Just a thought about my 300CD. I recently took a 12 hour trip from Florida to Virginia to see my Dad for the last time. I had gotten a call from my sister at 3pm on Monday at my office. I went home and did some laundry packed and hit the road at 8:15pm. Tuesday morning at 8:30am I was at the hospital saying good morning to Dad for what would be the last time.
The drive up I never went over 75 mostly driving at 70 worried that the Mercedes might not be up for the trip. I use it for my commute car to and from work using bio-diesel. My wife was out of town but wanted to meet half way to trade vehicles for my trip. But I now know a few things about my car because of this forum and felt confident that if I encountered problems I would be able to resolve them which my wife would not be so fortunate .
The car did great and worrying about every little thing kept my mind off of my Dad till I got there. My brother flew in from Houston so with my sister we were all there to see Dad on his finally day.
My brother wanted to drive the 300CD but I told him it had to return me to Florida and I have seen the way he drives his cars so that was a no go.
I return doing 80 to 85 and it was getting 26mpg at that point. It runs better now that it did before. I guess those 12 hour runs are good for it.
I was surprised how comfortable it was on a long trip. In the past I have driven a Titian ( not so comfortable to me ) a Cadillac DTS ( extremely comfortable to everyone ). But I will say the 300 CD was comfortable and a comfort if that makes and sense to anybody but me.
Today I will treat it to a oil change and wash.
Thanks to everyone that participates in this forum. I don’t add much but I do learn a lot reading the post.

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Moss Gate Bed & Breakfast
1985 300 TD GG done in by a red light runner
1984 300 CD Sold
2008 Titian
2000 Cadillac SLS
1966 FLH Sold
2003 Harley Ultra

I'm very sorry for your loss and glad the 300CD got you safely to your destination and back.

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1993 W124 300D 2.5L Turbo, OM602.962
2000 Chevrolet Cavalier, 2.4L DOHC
2002 Ford Explorer, 4.0L SOHC
2005 Toyota Prius, 1.5L

http://www.fuelly.com/sig-us/40601.png

Sorry about your Dad. These cars are very reliable.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I'm sorry about your Dad, I know the feeling as I lost my Dad 3 years ago. The only thing I can say to you is that he is in a better place now.
PS: I'm glad that your car run well.

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http://i55.tinypic.com/wrxkd3.jpg

Thanks for sharing

I feel for you with your loss, it was good your brother and sister were there.

Great to hear your CD did better than you expected. They may be aged and have a lot of miles, but they are tougher than we give them credit.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I'm glad you got to be with your Dad on his last day. Glad too that the Mercedes got you comfortably there and back. They're good like that.

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Codifex
1981 240D ChinaBlue (Got her running with a donor engine.)
1983 300DTurbo w/sunroof.
1984 300TD manual sunroof. (Electrical Gremlins)

You probably put 12 hours of running time on the car every week around town. And I bet you don't much worry about it breaking down every week. So if you think about it, worrying about a breakdown in any given 24 hours of running time is quite unlikey. Agreed? So just drive it and maintain it, and it will take care of you too. And yes, they do seem to run better after a long highway drive.

Condolences regarding your father.