Hello:

I've been thinking of getting myself a 300TD to replace the family big block chevy minivan. Gas prices are NEVER going down here in beautiful BC, so I'm literally going broke running the damn thing. On the other hand, my daily driver, the 84 300D, keeps on going and going and going like the duracell bunny.

I guess the turning point for me was when we had that great big dump of snow that was at least 8 inches high outside my garage. I pride myself on never letting the weather change my travel plans and we were going to church no matter what. When the wife asked; "should we take the van? After all, it had snow tyres too. The clearance is better, its pretty thick out there and doesn't look like the plough is coming soon." My automatic answer was, no, we'll take the merc. Its never let me down before and I've got a 80 km round trip commute.

So long story short, the five of us piled in, I placed a 50 pound (seemed like 50!) pail of sand as far into the boot as it would go. Started up the car and gingerly reversed it out.

Well, you guys know the rest of the story. We got out of the garage fine. And then on the last hill to church, I was feeling confident. A COMPLETELY virgin snow road!! No tracks nothing! My wife said, no no, the children in the back said yes yes. Plus me, the vote had already been taken. I literally ploughed up that hill like it was so much butter.

So,you probably get it by now. I really like my 123.

So I'm thinking of getting a 123 wagon. Diesel of course. The thing is, it needs to do the following:

1. Carry 7 passengers, sometimes.
2. Tow a utility trailer loaded with up to 2000 pounds of firewood.
3. Go off-road every hunting season.
4. Be as solid and dependable as my 1984 300D.

Right now, there's one on the local craigslist, that, I feel, the guy is asking too much for. Plus, it doesn't have the all-important 3rd row seats. I understand that all NA 300TDs came with these, so this might be a grey market import from Japan or some such.

So what do you guys think of my plans?

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1987 300TD
1984 300D
755,000 KM and going strong
BC Canada