Are we diesel owners kidding ourselves that only MB diesels can have longevity ( in miles)? I recently enountered a Town&Country minivan and a Chrysler Concorde each with 260K miles and in daily use. In fact the minivan is about to take a New England to FL trip. For each, the owner swears that routine maintenance is all that has been done.
Granted, neither of this much to look at and I don't think I would want to own either, but for getting the miles on the clock at lower cost it makes you think.

We bought a 94 Gr Caravan, new leftover, 3L 6cyl auto -- sold it in 01 with 110K on it --only problem was needing an axle seal (I replaced the axles & forgot to do the seals). Engine did not burn oil & returned 25 MPG @ 75 with 2 + luggage & AC going full tilt -- at the 100K mark. Body needed a partial repaint (& got it), but interior was still excellent. No engine or tranny work, ever.
I changed oil religiously every 3K with Castrol, from new (& changed the original oil @1K).

Sure there are exceptions to anything but as a general rule I'm betting you don't find many with any kind of high mileage without major problems.

The company I used to work for had Caravans. 50% had transmission problems of some kind within the first 2 years and these vehicles were on a corporate maintenance program.

__________________
Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

just saw a volvo today that i thought was a diesel...i asked the guy about it and hes says its a 4cyl. gasser with 360k miles on the clock....i also see volkswagens often with over 250k on them...i dont doubt that other cars can get up there in milage and be dependable...but do they do it with near the class of an MB?

__________________
1985 300SD 192,000miles...Astral silver/ Grey MbTex

1983 300D 194,000miles...White/Tan MbTex...my newest addiction

There are quite a few really. Given REGULAR maintinance, any decent motor will see 200K without being opened up. Nissan's little V6 is a good high mile motor if you take care of it, BMW's 6's are known for it, VW gassers, Volvo gassers, your basic old V8 chevy will run damn near forever if you actually change the oil and put valve stem seals in it every now and again. You have to hit 400K to really wow people anymore it seems.

__________________
One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

It's not just the engines that age so well on these diesels, but every time i drive my 20 year old w123 i'm amazed at the rattle-free interior, and how beautiful the interior design is even after all these years.

__________________
1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

You are on the spot Wolf Walker.

I have seen cars with unbelieveable original mileage,on their original motors! But generally never exceeding 300K

THAT is the true test. These claims of 500,000 miles or more on a Mercedes diesel overlooks that the timing chain and associated components were replaced and in other instances engines were swapped at regular intervals.

Metal is metal, it can only stand so much use before wearing out,regardless of manufacturing tolerances.

I reserve the right to be wrong.

__________________

I racked up 270K on a Mitsu. 2.6l pickup. Sold it to a guy named Moose for $500 and he put on another 30K until the motor blew. ALL electrical systems, including the A/C, worked flawlessly. The tranny was rebuilt twice, the carb once.

My MB, on the other hand, has cost $$$ to maintain (don't ask, it's too painful to explain).

The TDI is now rolling past 100K, when the warranty expires...

__________________
'91 300D 2.5 Turbo 330K
'00 VW TDI Golf, 190K
'67 BMW R50/2
'73 Norton Commando Interstate

I work for the American Red Cross and we have a rather large delivery area. The company that delivers most of our blood has Chrysler minivans and a few Ford box vans. Almost all the Chrysler vans have nearly 200k and one or two of the Fords have 400,000+. One of the Ford vans actually has 841,000 miles. And I believe that is w/o a rebuild.
I have a '91 Soob wagon with 244,000 and it is my daily driver. I only ever swapped the tranny and replaced minor engine componenets (seals, belts, etc)

To me 100k and a little over doesn't mean squat. Anybody can rack up that kind of mileage rather easliy.

__________________
'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

Those 240 Volvos 4 Cyl Gassers are hard to kill with proper maintenence.--I see some here in Miami with 300,000+ miles and running like a Top. Erv Fischer, the Massachucets guy who has the P1800 Volvo--turned 2,000,000 a few years ago and the 1800 is running fine. He has a nice writeup on the Volvo homepage.

Good to read all this. Let me also add that any Honda or Toyota vehicle from the '80s and later can easily reach 300,000 miles without any overhaul of the transmission or the engine.

All that said then, given the problems we have to withstand for driving vehicles that no one knows about and considering that gasoline is cheaper than diesel all over North America, are we trying to say that driving these expensive to own MBs is just a waste of time? That's sound like what everyone is trying to say here just by reading the last posts. In that case let's dump them all and get these gasoline-powered cars that are apparently more durable than these MB diesels and much, much cheaper to own. Surely having a rattle free car with a nice interior isn't worth all the expenses is it? Or is it the plutocratic [three pointed star] badge? Can't be! Who wants to lead the way?

__________________
1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver

Well I'll just say that my '85 300D Turbo is tons more fun to drive than my dad's 2000 Accord.

__________________
1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Our '85 VW Convertible had 480.000 miles on the clock when it stopped counting, still past the smog with flying colors!

__________________
1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

My main problem with high mileage gassers of relatively recent vintage is the emissions/computer issues. Sensors begin to fail, and that gets annoying and expensive.
Mechanically injected, indirect injection diesels have no computer so they are more reliable at this part of their life cycle.

What about a 560 SEL? What type of mileage is typical for the 5.5L 8 cylinder gas engine? I realize this is a diesel forum, but I am selling my 300SD and just bought a 1989 560 with 163,000 miles on it.

-gil