It looks like the over 40 crowd here needs a boost..............

For me(us) - 45 - Just a couple months ago - 87 300SDL / 165K

Bought from original owner(now 70), 10K per year, Summers only, Garaged Winters. We were not in the market for another car - but for the condition it is in, and a price tag of $4,500, we took the leap.

When I brought it home for my wife to look at, we stood in the front yard and I asked her "Are we old enough to drive this??" I now regret that question. What a wonderful car. Looking to go WVO soon.

Thanks to all for the forum. I am mostly a "Searcher" and don't post very often. Always learning something.

Stephen

I got my first diesel benz at 40. It was a clapped out 87 300SDL that is now in litigation. :mad: Before I turned 41, I had picked up a 95 E300D and a wonderful 72 220D.:D Still on the hunt and looking to do a conversion of a 250C into a diesel Cabriolet :rolleyes:

about a week younger than I am today. :)

Picked up the 220D for a paltry $117.50, with a trunk full of parts and tools and three shop manuals covering the 114/115. All I have had to add is fuel, though I have scoured the web for gifts for my dear car. ;)

typical of a boomer
 

not the youngest and not the oldest

calendar wise 54
emotionally i don't know

"i may accept adult responsibility but i refuse to be a groan up"

My first MB was/is a 1981 300SD when I was 15, i'm 17 going on 18 now. It was a hand me down from my mom and dad, since mom had a 1995 LS400 to drive now. The 300SD was costing too much to get in really good condition, so last month, our mechanic sold us his wife's petrol green 1982 300D, and I have it now. Its a great car. I don't drive the SD much anymore, except on thursday when I got bored and decided to take it for a spin one day after school. My dad drives the SD now. It's his daily driver, until he trades his parked gas guzzling 2002 Deville DHS for something else.
-Joe

21. . . a couple of weeks ago. I have kind of a record with cars.

1st, 92 Chevy 4x4 pickup
2nd, 98 same
3rd, Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 limited
4th, 96 Lexus es 300
5th 2000 Lexus es 300

I was 17... paid $1750 for a 1983 300D with 195K from a friend of my grandma's. 3 years and 40,000 miles later, it still gets the job done :)

Some pics...
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~fr392301/Benzo 001.jpg
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~fr392301/Benzo 003.jpg
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~fr392301/Benzo 007.jpg
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~fr392301/Benzo 008.jpg
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~fr392301/Benzo 014.jpg
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~fr392301/Benzo 015.jpg

I've been driving diesels on and off for the last 20 years but my 300D was my first MB diesel almost 2 years ago.

22, W202, just picked it up.

before:
1985 toyota corolla GTS SOLD
2004 Impreza TS
1984 toyota corolla SR5 with S2000 motor
1987 Ford Escort EXP SOLD
1989 Toyota Corolla GTS SOLD
1993 Honda Prelude Si SOLD
1994 Mitsubishi Colt SOLD
1984 Toyota LE Van SOLD
1992 BMW 525i SOLD
1989 Toyota Cressida ENGINE BLEW UP

17, 1969 280se

45........I'm a slow learner:rolleyes: :D

I knew about the diesels, wanted one since college, and finally own one at 41. Took high fuel prices to talk my wife into getting the 2005 TDI, and since then took a year of pining for a diesel to get her to finally say yes just to shut me up. It's cool to use the tricks she uses on me against her!

I was 50...I'm slow, but I always get there!

29 and i'll be buying a '77 for my 30th bday.

21 and I have had three, will probably buy another before the years out. The trick is to not own more than two at once!:D

17, 82 300SD. Still have her now, goin' on 20 (Me, not her! :D )

First MB I got when I was 60. Second when I was 62. Plan on another one this year. I am now 64.

First one at age 36. It was a '79 300CD with 40,000 miles Dark Brown Metallic with Palomino MB Tex Interior. It was a head turner back in the early 80's.

Steve
'92 300E Sportline
'97 S320 LWB

I bought a black 1985 190e 2.3 16v when i was 17,5.
You can get your driver license over here when your 18.
So i had to look at it and wait. (most at the time)

I bought a hub cap when I was 15 and said to myself this is the first part of a Mercedes that I will someday own.

Bought a 1972 280SE 4.5 when I was 29. Sold it when I was 41

We now have the 3 in my signature.

I don't believe I will ever own past the 92 Vintage. I am likely to stay in this range or go older as the years go on.

Got my first MBs just recently at age 37. Prior to them, I've owned the following (more or less in order):

VW Passat TDI
Mini Cooper
Volvo 850 T5 Wagon
Saab 900S Turbo
Ford F150
BMW 2002tii
Volvo 740 Turbo Wagon
BMW 528e
Fiat Spyder
Volvo 240 DL
Triumph TR6

Quite a few cars!

15, 300SD still runing strong and i love it!!!!!

I was 24(25 2 months later) when Shlomo followed me home.

He wouldn't start on the car lot, and it was then that I knew I had to adopt the sassy lil old diesel! He was the first Mercedes-Benz I'd ever driven(or even ridden in!) and he was the first I'd ever seriously looked at as well.

There's a lot I'd do in hindsight, but it isn't enough to make me regret the decision-- he's made my life much fuller. I still smile every time I see him in the driveway and it warms my heart to pat his rear fender and tell him he's a good boy.

They're one of the few automobiles that can truly be qualified as a companion instead of an appliance. That's worth any number of rusted fasteners and bloodied knuckles.

Without hate, there is no love-- only indifference.

49!

All warm and fuzzy.
 

I so enjoy reading your sentiments, because I feel like you do for all of my vehicles, but more with the Mercedes cars, than the rest of them. Just looking at my girls, all proud, and shiny staring back at me gets me all warm and emotional. I'm reluctantly selling my 89 300CE now, but replacing it with the newest member of the family. Another 79 300CD. My 6th 300CD, and 3rd 1979. I got my first when I was 20, a 79 300CD, in showroom, mint condition w/74,000 miles on it in silver w/black leather interior. I paid $6000.00 cash for her, in the rain at a dealership in East-Hartford, Ct. after what seemed like a one minute test drive. I had never driven one before that. I knew I was buying it the second I looked at it, and the test drive was both a negotiation tactic, and simply to appease the dealer. I bought it with the sole intention of ripping the guts out of it, and installing a stroked, small block Chevy w/six speed. Never happened to that car. A year later I bought one in not so nice shape,and did it to that one. Also a 300CD.

bought my first, a 61 220b in brussels in early 1973 to use in my year's traveling fellowship.

i paid $550 for it i think. it was a bit rusty and had fairly worn rings and would foul th #2(?) plug regularly. but it ran and drove excellently and gave faithful service for 20k kilos. it used a quart of oil every 200 miles if driven at 100k. if you drove faster the oil consumption would double.

i changed the oil a couple times and the plugs and points at least once too.

sold it at the end of the year for $500 in Rome to an arab who spoke arabic, italian and english....all at the same time!

when i got home i bought a 62 190c which had 50k on it. i drove that for three years or so til it had 130k on it. paid $500 for it.

tom w

Did I mention that I paid full asking price without hesitation? heh heh That's the part I regret most!

Can't argue with a 128k dealer-serviced car for $1,950.00 out-the-door! :D

i was 24 and a friend suggested I go buy a local indy shop and see if he had a benz for sale. I found a 1979 240d in great shape for $1200. Bought it on the spot and have been in love with them since.

So did I .
 

That's pretty good. I paid full asking price also, because I wasn't much of a negotiator at that point in my life. I just drove it, paid, and went home. Came back the next day with my plate, insurance, and drove her home.. i had no problem with paying $6000.00 for such a cherry, low mileage car anyways. A showroom condition 79 300CD w/only 74,000 miles on it was worth it all day long in my oppinion. I'd still pay it if I found another of the same caliber. Well, maybe a little less it is 8 years later so the car would be that much older. I don't know, I'll never see another like that again anyways. I once found one for $12,000.00 w/only 40,000 miles on it and also perfect. Ugly car though 1980 300CD in a bright, fire engine red with a white leather interior. It just looked wrong. Owner said it was a special order car. He was a retired fire Chief. I like firemen I've got three in my family, and two retired also. A little overboard to bring your work that close to home though. When I'm out of work, I don't want to even see a truck.

I was (am) old
 

56 years old. This year.

Bought my SD when i was 16. Now im 18 and have my 87 300D and 96 S420

I was 19. I wanted a diesel Mercedes since i saw my Friends dads(240D). At first i hated his car (the w123) and i really wanted a 190D or A 300D. but after seeing the 240D so much, i just knew i had to have, one. Not just anyone w123, but His w123. their was just something about it that i had to have. So after years of trying to buy it from him, in JAN of 2006 he finally decided he needed to sell it b/c he didnt really use it and was thinking he wanted a 300D turbo. And no one but him could drive the 4 speed. so he sold it to me for dirt cheap. I love that car so much. I found out at the G2G we had this summer that its a EURO model to boot!:D

then later that year i was looking for a winter car to put the 240 in storage, when i came across my 300D turbo.:D

Do you fellows remember when mercedes had wooden spoke wheels and a tiller bar? The cruise did not work, seats sagged, it smoked and the doors did not work. Nothing changes much I guess. Really though I got a 60-62 220b for the first one. Yes it was a 1960s not an 1860s. It was a good car in my opinion as well and pretty new to boot. I would like to have it back if possible in the same condition as it was back then. For the time it was a good car over the road. Sixty five this year it's been quite a trip as well so far. Time also does seem to fly. It was only yesterday............

56 Being in the (currently) frozen north, wish I could drive it more.

21

About a month after my 16th birthday. I'm still 16 ;)

How old were you when you bought first MB
 

I had just turned 40 and it was a 1966 200 sedan. I used to turn alot of heads with that car and would often have newer MB owners stop to tell me what a beauty it was. I sold it 9 years after I boutht it for a '78 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce which I still own. I always knew that someday I would own another Benz and that wish came true last Christmas when I found a beautiful '91 300CE coupe that I bought for my wife...I get to service it, keep her super clean and detailed and occationally get to drive it. We love the car. It is currently asleep for the winter after getting a new waterpump front seals and chain guides which I finished installing last week.

Antonino

Well, you can always "Test-drive" it. Just tell her that you heard a noise last time you rode in it, and want to check it out. Nice car. I've got my 89 300CE on the market now. Car just hit 31,000 miles and is absolutely perfect. All service, records, and never ay problems of any kind at all.
If this guy looking at turns out to be a tire kicker after all. Would you be interested in her at all? She's silver w/black leather. Will send you pics when I get home to take them. You'll not need to borrow or sneak hers anymore. lol

37. And still there for another year :)

16... just got it today :dizzy2:

52...this past August! Better late than never, huh?! :)

Now I'd like a newer one! :)

I was 28 and bought a new 240D with standard transmission. A solid 28mpg around town with 36 on long trips which is why am not happy with my 99E300 at only 25. I thought it would be better. Rick

28 or 29

24, last November.

I was 11 when my dad bought an 84 300D, grey market. He worked for the World Bank. At the same time, his friend bought a grey 300TD. Ours went to Africa, did two years maintenance free in the bush, then had to be sold there. The 300TD went to SE Asia, came back and sat on the docks rusting for two years trying to get past customs. My dad bought it from his friend ~17 years ago, and I 'inherited' it a couple years ago. I have yet to actually buy one.

How old were you................
 

39
'85 300 TD

jtu
'89 560 SL

32 ish, I think. I still have it (300D) - Had 5 at one time...but really don't have room for that many - and certainly not the time!

2 days ago, I am 26.

25 - my W116 - 6.9