Paul,

I have been looking for 3 months. I was in no hurry to find a car so I have had time to do my homework on cars as I found them.
I live in the mid-west so it is very difficult to find these older MB diesels in good shape around here. I have found many nice cars in Florida and California that are rust free and in good shape. I also found cars that had been shipped into Florida from the New England states and were being sold as "rust free" Florida cars. BEWARE! Make sure you run a VIN check on car fax or autocheck.com to see where the car has been. I like autocheck.com. They seem to give more information than car fax.

Whatever car you buy, be prepared to spend a little money on it. I have an extra $2k set back just in case something does come up. Hope I don't spend the whole 2k on the AC system this summer. Every 10 to 15 year old car is going to have things pop up that will need fixed, and on MB cars you can save yourself a lot of money if you can do some of the work your-self. You should look for a car that has been properly maintained and the owner has the documentation to prove it. If you have done your homework on the car and the owner has the maintenance documentation, you should feel cautiously optimistic that you have a sound car. MB cars were enginered so that with proper maintenance they would go for 100's of thousands of miles. (I'm talking the old MB cars, not so sure on the new ones)

Even if you find a nice looking car that has no service records. I would not turn my back on it. Get it check out with a qualified mechanic so if there are problems you can make an informed decision before you buy the car.

BTW, there is a lot of luck involved in finding the right car at the right time and at the right price. Many people will tell you to stay away from the dealerships when purchasing a used car. They will be asking high dollar full book value for nicely maintained MB cars.

A trick I found that has worked for me more than once is to find a car you like, decide how much money you are willing to spend and return on the last day of the month after lunch and make a cash offer on the car. Many sales people and sales managers are willing to sell cars for less at the end of the month to meet their sales goals and get their bonuses. This is especially true for northern states if the temp. is below freezing and/or more than 12" of snow of ground. I once purchased a truck off of a dealers lot, the day after a 12" snow, and payed $2000 below book value and $3000 below what the sales manager was asking. Be prepared by doing your homework early in the month, and have cash in hand.

I hope this helps.