A friend of mine who has pretty wide experience with our cars has recently told me it is better to look for rural cars than cars registered in metropolitan areas because wear in city traffic is significantly higher -- I assume from stop and go traffic, more start up and shut down cycles, and the like. Says the difference can be 10:1 in terms of wear on the engine and other moving parts between two cars with equal mileage.

What say you? Have you noticed similar?

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http://webwench.net/albums/new83-300...1700.thumb.jpg
1983 300D-T
348,000 miles

I would generally agree with this AS LONG AS the car was not caked with mud underneath. If the car has belonged to someone who lives on a gravel road or has a long poorly kept gravel driveway. If that is the case, it rains on those roads and driveways sooner or later and makes mud. The mud thrown up unerneath will rust the car out. Also in the summer months these cars deal with engine destroying dust.

Around here what I don't want is a car from rural Oklahoma. Their country roads are REALLY bad, not only the rust problem but the roads are so rough that they shake apart the cars of country folks.

All that said, watch the car for rust and listen closely for rattles.

Good luck,

10:1 is really a stretch, but a city can sure beat on a car more. I wouldn't want a car driven around Boston for 20 years. More stressful than NYC, IMHO.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

The laws in the city are enforced more than in rural areas. By this I mean that they make you shut your diesel off! Hell ya go for a rural car! I live in a very rural area, middle of nowhere to be exact, and everyone i know just lets their diesel idle. Also the whole stop and go thing equals out to getting the piss ran out of your car b/c everyone in a city always is in a hurry from stop light to stop light.

If you take good care off your car...then the only thing that should go wrong is faulty parts...but if you love your car and take precautions so things won't break, then things won't go wrong as much as the guy who just drives his car and fixes it when it breaks.

I didn't know some cities have laws against leaving diesels idling. I do this when making brief rest stops after highway runs. You would think there were better things for the police to spend time enforcing.

Thanks for the input, I was curious what others' experiences were in terms of city vs rural cars.

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1983 300D-T
348,000 miles

Given equal maintenance, I think rural cars (only if driven on paved roads) will fare better with regard to suspension parts and body hardware. I lived for years in Metro NYC and the last 16 in rural Florida. Where I live there are no monster potholes or frost heaved roads, just very smooth hiways. The suspension parts definitely have it easier. My 210 lower arm bushings lasted 110k miles, despite the MB flaw. On all my cars for the last 16 years, I have never replaced shocks or struts. My 93 Plymouth minivan lasted 280k miles with original struts! All bets are off on dirt road run cars and there are plenty of dirt roads here. There is a reason these dirt roads are called washboard roads.

Oh, so us country folks don't spend the money to keep our cars kept up huh? That's interesting. I would venture to say that there are many more rural people that understand vehicle and equipment maintenance than the city folks who have to take it to the dealer to get the windshield wipers changed.

I know lots of country folks who do their own maintenance meaning that it doesn't cost a fortune to pay the dealer $100 an hour to change the oil or check the turn signals to see if they work.

I think that all things considered, rural cars probably get better maintained because doing your own work, you can afford to do it more often.

All that said, this is a GENERAL observation and there will be exceptions on both sides. There will be city cars that are rarely driven or driven by a salesman on the highway and impeccably maintained. There also will be rural cars that never get the oil changed.

Don't think that because someone lives in the country that they are broke and stupid.

Have a great day,

I don't think that i was inferring that "us country folks" don't want to spend money...actually...it sounds more or less like you just pulled that out of your ass. I am probably just a country as you, if not more. I live on a backroad or "washboard road" as some might say and i drive slow until i hit the paved road so my car doesn't rattle apart, or get dirty, or rust out, b/c i like having a clean car, or looking pimp in my benz.

Where are you getting that someone called you broke or stupid? I have read this thread over 3 times now, and not saw that once. Wait, you must be one of those mind readers. Sorry.

hey you tell him man. I live in the country too. I drive slow on back roads too

I wouldn't touch a city car with a 10-foot pole. Not to mention the stress on the car of short distances and constant transmission shfits, but it is much more likely it has been in an accident and had paintwork or bodywork somewhere (but this doesn't much matter on a 20-year old vehicle).

I'd much rather a highway/rural driven car with 200k than a city driven car with 50 or 100k. I say all the time on here, don't pay attention to the odometer, look at the cars overall condition as your deciding factor in a purchase. But some people just need a low mileage car.. no matter where the car was driven or how it was treated.

I don't think anyone meant to imply anything like this

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http://webwench.net/albums/new83-300...1700.thumb.jpg
1983 300D-T
348,000 miles

Don't some counties limit the number of cement fixin blocks you can have next to the doublewide??

Seriously, I think Larry would be surprised by how many independant mechanics and "customizers" exist in inner city neighborhoods...

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Bill Reimels
Now down to one:
1972 300SE 3.5 W109 (Euro delivery)

Lets all just get a sense of humor about this.. I don't think anyone was ragging on country living.. There are ignorant people all over the place, some in the city and some in the country.

The doublewide comment was purely in jest, I think.

So here are the conclusions so far from this post:

Rural:

If you buy your car from Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel who's toolbox has only baling wire and a pair of tin snips in it, despite the fact that it only takes one 35 mile trip each week to go pick up the Tommaco harvest, you will get a bad car.

If you buy from Larry Bible, who has a good tool box and extensive knowledge about auto repair and the time to do it, you'll get a good car.

City:

If you buy from a work-a-day wage slave who thinks that when the oil light comes on that means you are supposed to pour in another quart and never drives the car for more than five miles in a stretch, you will get a bad car.

If you buy from someone in the city who has good tools and good knowledge or knows about a reliable professional independent shop that a big city is likely to offer, and keeps the car well maintained despite short trips, you'll get a good car.

So talk to the owner, find out how the car was maintained, and enjoy.

Due disclosure: I live in the city, but bought my car in rural Texas. However, the owner was a professional mechanic, and took immaculate care of the car. It didn't drive on washboard backroads, just long smooth straight county highways, and is a good car. But if you bought it from me today, it would still be a good car, because I'm doing my best to maintain it and give it the care it deserves.

peace,
sam

PS I just realized that Larry lives in rural texas, and is ASE certified, but don't get the wrong idea, I didn't buy my car from HIM, just some other mechanic in rural texas.

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"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)