My 300D got rearended a few weeks ago and the insurance company is still messing about waiting for police reports. The current plan is to repair it and continue driving it for many more years. However, it occured to me that the damage may be worse than it looks and it may be necessary to replace it instead of repairing. I've been looking at possible replacements on craigslist and results haven't been too encouraging. I've been looking at Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, and VW in the 4000 and under range. My criteria are: rear drive, manual transmission, and fuel economy in the low 20's or higher. I'd prefer a diesel engine, but could go spark ignited if no good diesel options appear. I'd also prefer to stay away from carburetors. Reliablility, maintainability, and durability would be nice as well. Suggestions?

Also, [rant] why do people not specify in their ads whether the car for sale has a manual or an automatic transmission? That's kind of important to a lot of buyers.[/rant]

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Another W123, or newer Merc? 190D?

The e28 BMWs are also pretty bulletproof, though the diesel was slushbox-only, unfortunately, and rare.

I was thinking of a 190D, but if any of the ones for sale locally have three pedals, the sellers have failed to mention that fact in their adverts.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Call/e-mail them? Diesel, RWD, manual, over 20 mpg. Hard one in the US. What about some kind of diesel truck -- I thought the US got a few 4-cyl diesel pickups sporadically?

If you don't need a four door you might consider an Audi GT.

There are still a few of them out there, but beware... There are many parts to them that are Audi GT specific and I don't mean just body parts. They are mostly an Audi 4000, but the suspension is upgraded and parts for it can be hard to find.

They are a lot of fun to drive, though, and most of them came with a five-speed.

If you can find one , a manual 280SL seems to fit. I also second the e28 or e24, in fact, I am looking for one myself. The 528e of the era ( with the eta engine) was said to have quite good fuel economy and was somewhat diesel-like in performance.

I share the same rant wrt the lack of clarity on the transmission options. It's a very important consideration. I really can't imagine a person who would just buy a car with whatever it has (unless it's obvious what it has from the get-go). Seems like it is always the first question I have to ask, usually followed by a "Not interested!"

__________________
80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Not here! I had almost given up trying to find a diesel powered anything of that vintage with an automatic transmission until I came across my 300D.

Really if it was just for the cars you guys ought to move here and I should move to the states (its not just about the cars though is it).

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

As someone who is not interested in buying ANY vehicle without a manual transmission, this is a pet peeve for me also.

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

The sellers of SL's in general and 107's in particular price them like they're made of gold. I did see a 129 in my price range, but the transmission was shot, and they still wanted 3500 for it. 528e I could do if one becomes available.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

BMW 3, if you can find one that hasn't been beaten to death, or under-maintained by the first owner/lessee.

Autotragic transmissions are very common here, but diesel engines in anything smaller than a 3/4 ton truck are generally a rarity. If you took your search for the diesel/auto combo to the U.S., you'd probably still wind up with a 300D or 300SD.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

E30.


325is will fit your requirements.

__________________
-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

Good luck finding a clean E30 cheap. Good luck finding any BMW cheap that won't break you out of house and home.

Volvo 240 is what springs to my mind. The next best thing to a 123. They have a great 4 speed with an electronic overdrive.

Miata if you don't mind sacrificing practicality for fun.

3.8 V6 Camaro or Firebird. 20 city 30 highway. Great engine and a fun, simple chassis.

__________________
1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

You probably don't want an R129. Apart from the fact that they are practically all slushboxes, the top hydraulics seem designed to fail (12 hydraulic cylinders). Overly complex.

The 280SL in stick form can be fairly reliable, if it can be found. Probably not for the price of an e30 or e28, though. Unless it has issues.

Yeah, Volvos seem to be cheap, if unexciting. Go for a wagon.

I had a '96 V6 Camaro stick (first year 200hp). It was very peppy and thrify, as Tyler says. But I got tired of all the plastic , the huge doors and glass. Couldn't wait to dump it, well before I had worn it out, to buy a 240D stick....

__________________
80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

Put the 617 into a Crown Vic. Or just get a Crown Vic with a T5 stuffed in. Those cars are awesome.

__________________
$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment