Thanks for all you help and you have basically told me what I wanted to hear, if you take care of it, fix all of the little things yourself, and stay ontop of regular maintenaince it should be fine. It is either a choice between this car or a new car (12k with monthly payments of 200 for 5 years). I personally do not see how a 300SD can cost me $7000 in repairs in 5 years unless I decide to toss a match in the gas tank.