile trip upcoming
 

So we're heading to a family wedding and will be traveling approximately 3K miles all said and done. Initially I thought we'd simply rent something like an impala or such but recently I've been entertaining the idea of just driving the 95 wagon. The car is butter-smooth on the highway and gets decent fuel mileage. It still turns heads as it's still a sharp car! So...

I'm not sure if that would be a good idea or not. The car has 146+K miles on it. It's not an oil consumer, but it's never had a water pump or fuel pump replaced. Nor a starter. Not sure if I should be concerned being stranded along the interstate at 3:00 AM with wife and my two teens. It's due for a tranny drain and filter change. I can do that.

My thinking is why not spend the rental car money on some PM items and drive it. The car has many many life/miles left so why not? Open to hearing some thoughts... [emoji624]

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Usually the last few thousand miles is a good predicter of the next few thousand. If you've been mechanically sound for awhile I don't think you'll have any trouble. I tend to worry about such things for no real good reason too. Probably just as well if you wait on the tranny fluid change until after the trip. Heck, 146k miles isn't really that many.

What he said.

About 10 years ago we went on a trip in our Honda Accord and it too was a very clean, reliable, 'older' (1992) car and everything was going really well until it decided not to start when trying to leave a place we had stopped at. Yep, starter. Fortunately I had the premium AAA towing service so they towed the car back to my relative's house where we were staying and I put a new starter on it. That's still, for some reason, in the back of my mind!! But I know this is a Mercedes! It's been a wonderful car, my wife's DD and the vehicle we take most often when going on a trip. Our trips are just not usually 3K milers!

Guess I just need some affirmation! Thanks for your replies [emoji106]

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You can over-think any decision. You obviously trust your wife daily in the car and if its been reliable thus far I would get in it and not look back. At the end of the day it has mechanical parts that could fail but you are traveling in one of the strongest cars Mercedes ever put into production from a safety and reliability standpoint.
Safe travels

We took a 2500 mile trip
 

with our 1983 300CD at about 280k miles. Previous responders a right. Your car is a daily driver as mine was and you can have as much or more confidence in it than a cramped, over accessorized modern car.

Few years ago I met couple and their dog traveling round trip Left Coast to Right and back in a 300CD towing a small travel trailer. No problems.

I recently took my 91 300TE with over 260k miles on a 1200 mile road trip and it preformed perfectly. I agree with the other posters. If it's been trouble free in daily service then it will most likely be fine on your trip. You could rent a new car and have it break down too.

Had a feeling these would be the kind of replies I'd get, so looks like I'll be taking 'her' on the trip! 'Highway miles' are truly the best and probably the easiest miles on a car so combine that with it being "...one of the best and most reliable..." we should be in good hands. Thanks again guys. I'll report back first of next month (June) to give a report on how we did. :)

You can tell if the water pump is on the way out by seeing if there is any water dripping out of the pump. If it is dripping, replace it before the trip. I wouldn't worry yet about the fuel pump at that mileage. More important is your cooling system and various vacuum hoses. I'd take a hard look at the water hoses. If you find a bad one, I would change ALL of them, flush the system and refill with Benz coolant and distilled water. I had a "check engine" light on a 4500 mile trip in my CL500. Found a bad vacuum hose when I got home.
Anziani

You bring up a good point and that is the hoses. I'll get in there and do some checking, and will likely do it as I plan to do a serpentine belt. We've owned the car since Aug 2009 and I haven't put one on it yet so I'm thinking it would be a smart move to do that pre-trip. Last coolant flush was 11/15/13, a bit under 1-1/2 years, at 130,300 miles. IDK, I may go ahead and do a coolant flush and new t-stat since it wasn't replaced at last flush.

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Dsel,
Forgot to mention the idler pulley when you change the belt. I had one go out in the middle of Eastern Washington with the nearest town 90 miles away. When I limped into Wenatchee there was no sign of a Benz dealer or even a foreign car repair shop. Asked the Chrysler service manager for help and he directed me to a local shop that did work on Benzes. We had to spend the next 2 nights there as the shop had to wait for UPS to deliver a part from Seattle. If you are going to travel in the "boonies", be prepared.
Anziani

I took my 1983 sd for a 2600 mile trip,in 2008.No problems.Of course I replaced all rubber parts,like flex disk,motor mounts,fuel hoses,and cooling hoses.

'95 E300 cross USA last fall....
 

I took my e300 with 190k on a cross US trip last fall....about 5k miles. I used a coupon for a free inspection at an MB dealer before leaving. All cked. ok.

After taking a number of hairpin turns in a National Park, the front wheel bearings started making noise. Made it home and had them replaced.

Pre-inspect, listen for unusual sounds and enjoy the trip! The W124 is a great road car!

You're exactly right, now is the time to change that when doing the belt! Guess what? I placed an order for numerous items for my two 124's and my E46 BMW and didn't THINK to include a tensioner! I'll have to check with the local Benz dealer to see how deep into my pockets they want to get :-) I figure with shipping added to a 'good' internet price, it may be about the same...

Any suggestions where to buy with free shipping will be most welcome [emoji52]

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Did you get a chance to look in Pelican's catalog.

Indeed I did. Problem is the $10 shipping added to the total. Pelican is where I just placed the order for the several items at just under $100...[emoji53]

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I forget the amount of times I have faced the same decision with cars. Odds are you will be okay. I drive more miles locally than I would in a decent length trip each month or so. If the car has been reliable usually it will remain so.

::: UPDATE:::
 

Hey guys, we're back! The car did the trip like it was a young pup with only 45k miles! Just shy of 2,700 miles was logged as we pulled into the driveway at 5am this morning.

We started out with a soft side roof carrier with four pieces of luggage and a couple pillows in it. Two sets of golf clubs, a cooler, and other misc bags/stuff went in the rear and the pet net partition raised. Mileage was averaging just under 21mpg with the carrier on roof. As we were preparing to return, I had this idea of NOT using the roof carrier on the return ride and simply put ALL in the rear compartment - afterall, we had ALL the cubic feet of space from floor to ceiling back there :-). So, I packed it in that fashion and we didn't have more than probably 10 cubic INCHES leftover! My two teens riding in the back seat had to contend with a couple things between them but these later served as a place to lay their heads as they eventually dozed off.

Mileage improved considerably, roughly by 2 to 2.5mpg! It was a bit cramped as the hours ticked away. We left yesterday morning from Naples FL and pulled into our driveway in southwest Ohio at 5 this morning. Whew. I drove it all but about a quarter of a tank that my son drove earlier in the trip. I drive along with the traffic... sometimes a mile or two per hour faster. I'm a cruise control driver! I loathe those around me that don't use it because they accelerate and decelerate while I do not, I keep a consistent speed - or TRY! In a 70mph zone I set cruise at about 76-79 and leave it alone as long as I can.

Never had any raised coolant temp issues running the air conditioning in stop and go south FL traffic. On the way home coming through Knoxville I got off an exit or two just north of the I40/75 split to fill up and as I got to the end of the exit ramp I noticed a bit of a rough idle - it had been smooth as silk on the entire trip. I accelerated to make a right turn and there was a definite and noticeable 'miss' but proceeded a couple hundred yards to the station and shut it down to refill. I opened the hood to see if there was anything visible but nothing I could detect. After filling, I started it and the miss was still there. It was getting late - on a Saturday evening of course - and knew there wouldn't be anything open so I thought well heck, let's move on up the highway and see if it smooths out.

Got over to the entrance ramp and I gotta tell you, I was a bit concerned as it simply didn't have the normal pep I'm used to! I pushed her up onto the highway and kept accelerating, all the while I could feel that cutting out through every connection I had to the car. It was as though it was running on 5 cylinders. And maybe it was. I kept going and by the time we got over Jelico mountain it had started running much better. Could there have been a piece of dirt in the fuel system that clogged an injector or the fuel filter and then worked itself through? It was a bit unnerving with the family that far from home and late at night, although 2/3 were asleep!

Bottom line is this is simply a very nice car especially for its age. Rides like a dream on the road but the driver's seat could stand to be rebuilt before another trip! Any typos on that project would be welcome :-)

Attachment 129829 a very tightly packed mule :D

Congrats on your successful trip.

I have 238,000 on my '95 wagon and travel regularly between Phoenix and San Francisco. That small hiccup you had sounds like a coil, which is what happened to me on a recent trip. On the previous trip the air pump froze and took out the serpentine belt and damaged the tensioner. As luck would have it I was near San Jose and my crack mechanic had me up and running the following day. Those air pumps seem to last about 100,000 miles +or - and they are a bit pricey...but the hydraulic suspension is worth the ride every time. Funny thing is my 91 wagon with 258,000 miles has never had an air pump problem...never thought about that one.

I will soon determine how much I will have to spend to make it go to 500,000!



Wish me luck!

I also thought it could have been a coil also. My wife has to take it on a short trip today of about 150 miles and she reports it did just fine. She will be doing the same trip the next two days so we'll see.

Wow, impressive on your mileage! Not sure how long I'll keep mine but it will sure need to start misbehaving before temptation set in :-)

Lot's of luck on your endeavor to reach .5 million on your car!

I believe miles have no meaning for those cars. I drove my white 1994 wagon at 370k from north NY to Knoxville TN and back ( on the original trany and the second head gasket) After that trany gave up (reverse was acting up) at 373 and decided to sell it to a mechanic.

LOL, you may be on to something there! I tend to grow weary simply looking at the same dashboard and out over the hood after about 5 or 6 years but when one is giving the quality of service as these, I'm not anxious at this point.

Head gasket (and tranny for that matter) is something I've not had to deal with yet but I expect it will eventually happen.

Happy motoring :P