I'm at the time when I need to decide to either fix all the things on the 78 300SD at the same time and hope nothing goes bad for a good long while, or buy a VW Passat and a car payment.

It seems that over the last few months, things are breaking faster than I can fix them. Right now there is no heat (and a Colorado winter coming, already ruled out the amplifier), the steering shock between the front wheels is near death, the accelerator pedal has started to stick, I lost reverse again (easy fix, I know), it's got a decent oil leak, a decent tranny leak, I need to change the rear brake pads, but I finally got the brakes fixed (it was overheating fluid, BTW).

I just seems like when I get one thing fixed, something else breaks. Nothing major, but enough that I have to order a part, wait, hope it isn't raining (I have to work outside) or so hot I can't touch the ground, hope I have the right tools, and then spend three days trying to get the oil and soot from under my nails. I'm just tired of fixing. And I'm afraid that if I take the car someplace and spend $2500 that in 2 months the tranny will die.

I know I'm complaining at the same time I'm driving one of the best cars ever made, and no other car will give me the room this one does, but I cannot wrench in the winter and if the car breaks then I'm up the creek.

Thanks!

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Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

You can work with rubber gloves to help the hand issues. On your other concerns it boils down to a personal choice. Perhaps the amount of disposable income as well.

Personal transportation has pretty well been a real neccesity for quite a time now. It has to be pretty reliable or at least reliable enough to meet a persons needs. Otherwise it is either a pain or you have to keep two cars around to meet your needs.

The pressures of life vary from person to person. Some have some time available and some just do not have enough time.

Divide and CONQUER!



Just remember, 116's are best...

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My occupational hazard bein'
my occupation's just not around...
1980 300SD
1980 300SD

Well I think Denver could be a difficult place for a tired diesel. And a guy has to have a good car, if not good then two or three not so good cars and a place to work on them. If I had a tired old diesel, lived in Denver, wanted to get to work every day - I, I,, I think I would go for the car payment. I love old Mercedes, but we have to be realistic!

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

Or a gal


Assuming the car payments on the VW are about $300/mo, in a year you will have spent $3600 + your down payment and TTL......Probably brings it into the ballpark of your worst case scenario with your SD (and I know how deep your love is of that car!)

Just saying......

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Current Mercedes
1979 maple yellow 240D 4-speed

Gone and fondly remembered:
1980 orient red 240D 4-speed

Gone and NOT fondly remembered:
1982 Chna Blue 300TD

Other car in the stable:
2013 VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI / 6-speed MT

Anything but a car payment. Buy an ugly car driven by an old lady until you get enough to fix your current car. I'll ride my bike or in your case, ski to work before having payments.

Make a list & see if you can get issues fixed enough to get through the winter.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

How about buying a sorted and/or later model MB Diesel for a year of Passat payments (which I think will be far more than $300/mo)?

Sixto
87 300D

Not as a criticism but I do not think it is a money issue.

If you get into your Car to go to work and you find something wrong with it that keeps you from driving to work Money is not going to get it fixed right now.

It is simply that you need a back up Car for the times when you Mercedes is down.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Yep, there's no denying that a new car is grand. All shiny new, got a warranty, ice cold air in summer and heat in winter. New car smell... etc...

Big Depreciation. Sky high insurance. Payments. Argh!

You gotta weigh your pro's and cons.

I like the suggestion that you purchase a newer model year MB Diesel in excellent condition for cash or a modest note. Cut down on the frequency of repairs and still have one of the best cars ever built.

Cake and Icing.

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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)

i have a 1998 toyota 4runner and a 1985 300D. it has been the perfect blend of fun vs reliability, snow vs sun, make an appointment at the shop vs spend a saturday on a piece of cardboard (wearing latex gloves!)....

i paid $8000 for the toyota and $1000 for the benz, and in 3+ years have not sunk more than $1000 in either (but a clutch job is coming up on the toyota). they both have around 140k miles on them. i've never been more automotively satisfied!

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1985 300d champagne/palomino ~133k
1979 300d dead parts car ~???

Buy yourself a $1500 chevy astrovan, very versitle ( and can be used as a storage building too-witout the monthly $100 payment).

I have the same weather issues as you. Right now it's so hot and humid here I got serious heatstroke from just doing minor stuff outside on the weekend. After October I have to deal with rain, cold and eventually snow...(and thus my arthritis).

The Passat is a gorgeous car. Rented one last fall for a few days. However they are grossly overpriced for what they are and they aren't very reliable. And VW dealers tend to, uh, well SUCK.

You have a classic SAAB convertible. Where does that fit in the equation? Surely you don't mean you drive the Mercedes in the winter, and park the SNOOB? Say it ain't soooo.

AC issue: take it to a competent AC shop that has a Mitchell manual for the old Type II ACC system. I did that when I had my w116, and the tech had never even seen that system before -- but he had it diagnosed in an hour and fixed the next day (turned out I had the part in a box at home).

Steering shock: you can live without it. I don't even have one installed on either of my w123s.

Transmission: well yes, that could be an expensive one. But no worse than a few months' payments (and the higher insurance premiums) on a Pissant

I second PanZZer's suggestion, but would exapand it to include older minivans. Now, don't gasp and choke.... minivans rawk as winter transport.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Buy a Buick.

Thanks all.
I do adore my car.
I get along great without AC since CO is an arid climate, you can wear jeans here in 95* and not sweat. But the lack of heat (evil ACC Servo) in a CO winter is not something I can do twice (no heat last winter). So I either bypass and have no feet heat (which I can do) or replace the servo.

The steering shock made some really nasty noises and made the whole car vibrate terribly. Hasn't done it again, but I think I heard that without the shock, there is too much pressure on the wheel bearings and those go bad. Wrong?

The tranny is an easy for for me. I'm lucky that I have the Reverse Band deal and it's just a 'shinny under the car and turn the screw" to get it back. I drove 9 months without reverse before I found out about this and in 35 seconds I fixed it.

I do need to find the oil leak. It's no longer MARKING it's territory, it's almost peeing on the driveway. Okay, not that bad, leaks about 1.5 quarts per month.

The accelerator pedal came loose from the floor. I mean the metal piece that the pedal is attached to came loose from the floor. I'm going to have finagle a new pedal that doesn't touch the floor.

The Saab belongs to my 17 yo daughter. She finally paid for it. She's driving it to school. I love it in the summer. And in the winter it's great with front wheel drive. One thing about the MB, hills and rear wheel drive (push).

And she isn't tired. She's still got a lot of giddyup, just so many small things that break and they are never things that parts are in stock at the local auto parts store.

I'm going to look into leasing for a couple years. I told my 10 year old that I wa considering putting the MB up for sale. He cried. I don't think I can sell her. I love her too much!

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Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

I hear ya'. There's just something about these SD's. I understand all your points as well, I like working on cars, I HATE fixing transportation.