Hello Gentlemen -

I am tired of paying the $ required to maintain my 1988 300 SEL in a running condition, and my mechanic says that he does not want to work on it any more. He advises that I sell it due to some phantom electrical problems???
My wife will not drive any thing but a Mercedes.
Anyway please tell me what is the best used model and year Mercedes to buy.
I am looking for reliability.

Thanks - Scott

'94 or '95 E320. Has 2 problems; easily solved.
1. head gasket
2. wiring harness
Many think it is the best Mercedes built.

regards,
Mark Duval

I would say the w124.

Anything with an S in it spells big repair bills in my experiences with Mercedes.

1995 E 300 D Will live forever, and deliver 30-35 mpg!

My 400E which is for sale.

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Lawrence Coppari

2002 SLK32 AMG
2005 Acura TL
1987 328GTS
1986 944T

As Lee eludes to, S stands for Spensive!

I do go along with the 124 being one of the best, but I wouldn't necessary go along with the 104 engined versions making up the best 124 package. You ONLY have to put a head gasket and a wiring harness on it? And what about the chance of evaporator leakage?

The 124 is a fabulous car, but it is SUCH a great driving car, that people tend to get blinded by their incredible drivers seat experience. This blindness prevents things like head gasket work or $2500 evaporator jobs from being seen as a deterrent. I'm as guilty as anyone of this. I have been very lucky with my evaporator so far, but I have done LOTS of work to this car, and the later 124's could be just as bad or worse, albeit even more fun in the drivers seat.

If I were you I would do a search on the word reliability. I think Steve Brotherton has posted on this subject before. He sees zillions of cars in his shop and is one of the few here with enough data to answer your question. The rest of us, except for the pro techs, can only talk about our experience with a handful of models.

As far as reliability, back when the 123 cars were new, they gave me the best reliability of any car I ever drove. I had several of them and put over a quarter million mile on one and over a half million miles on the other. They were by FAR more reliable than anything else I ever owned. My first one I bought new and the second one was almost new. If you could start with a new one, it would most likely be the most reliable car you ever owned, but most of them are pretty rung out now.

Good luck,

I agree -> S stands for Spensive and any car can be Spensive, S Class or otherwise.

My S Class has been very reliable and no more costly than any other MB I've read about on this forum.

The best MB for < $10K is the one that causes you the least amt. of problems and no one here or anywhere can predict that.

Steve Brotherton once said the worst thing that ever happened to a car was it's owner.

Go find a good owner.

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Mike Murrell
1991 300-SEL - Model 126
M103 - SOHC
"Fräulein"

The W126 is a very simple car to work on, I sudjest getting a new mechanic.

As for the "best" used MB under $10k, I would say if you are looking for the cheapist one to run a C220 would fit the bill. You should be able to get a very nice C class for $10k.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

If your looking for "reliability" under $10,000 in a Mercedes, I'd pick a euro 1985 230e W123.

http://www.pamminger-tuning.at/Fotoalbum/Fotoalbum_Mercedes/MB_W123_Front.htm

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1989 300CE Astralsilber/Schwarz
1992 300CE Schwarz/Schwarz

I'd learn to do my own work and keep the '88 300SEL. That is a fine car all by itself in my opinion.

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Jim

Get a 91-93 300D. It drives like a dream, gets 28MPG city, 34MPG on the road and is reliable and easy to work on. All the bugs in the 603 diesel like cracked heads etc were solved and you are getting a 124 made after 7 years of manufacture so the body is pretty well debugged. These 5 cylinder 124s dont have any of the chronic problems that later diesels have. From my experience this car has been more reliable than my 300SD which is solid as a rock. A 124 diesel runs circles around any 300SD.
The rules of buying a used Mercedes apply as always. Take your time looking, pay up for a good one, research the car and demand maintenance records, get an inspection from a qualified mechanic and set aside some money for the little surprises that come with any used car.
A real clean 93 300D was sold on E-Bay last week by a dealer with a 99% track record for $7,100. If you could get something like that it would leave you with a $2,900 budget to pay for the inspection and any surprise fix-its that come up.
I bought a 92 300D 5 years ago (with 110,000 miles on it for $12,000) for my daughter using those rules and she has had 70,000 trouble free miles since then. The only money spent on the car since then has been...Timing chain, tensioner and pulley and glow plugs, and motor mounts at 130,000 miles, tires and brake pads at 150,000 miles and alternator and blower fan at 170,000 miles. Oil changes every 5,000, and all other fluids every 25,000 miles. (We did all our own work). Some of her maintenance budget money is still left!

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Tom Hughes
St. Louis
84 300SD
92 300D
86 300SDL

I just searched autotrader.com for a 91 to 93 300D or 300DT in Seattle and found NONE at any price. Rare?

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

You should be able to get a nice 450SL for under $10,000. The nice thing about this car asside from being a major babe magnet,is the fact that you will most likely sell it for more than you paid for it.

John Roncallo

The original poster was looking for best possible reliability and I don't think that is the best choice.

Mike

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Buy three 240Ds for under $3K.

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'90 300SE 298k
-300K and it gets put into retirement.
'80 300D 255k Purchased new by family in 1980.

Had a:
1973 220 (gas)
1980 300SD
1992 400E