Mercedes 300SD

Mercedes 300SD - 1983

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nlowbeer.lewis@gmail.com - 29 Jun 2007 14:34 GMT

I love those giant boxes of steel and am looking into buying one.
Coudl anyone tell me things to look for in terms of reliability
issues. They are old cars, and as well built as they were, there have
to be soime problems with them. Thanks in advance.

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Tiger - 29 Jun 2007 14:39 GMT

The W126 bodies are probably one of the most reliable... as I did own one.
However, if you never owned a Mercedes, then find someone who is... tech,
dealer or hard core MB owner who also fixes his own car to look over the
car before you buy it.

There are alot of parts that can be very pricy to replace.

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Richard Sexton - 29 Jun 2007 21:00 GMT

>The W126 bodies are probably one of the most reliable... as I did own one.
>However, if you never owned a Mercedes, then find someone who is... tech,
>dealer or hard core MB owner who also fixes his own car to look over the
>car before you buy it.
>
>There are alot of parts that can be very pricy to replace.

Only if you buy new parts. There's not many parts you can't get perfectly good
used or rebuilt. Keep in mind this body style had the longest production run
of any Mercedes ever; they built over a million of them (which isn't much for say,
Ford, but is 2-4X the normal production run for MB)

Parts for older models (123, 108) are drying up but there's lots of 126 models around.

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Need Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
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Roland Franzius - 29 Jun 2007 15:06 GMT

nlowbeer.lewis@gmail.com schrieb:

> I love those giant boxes of steel and am looking into buying one.
> Coudl anyone tell me things to look for in terms of reliability
> issues. They are old cars, and as well built as they were, there have
> to be soime problems with them. Thanks in advance.

As experience has shown cars older than 20 years eat something up to the
amount of money per year like a new car of the same kind is devaluating.

The reason is simple: You have to replace every single part and so are
the current market prices of replacement parts for cars out of
production and the 16 years part warranty. Not counting your labor. If a
car takes more than this amount it will go to the junk yard.

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Roland Franzius

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Richard Sexton - 29 Jun 2007 21:03 GMT

>nlowbeer.lewis@gmail.com schrieb:
>> I love those giant boxes of steel and am looking into buying one.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>production and the 16 years part warranty. Not counting your labor. If a
>car takes more than this amount it will go to the junk yard.

Geez that's not what I've found. While I have replaced the suspension
rubber (all of it) and a few suspension hard metal parts and the
brakes and the transmission B2 piston the rest of stuff I did was just
repairing (not replacing) switches and routine maintencne. It's by far
the cheapest car to operate I've ever owed - and I had early (80s) Subarus
which were supposed to be one of the cheapest cars to maintain ever.

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Tiger - 30 Jun 2007 00:33 GMT

Agreed... very low ownership cost. When part break down, it is a one time
job... you will never do that same job again.

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-->> T.G. Lambach <<-- - 29 Jun 2007 16:48 GMT

A 24 year old car is geriatric and requires attention. If you WANT to do
the wrenching these old cars are fine vehicles as all their parts are
available and everything can be fixed. But if you PAY a mechanic to fix
and maintain the car its a very expensive ownership experience. That's
the truth of the matter and buy only a car in very good condition.

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Gogarty - 05 Jul 2007 18:14 GMT

>A 24 year old car is geriatric and requires attention. If you WANT to do
>the wrenching these old cars are fine vehicles as all their parts are
>available and everything can be fixed. But if you PAY a mechanic to fix
>and maintain the car its a very expensive ownership experience. That's
>the truth of the matter and buy only a car in very good condition.

I can certainly vouch for that. Parts and mechanics cost the same whether
the car is old or new. The car (1981 300SD ex-Pimpmobile now Der Klunker)
cost $1,500 in 1999. The most costly $1,500 I have ever spent. It is today
a great driving car. Virtually everything under the shell is new or
rebuilt new. But it looks like hell. Simply put, it may be a Mercedes but
it is an old, old car. It won't wear out. It will rust out or rot out just
from old age -- bushings, shocks. springs, brakes, exhaust system,
steering box, etc., etc. And we discovered the odometer was swapped out
for a newer one. No idea what the actual mileage is.

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robrjt - 29 Jun 2007 18:19 GMT

On Jun 29, 7:34 am, nlowbeer.le...@gmail.com wrote:

Find one in nice condition, and you will have a fantastic car. I
did. My 82 is trouble free, rides and looks like new. Oil gets
changed ever 2-3k miles. I expect it to last at least a few more
decades. These Benzes are not disposable cars if maintained. And
with the help from members on this group, you've got a good situation
if you can find a nice one.

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Richard Sexton - 29 Jun 2007 20:54 GMT

>I love those giant boxes of steel and am looking into buying one.
>Coudl anyone tell me things to look for in terms of reliability
>issues. They are old cars, and as well built as they were, there have
>to be soime problems with them. Thanks in advance.

I have nearly a half million miles on mine with the original engine and transmission.
Althogh I live in Ontario Canada I went to Atlanta to bu mine as there is no rust there but they
aren't sun baked (leather, wireinsulatoin) like tey are in Florida, Arizona California etc.

Here's a checklist of what to look for:

http://articles.mbz.org/buying/checklists/126/

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