I made a slight error, it was a 98 which I had overseas. Damn things are so plentiful in Germany, but in the US cant get your hands on one. Definitely not a wagon

I would like to do as much work as possible on the car myself...its not important for me to have a turbo-diesel 202...diesel is just fine, and performance is not the most important thing for me, just as long as I can tow a thousand pounds or so fairly easily without any serious problem with power (towing my small boat around). Is fuel economy [relatively] equal on a 202 diesel and the 1987 turbo wagon?

Other options I looked into were the 1994-1995 W124 which a friend of mine owns and loves. So that is also in the running I guess, since their economy is slightly better than than pre-1994 diesels, and probably close to the 202, but with the added plus of having a "solid" body.

Anyhow, I saw one 1987 Turbo in the classifieds and it seems the guy took pretty decent care of it...needs back ball bearings, but other than that seems good...the wagon factor is the wow factor for me, since we dont have diesel wagons stateside

As far as body type, not sure if both the 124 and 202 are uni-body, but I am thinking the wagon is probably slightly better for towing because of body shape and the rear hydraulic suspension, but then again worse in the snow because it is elongated, which on a RWD could increase the change of slipping on ice snow a bit more. And over course the rear hydraulic suspension on a wagon could be a pain to fix ($$$) if something goes wrong...something I understand sedans dont have.