A while back I read an article about MB cars getting 5 to 8 hundred thousand miles...I thought it might hyped up, but even reducing it to 2.5 to 4 is still pretty good....anyway it stuck in head and grew. I would like to try to do this myself, same car, 500,000 miles. I'm your basic traveling salesman, my 2 year old Chevy has 180K....so the MB would have to be a highway machine. I understand I'll have to pump some more cash into a MB....I'm OK with that, any car I get, new or old has to be viewed as a "throwaway" with the miles I run....so make payments or put it into a refurbish, I'm gonna be spending it anyway. I NEED RELIABILLITY.

So I started lurking these boards and trying to educated about the MB cars....now I'm even more confussed!! I have found a '83 300TD wagon, auto, 2 owner, body and interior in really nice shape for a 22 year old car...cost is $2500 bucks. Now come the questions...

1. Is this motor/tranny combo one of the mega-miles type? BTW, what is the frame type? W123? W124? or what?

2. I will be a virgin diesel buyer...only experience was with a ranch tractor and that was no help as it ALWAYS ran great...never turned a wrench on it! So, what do I look for in the way of trouble spots on these cars, motorwise. Any "look for this" or "check this out" stuff you guys could suggest?

Now, my wife tells me I'm a nut case, I knew that. I will have the car checked out by trained MB tech...but I would at least like to know what to look for, so I don't waste his time and my money!

Thanks in advance for all replies! You folks have wonderful Christmas! The best gift you can give is LOVE ( and I'm not just talking about to your cars!)