You guys make me feel like the luckiest person in the world. I've had a '80 300SD since '90 and have driven it 130,000+ miles. I have spent ~$3000 in repairs which I have done most of myself. Most expensive repair was the transmission but that was my fault for putting the vacuum hoses back on incorrectly.

So then this guy comes along with a '79 300SD for $1200. It ran good and I thought it would be worth it for a parts car. Then, since it ran so well but was somewhat rusty, I decided to use it for a wintercar as I always put the '80 away for the winter. So that was 5 years ago and it still going after 54,000 miles I put on for a total of 214,000 miles.

How much have I apent on it: ~$250. It hasn't needed any repairs to engine or drive train. Only thing done to engine was valve adjustments and the second one after 25,000 miles, all the valve clearances were in spec and none needed adjustment. It needed a new exhaust system so instead of buying new, I had 2 pipes custom bent and welded on the old muffler. Cost, ~$30 instead of the ~$300 it would have cost by buying new parts. My cost per mile so far comes out to about 1/2 cent for repairs. and its still going strong and never left me down.

So an older MB can be the lowest cost car to drive. You just have to get the right one which is an all iron engine Diesel.

P E H