To all,

Thanks for the replies. It sounds as if it's roughly comparable to the diesels, with poorer mileage. I do almost all of my own work, so mostly I pay for the parts only. I'll check that the rails and timing chain have been taken care of. It sounds like that has potential catastrophic consequences.
I once had a Monte Carlo with a V-8 engine in it which got comparable mileage. But the car ran great and was big and quiet - so it's a tradeoff like everything in life. If I end up buying this car, the shakedown cruise will be from Maryland to Mississippi (Gautier) for our summer vacation.
I'll let you know how it goes. I also want to make sure that the climate control works properly from the start. I have had so many headaches with the climate control on my 300SD. If not for that, I would have had pretty troublefree driving. Oh, and vacuum leaks, too.
Anyway, thanks for the info. I'll look at all of these issues when I look at it this week.

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1987 300SDL 265,000 mi.
1982 300SD 325,000 mi. (and holding)
1956 Packard Clipper 150,000 mi.