Hello all -

I'm a long time enthusiast and perhaps soon the first time buyer of a used Mercedes diesel... I plan on using this car as my daily driver, so I'm looking for two things: reliability/longevity and decent fuel economy (around 30mpg or more). Also, my budget is around $5K - $6K....

I've heard good things about 300D, 300TD and 300SD between 1981 - 1985 so that's been my search criteria thus far.

I've recently driven a 1983 300TD, 173K, 2nd owner - nicely kept up but now knowing much about the character of these cars I have some questions to help me evaluate what's normal and what's not:

1) The car I drove seemed very sluggish off the start but as it warmed up and the turbo came alive the engine seemed strong. It felt like it was starting from a 3rd gear initially though...

2) The transmission shifted hard (from 2nd to 3rd) as I accelerated... There were no 'clunks' heard or felt, but there was a very pronounced 'pull' as the gears shifted and adjusted - this was in 'D'-drive. It seems that shifting down to a '3' setting produced a softer shift in all gears, though the gear change was still quite noticeable - it almost appeared to slip a little as it shifted each time (more noticable in lower gears than in higher, especially when accellerating hard)...

Anyway - are these signs rather normal on these models or are they indication of problems to come? Are these models and years generally reliable vehicles? What should I be careful about when evaluating these models?!

James

Merc = Ford, Lincoln, Mercury.
and
Merc = Mercury Marine.


MB = Mercedes Benz.
Benz = Mercedes Benz.
Mercedes = Mercedes Benz.

Gasser = gas powered engine.
Diesel = diesel powered engine.
SVO = straight vegetable oil powered engine.
WVO = waste vegetable oil powered engine.

Some people get offended by the wrong abbreviations.
I will also make this a stand alone post as an FYI for new people.

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

Merc= Mercedes-Benz for those in the UK and Australia...

Hello James
1983 300TD, nice wagon.

Sounds normal from a cold start up.
1) The car I drove seemed very sluggish off the start but as it warmed up and the turbo came alive the engine seemed strong. It felt like it was starting from a 3rd gear initially though...

Wild guess: vacuum issue or vacuum modulator is bad.
2) The transmission shifted hard (from 2nd to 3rd) as I accelerated... There were no 'clunks' heard or felt, but there was a very pronounced 'pull' as the gears shifted and adjusted - this was in 'D'-drive. It seems that shifting down to a '3' setting produced a softer shift in all gears, though the gear change was still quite noticeable - it almost appeared to slip a little as it shifted each time (more noticable in lower gears than in higher, especially when accellerating hard)...

Sounds very normal to me.

__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

Sorry... where I come from - that's the prestigous acronym they use... but thanks for the lesson...

Another anomaly: BENZ is German for Benzine - which translates to Gasoline, so it dosesn't make much sense for a diesel mercedes to be called MB - just an observation...