88 300e keep or sell?
 

I am back at it again with my 300e. I love the car but there are a number of things starting to wear out and I don't want to fall into a money pit. First the suspension is creaky and squeaky. The blower motor just stopped working. It needs shocks, struts, strut mounts ball joints. The ac doesn't work (a must in Alabama in the summer). My gas mileage is down (would o2 sensor and ovp cause gas mileage issues, never changed them). The passenger seat won't move.Someone hit my rear decklid so I have to replace it. Other than these issues the car has been great. The engine and transmission work well. I only paid $800 for the car. Should I invest more in it or get rid of it?

You'd be much better off buying one with low mileage (<80K) and spending the 4-6K on that as opposed to dumping money into this car. At a certain point it strays too far from economical, and with the amount of work you suggest here, this car sounds like it is getting near the end of its life.

Depends. Do you have a backup? If you only spent $800 on it don't expect much out of it...if it doesn't cost you much then hang on to it for a knockaround car rather than just scrapping it. In my experience, the extra hundred a year in taxes and insurance is worth having a second car, obviously YMMV but consider it at least.

I look at this car as being paid for, and the money I spend on it is vastly less than what car payments would be per year.

My car has over 220k on it, and is on the 3rd odometer. Except for replacing valve lifters, every dime I've spent on it was to fix things fixed before by others badly. The lifter job really quieted the engine down. It's got a slipping transmission, but I've learned how to drive it so it doesent slip, and have had no problems since 2008, after replacing the transmission fluid and installing a filter and modulator, which cured the constant transmission leak. Previous owner managed to leave out the transmission filter, too.

The car performance has improved over the years of my owning it. I trust it to go anywhere.

Still dont have A/C. In the mountains of NC, as soon as you get the car moving, you dont really need the A/C.

I also understand throwing money into a money pit car. If this car was developing more new big problems while I was fixing all this bulls*** re-repairs, I'd sure think about letting it go.

Bruce

time to move on..... you will need ball joints for starters...and if you can't do it yourself...figure 600 right there.

seek bright input regarding my '87' 300td wagon
 

Wife tired of looking at my ass while head under hood spinning wrenches.
I've an opportunity to buy a 1999 E320 Estate only 72 K miles car fax looks to be a well kept car. I"m the perennial DIY er, I refuse to take my car to dealer to be raped and defiled. However this E320 is like moving into the future with computers and all sorts of myriad things I know nothing about. Am I heading for trouble? can a shade tree mechanic like myself stay successfully up with all required maintenance?
My TD is so basic a room temperature IQ is all that's needed and this car only has 165,000 miles just the usual stuff A/C not blowing cold I haven't got to it yet, rear door windows not working, needs new brakes. all petty stuff a few well planned week ends & I'll be caught up. Wife looking at her doggy Volvo wagon vintage '91 then eyeing the late model #320 Estate I see LUST.
YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE. THANKS FOR STEERING ME IN RIGHT DIRECTION. BILL