Safety versus cost.

4 years ago, my then 17 year old totaled my 190e 2.6 2 weeks after getting her drivers license. She t-boned a small Japanese sedan.

My replacement was the 124C. Hers was a 97 Ford Escort. She had three three rear enders with it before it finally succumbed to the abuse involved in sideswiping 3 parked cars at 2:00am with (thankfully) another girl behind the wheel( DWI of course).
One cost 2,000 cash to fix her car with no damage to the other car (Jeep Liberty). The next was a rear ender to a teenage girl making a left hand turn. Although damage was limited and the car was fully driveable, insurance company totaled the car which I bought back. Before the car could be fixed, yep, she goes back to college and hits another car in the rear. Toyota Avalon. So, 700 to fix the toyota and another 800 to fix the escort. The settlement from the second accident paid for the repairs to both the cars in the third.

As a father and human being, nothing made me happier than her and everyone else being uninjured in these accidents. As a car owner, nothing made me more frustrsated that one accident after another after another after another, especially in NJ where car insurance rates are out of sight.

Teenagers will have accidents. You want them safe. Personally, today, I'd get an old 190 2.3 (or a 240) in decent shape for a teenager. Not too big, not too powerful, but plenty able to protect passengers in case of an accident. IMO a 124 is a pretty big first car for a teenager unless you live in the country. Triple the thought for an SUV.

Hope the poster's daughter's Mustang wasn't a 5.0 5 speed!

"Most of the experience you get in life you get five minutes after you needed it." (unknown)

The joys of parenthood, eh?

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Hopefully your daughter will mature and be a better driver. I was once young and very foolish and had my share of wrecks and tickets, but it helps if you lecture her about the need to drive safely, and maybe if she is forced to pay for her car, repairs and insurance....

If you are footing the bill, how about a W123 diesel or a Volvo 240, they are both good inexpensive safe cars.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Roger is a good man, he is precisely right! Sounds just like my first car, except mine was an auto 300D, but a 1975 model. Great decision! And it is still a benz, you can't ever take that pride from a young driver, trust me!


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Chris
'87 300E
158k

Hear hear. My first car was a 1980 300D. I got it in 1987 with somewhere about 130k miles on it. Tough to beat the reliability and safety-factor. Although I did not wreck it, it WAS engineered well enough to get me through a few times when I SHOULD have - and probably WOULD have - in a lesser car.

It was slow. That was a good thing at the time, as I COULDN'T very well hurry anywhere and more importantly, taught me the invaluable lesson of FLOWING with and through traffic (read: you learn by necessity to look ahead, leave space in front of you, learn to hold speed v. accelerating and decelerating constantly, etc etc). Insurance is cheap and you can still find great examples with 150k miles (or less) for $3-6k. One word of advice - the 300 could accelerate OK if required. A 240 has so little power that you kill ANY and EVERY chance of escaping from hazards through acceleration - basically all you have is steering and brakes (depending on your attitude, this may be OK, however I believe in a blend of offensive AND defensive driving).

Parts are plentiful, the interior takes a hell of a beating and if you live in snow country your daughter will learn the fine art of winter driving *very* quickly. My biggest gripe was ice-and-snow handling when going to Tahoe in the winter, but chains are required out here. I don't know how well snow tires work on these things.

My two cents

[This message has been edited by makakio (edited 03-24-2000).]

Im 17, I bought a 1996 Dodge Neon, nice car but for a 17 year old guy the car is way to fast. I fould my self in an accident because of this, my car sild off the road.

Now i have a 300SD. I love it. its a slow car but it has some power if you need it. The best thing about mine is that it came with 18inch rims and about $600 worth of sould equipment. I highly recomend a 300SD

WOW...who says kids nowadays are not as smart as they used to be.

Good job!

__________________
Current Benzes

1989 300TE "Alice"
1990 300CE "Sam Spade"
1991 300CE "Beowulf" RIP (06.1991 - 10.10.2007)
1998 E320 "Orson"
2002 C320 Wagon "Molly Fox"

Res non semper sunt quae esse videntur

My Gallery

Not in this weather!

My daughter has driven our 94 E320 to shhool for a year and is tired of being called a "rich *****" so I picked up a 92 Mustang for her to drive.

Dan

__________________
81 240D 4speed with 300D engine
87 560SL
2005 E320
Yukon Denali
Sierra Denali
850 Turbo Volvo
1996 Mustang
1984 Mustang race car
3 Boats

Cressida,

First cars are a cool topic-always related to parenting though. Its 6 years after larry first posted, and most of the 2.3s are looking pretty scuzzy by now. The w124s are gonna last longer, but it looks like the newest ones are now 12 years old. I think that condition trumps age in either case, but the most important thing is the lack of do-dads that break. Power windows, seats, mirrors, climate control, ride heigth adjustment and leahther seats are all items that wear out much faster than the mechanicals in these cars. Get something w/out the added options, if you can find it!

If I had to buy another car right now (i'm about to graduate college), I'd get a diesel with no options. Much better to spend money on making a simple car run very well than spend it on essentially useless things like power windows. Benz just hasn't made simple cars lately, and the answer that larry found (well maintained 300d, prolly few options) might still be the 'right' one.

cheers,
dan r.

Wow. If you think a Dodge Neon is too fast maybe you should stick with the 300SD for the rest of your driving life. You can get into trouble in any car. Taking a nice corner at 30mph is much more dangerous/accident prone than going 100+ mph on a straight road and lord knows you dont need a fast car to go 30mph. I am glad you got the Mercedes though. Dodge Neons are deathtraps especially with all the 5000 lb SUVs on the road.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

buy her a 1988 or newer
300e with the m103 engine..
these cars are attractive with the euro headlights installed..
and usually they have leaking head gaskets
that you can easily do yourself...
so you can buy one of these cheap

after skimming the threads I did not see anyone mention the possibility of a 202-chassis. they are getting very reasonable. a c220 93-95 would begreat for safety as well as gas!!!! 30-35 hwy! just make sure you have no WIRING HARNESS issues and you would be fine!

__________________
1994 C280
2009 VW Tiguan
1993 Toyota X-tra Cab SE-5


1973 220D ... Gone, but not forgotten
1991 Alfa Romeo 164L Gone, wife MADE me forget it

2006 Hyundai Tucson... just straight out FORGOTTEN!

Thanks, Benz-LGB, for feedback. Being a shorty myself (5'1.5") I'm always nervous about the airbag exploding in my face. Luckily, my daughter's taller (5'5") so the Toyota airbag, at least, didn't hit her in the face.

Did you get the wagons for your kids because of safety or just for hauling stuff around? Also, was there something about the models/years that were especially appealing -- or just cost/availability?

My husband's friend is basically willing to give us his '94 VW Cabriolet conv. but it's been hit on the side already and feels like an unsafe tin can to me. My feeling is, given the choice between a Reagan-era MB and the VW with a driver's side airbag, the Benz is safer.

I'll definitely post the final choice although I think we're in for some heavy negotiation!

kao

KAO: For some reason my kids love wagons (maybe it has to do with the fact that as babies they were hauled around by my wife in our Volvo 740GLE wagon). My son can't wait until he inherits the 300T, he has become quite possessive of it.

Wagons do feel safer. They are built with additional support. Plus they are great for hauling stuff. Just be sure that you have a "cargo cage" to keep cargo from flying around and hitting passenger.

I would take a big, heavy Reagan-era diesel Benz over a tinny VW, airbag or no airbag.

Good luck and happy car hunting!

__________________
Current Benzes

1989 300TE "Alice"
1990 300CE "Sam Spade"
1991 300CE "Beowulf" RIP (06.1991 - 10.10.2007)
1998 E320 "Orson"
2002 C320 Wagon "Molly Fox"

Res non semper sunt quae esse videntur

My Gallery

Not in this weather!

I have two teenage daughters in the 123 series currently. One in a 1978 300D, gave $750 for it three years ago and it is still going strong. One in a 1980 240D automatic, gave $900 for it over a year ago - has 336,000 miles still not a rattle in it. The oldest had a 1985 300DT I have it know it was the biggest maintenance of the 7 Benz's we have.
The two young really like their vehicles. I like them as maintenance is cheap and reliability is high. The cars are not "cool" but they know they will always make it to there destination and their friends may not.

Thanks everyone for the input,

I just bought an '81 300D for her. (BRAD, don't let Ashley see this post, or tell her about this, we will surprise Carrie with the car on April 9th.)

The dialog was helpful. I was already leaning toward a 123 car, but I was looking for feedback regarding the 2.3 engine.

As it turned out I found well cared for, normally aspirated 300D. I heard one concerne regarding these particular 300 enginesthat someone may be able to comment about:

I was told that the crankcase vent system on these engines sometimes will puddle the driveway. Does anyone know about the aliment, and what could be done about it.

The engine runs strong, but the air cleaner mounts are broken. It blew some oil below it, but I feel that I can change the mounts and correct this. Any hints would be welcome.

Thanks to everyone,

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Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 516K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles