I've owned my 240D for 8 years and put about 90kmiles on her. Excluding fuel, tires, and fluid changes, I have spent about $700 total. That is made up of 4 new injectors, a water pump, 4 shocks, belt/hoses, an alternator, a battery, and a few other cheap parts. I'm now looking at about $250 - $300 to rebuild the a/c system.

On my relatively new 83 300D, I have about $800 in it over the first 7 months of ownership and I'm getting real close to getting her back to spec. The car was neglected other than oil changes, but the body and interior are nearly perfect.

I would say that my data indicates that if you can avoid the big failures like engines or transmissions, $200 or $300 a year is very possible.

Fix what's broken, change the fluids to spec, and drive them til they drop. These Beirut Taxis are truely great cars.

Joe