I'm very fond of my 123, but it is rusting out. I live in Maine, about 200 yards from the ocean, where they wildly salt the roads all winter. And to add injury, the car rides back and forth to islands on the ferry service, which are veritable salt baths.
A couple years ago I bought an '84 300TD wagon with a shot engine. The idea is to transplant the 5cyl NA engine and 5-speed manual out of the rusted sedan into the wagon. Seems like a car that my teen-age kids won't be likely to get into TOO much trouble in, and good for family trips.
The other day I wind down to the "local" Mercedes dealer (only two hours away) and drove a '98 C240. Nice enough car, but too small inside, and they aren't reported to get that much better mileage.
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