How much do you guys spend a year in maintaining your diesels? You often have many problems and if so are the repairs costly? what type of problems should one look for that are most common? One types of thigs need to be paid close attention to with these cars and how often?

Any answers would be great as I am thinking of purchasing one, specifically a late 80'2 to 90's 300D

Thank you

With oil changes and routine maintenance included, I probably spend about $400 to $500 a year. I like spending money though so I usually buy a lot more than I need and overmaintain the car. Recently though, I had to change one of the rear trailing arms, replace the starter, convert the A/C to R134a, and replace some of the front end stuff. The total of all of that work was a lot but I'm hoping that that's the last time I'll have to go through that. All in all, my car has been pretty solid and hasn't required anything that I would call inappropriate for a car of this age.

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

Main rule : Use the proper oil , change it and the proper filter often. I say this hoping it will not start any discussions about those items... do a search ,,, they have lots of bandwidth already dedicated to them.

once you do the necessary after purchase stuff, I replace belts, hoses, no matter how good they appear and then any worn parts usualy all the brake parts, tires ect. Then other than oil and filter changes and some small items I have never owned any cars that are as maintainence free as diesel MB's wish I had discovered them a long time ago.....

About $300 a year on fluid changes and about $300 a year on other stuff.

JohnM
1983 240D 4sp manual 151K

I'm afraid to add it up too.

This year I had the front end rebuilt ($500) plus 3 sets of brake pads, 2 front rotors, 1 set rear rotors, sunroof rebuilt ($900), tires ($500) (need new again) exhaust pipe ($180) glow plugs, intake gasket, 3 trans services and one trans pan, fuel filters, air filter, Im forgetting -alot- of stuff too.

Maybe I'm the goofball here, but I budget $100 per year per auto, outside of fluids and filters, doing my own work. Don't think diesel is the issue (although you'll save a lot of money after you convince yourself that clean fuel is the trick). Most autos will last a long time with regular fluid and hose changes, and lubricating anything that moves. Looking for loose stuff while lubing is the trick for me. Other autos are a 1991 Mazda 626 and 1985 GMC pickup. The pickup is on its second battery, and is the lowest cost of the three for maintenance. daBenz is the lowest cost on fuel, and lowest overall cost.

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daBenz - 1970 220D

If I can keep it to around US$0.10 per mile, then I am quite happy. I do almost all of my own work, so that really helps to keep the costs down.

I drive about 20k miles a year, so US$2000 in repairs/maintenance is not out of line (for me anyway).

Chris Blanchard
1984 300SD 156k

I've owned my 240D for 8 years and put about 90kmiles on her. Excluding fuel, tires, and fluid changes, I have spent about $700 total. That is made up of 4 new injectors, a water pump, 4 shocks, belt/hoses, an alternator, a battery, and a few other cheap parts. I'm now looking at about $250 - $300 to rebuild the a/c system.

On my relatively new 83 300D, I have about $800 in it over the first 7 months of ownership and I'm getting real close to getting her back to spec. The car was neglected other than oil changes, but the body and interior are nearly perfect.

I would say that my data indicates that if you can avoid the big failures like engines or transmissions, $200 or $300 a year is very possible.

Fix what's broken, change the fluids to spec, and drive them til they drop. These Beirut Taxis are truely great cars.

Joe

I've never given the costs a second thought. I do pretty much all of my own maintenance work.

As to what the MB will cost me in repairs??? This figure is going to be a big one as I'm going to get everything back to spec - and pretty much everything is broken - the fun of a project car. I've finally been able to buy the first part that I need to get started on the beast - a new primer pump.

The bright side, I got it for $310.

Total cost (and I'm not even started yet.....)

$336.68.


I FULLY expect to be on Fast Lane's Christmas card list by the time I really get digging into this car.

My '86 I have owned for six years and driven 200k miles. It has not cost me nearly 10¢ per mile for maintenance for this one. Had a bit of expense rebuilding the front end, but that would only be a max of about 1¢ per mile.

My '87 I have only driven 50k miles and its maintenance, other than oil and lube, etc. has been nothing so far. A couple of $2.00 parts, maybe like fuses?

So, I love these cars. My wife's Rice Rocket (Toyota Previa) has been the best - bought at 53k and now has 255k and only repair was under $50.00 on the engine. $700.00 to fix the cable on the moon roof, but that' it.

All of our vehicles use Amsoil. And, I do take good care of them.

Keep thinking.

I have a 1983 300D with just under 250000 miles on it, and aside from oil (Mobil 1 Delvac synthetic), filters and fuel additives, I have replaced 2 shocks (Bilsteins = expensive) replaced one ball joint, a battery, a used heater motor and two wiper blades since last spring (2001) Total: about $550.00 CDN.
Not too bad, I think. The Buick I drove before this car was a lot needier and less reliable.

My car does have one needed repair at the moment - it needs a wiper pump, which I have yet to replace, (cost as yet unestimated, will probably buy used & do it myself).
Oh yeah, and it will need tires soon.
Dont worry, your diesel will almost certainly go down in memory as your most reliable and inexpensicve car. Maybe not as reliable as a new Honda, but what would a Honda cost to operate at 250000 miles? (and what would it look like?)
My quarter million mile MBz, and many others I have seen, are still absolutely beautiful cars. It is the best car I have ever owned, stacking it up against Toyotas, Volvos, a new Mercury Sable, and others; it is the best value miles-per-dollar that I have ever owned, out of the 47 cars that I have owned since 1972

I have a 1983 300D with just under 250000 miles on it, and aside from oil (Mobil 1 Delvac synthetic), filters and fuel additives, I have replaced 2 shocks (Bilsteins = expensive) replaced one ball joint, a battery, a used heater motor and two wiper blades since last spring (2001) Total: about $550.00 CDN.
Not too bad, I think. The Buick I drove before this car was a lot needier and less reliable.

My car does have one needed repair at the moment - it needs a wiper pump, which I have yet to replace, (cost as yet unestimated, will probably buy used & do it myself).
Oh yeah, and it will need tires soon.
Dont worry, your diesel will almost certainly go down in memory as your most reliable and inexpensive car. Maybe not as reliable as a new Honda, but what would a Honda cost to operate at 250000 miles? (and what would it look like?)
My quarter million mile MBz, and many others I have seen, are still absolutely beautiful cars. It is the best car I have ever owned, stacking it up against Toyotas, Volvos, a new Mercury Sable, and others; it is the best value miles-per-dollar that I have ever owned, out of the 47 cars that I have owned since 1972

Some times it is good to read these accounts. Reminds me of why I became attached to the Mercedes diesel a few years back. My 78 has 348,910 miles now. I bought it for $2500 seven years ago with 245,000. Had to replace the vacuum pump shortly after the purchase and tires along the way a couple of times. No other repairs and this was not a real well taken care of car. Amazing service.
Now my 81, that one is a real pain. But being an optomist I now believe the worst is behind me. I hope....

A lot will depend on the degree of maintenance the car has "enjoyed". Different systems require attention at different points in the time-line of a car's life. If you happen to acquire a car that will soon be needing major front end work, rotors/calipers, muffler system, etc., then you will be spending $$$$. Been there...done that. When buying a used MB, "pedigree", i.e., service records, is very, very, important, unless you can DIY.

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62 220sb
67 250S
72 280SE 4.5
74 280C
77 300D
82 240D
85 190E 2.3
86 300E RIP 12/28/09
85 300SD
92 300D 2.5
00 E320 Current
Over 1,000,000 miles in Benzes, Since66

....and a whole passel of BMW 2002 and Tii