Mileage restrictions. Lack of flexibility since getting out of a lease isn't easy. Requirement to carry full insurance.

Though there's something to be said for buying a USED Civic (people needing to sell due to exigent circumstances are best -- look for the old who are moving to FL in a week, the unemployed, etc, since they're most negotiable), driving the piss out of it for a year, and selling at the same price or more than you bought it for.

Plus, speaking for myself, I'm quite flexible as to when and how long I work. I'd rather be saving money working on the car myself than contributing to the economy and then paying for a lease or mechanic... Consider it my small bit of pushback against the infamous American work ethic.

For what it is worth...

I was recently asked the same question by a friend. She was looking at a diesel.

The short answer: If you are looking for an E-class around 1997 to 2002 a low end six will go for about $5,000. I think we all know that even a low end Mercedes is still quite nice to drive, but you will not get a 4-matic at that price.

A diesel from that time frame booked out at about $3,000 more. Now getting 36 mpg is better than getting 23 mpg, but how many miles will it take to break even on that $3,000 bump?

A gas car works for me since I don't make that many 700 mile trips anymore. The range of the last diesel I had was about 550 miles so I only had to stop once, at about 400 miles, to fill up and grab some coffee. But back then time was money, and when you are semi-retired time is just time.

The diesel will also resell for $3k more when you're done torturing it.

Before you lay down your money you need to check the price of parts. Some C-class have shocks that cost $350 each, and alternators and A/C compressors tend to be rather pricey, too.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered shocks for the Bentley run about $1,600 each. OK, they are very nice air shocks, but......

Just something to keep in mind if you are looking at something that 'only needs a few things to be 100%'.

But if you are willing to put in a bit of effort at finding the parts and can do the work yourself you find that most E-class Mercedes will be the cheapest car you have ever owned.

Lease a new car or get a Toyota Corolla/Ford Focus. Cheap and they don't really break, also when they do they are cheap to fix.

If you insist on a MB buy the newest C class or V6 powered E class you can find.

You really need to double your budget to get into decent newer car, CPO with warranty territory. At that price point with a Mercedes your buying a hobby.

My sisters 2006 Corolla has been chugging along for a year now with no problems in the 20k she has put on it. I forget what we paid for it, around $6,500 maybe, for $10k you can get a lot more Corolla.

Since interest rates are so low if I had a $10k chunk of cash to plunk down on a primary vehicle, instead of buying a hobby I'd put it down on a new Corolla, or even a Camry which can be had for around $20k and just finance the rest at 1% or whatever they charge. Than drive it for the next 10-15 years and rack up a couple hundred thousand cheap miles.

After you have that spend $5k on a W123 to play with.

__________________
2006 CL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2026 Genesis GV70
2007 Tiara 3200

I'd buy 2 used cars for $5k, and not do what Bubble Ben wants us to do.
The 5k W123 has been chugging along for the last 35k miles in almost three years...

Before that, it was a $2500 Miata, and before that, it was a $1200 Volvo 240DL. Each of which were owned for about three years and driven all over creation.

I actually MADE money off the Miata in the end, between it being rear-ended, paid off by the insurance of the person who hit me (book value was almost 2x what I paid, buy-back value was $250) and sold "for parts" to someone who wanted to race it in Spec Miata.

So this is what I'm hearing:

2000-2002 W210 E320

1986-1995 W124 E300 (watch out for harness and AC)
Does the E300 comes in diesel and gas ?

1998-1999 W210 E430

of course the W123 is a good one also.

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1982 240D 4spd 232k (deceased)

I vote midway on both, a 95 E. New enough to be cool, old enough to be, uh, experienced!

I'd go with the W210 that is in the 2000-2002 range. The transaction lasted me 400k in my 99 E300 so far.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

What about something like this:

2005 E320 4matic
About 95,000 miles
$14k range

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1982 240D 4spd 232k (deceased)

Yep, any W210 in the 2000-2002 is about as good as it gets for a Mercedes. There were a lot of updates to the cars from 1998 to 2000. The 2000 facelift is worth it.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Looks good to me if you can get it.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

If a $2k-$3k unexpected repair won't kill you go for it. Those are solid cars if taken care of.

__________________
2006 CL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2026 Genesis GV70
2007 Tiara 3200

I've gotten that kind of MPG (30 in town ad 42 highway) with 2 examples... both had around 160k. Both highway speeds around 80-85. Perhaps they get better as they age? I've gone 620 miles on my current tank and the reserve light just came on...

Mine set me back $8220. Listed by a female pharmaceutical rep on eBay who bought it from the MB dealer a few years ago. She was commuting from Tulsa to St Louis weekly and needed the MPG/comfort. She had recently got a company car and didn't need this one, and listed it on eBay for a quick sale at $10500. Nobody could get loans with that kind of mileage, not alot of people with cash around, so alot of time wasted. She was quick to accept my $9000 no hassle offer pending a good PPI. Local Mercedes dealer serviced the car and showed a fault in the driver's side airbag(over-voltage). $780 to replace. I told her to just take it off the total price. Once I purchased it, I reset the computer and the code has not returned in over a month, so probably just a hiccup.

I've added 2500 miles to it in the last month. Love it. The lady really likes that I'm not borrowing her car (2013 ILX) every time I need good MPG.

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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!!!

Yes, that is true. In fact, it could be more and actually I doubt that it would be less.

I was commenting on the initial purchase price the original comment referred to.

If you have the extra $3,000 to put into it then I would go for the diesel myself. They just seem to pull in a way that I find more relaxing.