Steve:

When I bought the 220D (and paid way too much for it -- wish I'd had this forum then!), the dealer asked me if I wanted to trade my POS Buick in on it.

I laughed -- I figured that a difficult to start rough idleing diesel wasn't the best car to use as my only transportation.

That said, I understand the attraction of an MB even with limited resources -- they CAN be very reliable and relatively repair free when in good condition.

I also got my 300D for a good price since the PO bought it on eBay and got screwed -- car was NOT as represented and he couldn't get out of it once he paid the deposit in Florida.

I suppose one could call my 280 SE a "money pit" also -- nothing truely insurmountable, but there is an endless list of things that need to be done eventually.

A friend of mine got rid of his when he spent $5000 on it in less than a year -- subframe mounts, injectors, brakes, water pump (for some reason he was always replacing water pumps on MBs), rebuilt transmission, etc.

Go gently, we all make decisions we regret....

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!