For years I've had early-80's 123 models, all diesels. My current one is rusting out, and the price of diesel is daunting.
Yesterday I went down to a dealer in Portland Maine, and drove a used '98 C230 and a '97 E320. The C was too small for a family with two teenage kids and a dog that take roadtrips together. The SE 320 had a lot of surface rust, with paint coming off at the wheelwell flares. At 157,000 miles, with a lot of rust, as-is, where-is, they agreed to a price of $6,000, which seems like a lot.
I suppose that what I'd ideally like to find would be one of these:
1) 123 with a straight six.
2) 300 SEL with a straight six. I really like the extra room in the back of the SEL, and the way they go down the road. The V-8 in the 420 scares me with how little room there is around it, and also I guess they burn more fuel. There's one for sale on ebay in Florida right now. I sent the guy (dealer) an email with half a dozen questions. He writes back, says I should call him on the phone. What is it with these guys? If I wanted to chit chat, I'd have called him in the first place. I was asking for specific information (What kind of tires? How much tread depth? Where has the car been registered? Any maintenance records?) If he has the information, he might as well write it down. If he doesn't, he might as well say so.
3) 1988-1998 E or TE 300. Avoiding the years with the bad wiring and the AC problems. The 320 engine with all the camshaft gizmo scares me, but maybe that's foolish.
Of all of them, I guess that a sedan E300 would be the best driving car. All of them would be capable of getting as many speeding tickets as I'll ever afford.
Any advice or opinions would be appreciated.
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