Bought a Mercedes today :)

My car passed the VERY strict German inspection last week :banana::banana:

The only things they noted were that they couldn´t find the warning vest that is required here, and the first aid kit was too old. Other than that, nothing :D

They are ridiculously strict here. Even small things like a license plate light that isn´t working, or one single drop of oil ANYWHERE is a reason to fail.
 
Congrats! Really nice cars to drive and built to last. Except for road salt damage (some hidden & learned from), I bought second hand 68 W115 220D in late 70's and 70 W114 250 in 81 and both built like tanks and great to drive.

In this decade the Cadillac CTS has shown that NA has caught up as I found a good 08 one 3yrs ago for my father and it sure does drive like the German cars as they say along with the high quality structure, parts and interior. It was really affordable second hand also.
 
I drove MB 300Ds for many years (W123 body), and yes, they are practically indestructible. My last one was a 1985 gray market 300TDT (wagon). It took a hit in the rear right corner at 50 mph that drove me diagonally into on-coming traffic moving at 45 mph+. I was fine except for dislocated ribs from the seat belt. Both other cars were written off the next day (big Lincoln and mid sized Ford) . Mine was only written off when the repair estimate got too high after the shop started adding it all up. They did try to save it.

You have a great, strong, safe car there JP. Best of luck with it!
 
My car passed the VERY strict German inspection last week :banana::banana:

The only things they noted were that they couldn´t find the warning vest that is required here, and the first aid kit was too old. Other than that, nothing :D

They are ridiculously strict here. Even small things like a license plate light that isn´t working, or one single drop of oil ANYWHERE is a reason to fail.

I really know how extremely strict these German inspections are. So congratulations Tracy!

:thmbsp: :thmbsp: :thmbsp:

I could tell some actually absurd stories about these... ahmmm... okay... :sigh:
 
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Thanks for all the best wishes. I also hope that I can keep this car for many, many years. I really like it.

I´ve only had it for a 13 months, but I still enjoy every minute of driving it. It´s just so comfortable and relaxing. A couple of guys have asked me why I don´t have a radio in it.

Well, I usually just drive short distances, so it really isn´t worth it; and I just enjoy how quiet it is :)

Chris, I think everyone here in Germany has a LOT of TüV stories to tell ;)
 
A bodyman explained to me the advantage of a MB in an accident back after I bought mine. He explained the sheet metal was softer and thicker and the car was designed to absorb impact where it was hit because of the special metal qualities. Thus it was safer and repairable as you could just replace the damaged section.

MB started crash testing first before anyone else after WWII and had developed the modern IFS in the 30's that everyone later followed with.

At the time US and some others that weren't designed that way (still old school thinking) received a lot more extensive damage because the stiffer sheet metal would transmit the force of the hit over the whole car thus damaging the body and frame if so equipped so it wasn't repairable or as safe in an accident.

I do believe things did change in the 90's for the better on bigger US cars (on uni body or frame less ones for sure) from what I saw and now things are more equal on the US Luxury Makes in that regard. They all have sub frames for suspension systems now with the engines attached to those.

On Inspections: In my Province they are now pretty strict on used vehicles, but only if you sell it does it have to be inspected again. No leaks or rust either, and of course mechanically it has to be perfect. They don't test for emissions though as usually the safety as they call it, takes many vehicles off the road and the Police can make you take an unsafe looking vehicle to them off the road.
 
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As I posted earlier, I had an Audi 100 years ago. I was at a light and someone put their car in park to mess with something on the floor. When they popped back up and put the car in gear, they put it in REVERSE by accident. When the light turned green, they punched it full steam back into my Audi.

That Audi had a HUGE solid front rubber bumper, mounted to pistons (shock absorbers) that were mounted to the frame. The car also weighed way more than your average car on the street in 91. Not a scratch on my car. The car that slammed into me? Big time damage. And the License plate screws on my front bumper (no front plate in Florida) stuck into his rear panel and pulled it off when he pulled forward away from me. The police officer was shocked when he arrived. He kept saying, "Are you SURE that THIS is the car he backed into?" Because there was not a scratch or a dent on my car. The other car needed a lot of body work. It was a mess.

Some of those German cars are tanks.
 
My Grandfather had MB's from the old round Ponton on. I bought my first one in about 2000 and old 4540slc, then a 300e and lately a V8 E430. Done 260,000km in the latest with the only repairs being a new water pump and a new blower unit for the climate control. There are still no rattles or squeaks in it inside and it sits on the road like a rock.
 
My first car was a 1980 240D. Slow as hell and did break down fairly often. I loved it though, classic styling and comfortable like an old worn couch.
 
What were the problems as you must have bought it used and unmaintained as they were bullet proof as they say?

My brother had a used 81 that he put 320K KM on it (late 80's to late 90's) with very few repairs and very low fuel costs where he lived back in those days. I was surprised at the abuse it took. Anyway it sold him on German Diesels and he bought a nice VW Toureg last year which is much more powerful, but still great on fuel for it's wt.

The 4 cyl. MB Diesels were used for millions of KM's or close to a million miles as taxis overseas etc.
 
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I had an '89 300E for years, what a great car - fun to drive, fast & comfortable. I now catch myself looking at '94/'95 E320 Cabriolets as a next convertible... Enjoy the car!
 
What were the problems as you must have bought it used and unmaintained as they were bullet proof as they say?

My brother had a used 81 that he put 320K KM on it (late 80's to late 90's) with very few repairs and very low fuel costs where he lived back in those days. I was surprised at the abuse it took. Anyway it sold him on German Diesels and he bought a nice VW Toureg last year which is much more powerful, but still great on fuel for it's wt.

The 4 cyl. MB Diesels were used for millions of KM's or close to a million miles as taxis overseas etc.

The glow plugs

And the glow plugs

And when the glow plugs failed, the glow plugs also failed too :D


LOL, I was 25 and didn't know anything about cars. Kept taking it to this guy Wolfie who kept charging me and then it kept failing. I don't know about glow plugs now, But I can replace spark plugs so easily now on a regular car... Along with a lot of stuff if it's not tooo involved.. I think it was the massive bills that made me want to know how to do basic mechanics. Also it was as slow as shit and that made me a better driver... You couldn't just change lanes, you had to know where the next five minutes of traffic would be, cos this sucker had 65hp when it rolled out of the factory in 1980... prob about 30 when I drove it.. You had to plan your changes, great exercise though in being an aware driver.

But I still love that car, beautiful.

Oh yeah, it was as old as the odometer stopped working pushing 300k and that was about 4 years before I had it... I think if I'd known a better mechanic and we cleaned up that engine it could still be running. Interior was very good quality, it held up. Engine... dirty as hell

But my celica is as old as that Mercedes was when I drove it (half the miles though.. but on a gas engine)... Interior is great, engine is great and it still has balls... I'd buy German if we were in the 80s... But Toyota.. Man their cars just hold together even when they have no business doing that, shame though the last exciting Toyota was the 2005 Celica GTS and anything good they do goes out under lexus (too expensive) or scion (marketed to 20 year olds).
 
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Both my 68 220D and my brother's 81 240D never had glow plug problems and I never heard of any with those engines so that mechanic was a crook or just lousy at what he did.

My brother lent his to his friends who abused it and he even used starting fluid in the winter (a no no). At 450K the timing chain stretched and it probably needed a tensioner as it wore through the cover and that combined with his wife not liking it he sold it cheap. I think the only other thing it needed was a heater core, but it probably would have helped to have regular coolant changes.

The lack of power you describe didn't seem to be a problem with both these cars so yours must have had maybe an injection system fault or maybe it was an automatic trans model which I bet would be slow.

I didn't drive my used 220D very long as was very rusty from being kept in a heated garage in the winter. Didn't know the mileage on it as the odometer was broken. The car was good for parts and so I found the same body/chassis in a 70 gas 6 cyl twin carb 250 with lots of get up and go and high 20's MPG. It would surprise V8 US cars in the 80's and could cruise at very high speeds. I drove it almost 10 yrs till the auto trans went and still have these cars to fix up hopefully some day when I have the $.

Toyoto cars Rust quickly here so you don't see enthusiast models like the Celica unless never winter driven, and as you say they don't make them like they used to. I prefer RWD for handling and like the 90's Supra from what I've read about them. Here the muscle & pony (new & old) and a few sports cars (English & Italian 70's and older) come out for the summer. I did see a new Jag F Type coupe last summer (apparently local to the area) and sure loved the looks.
 
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I'm more of a BMW guy that a Benz guy, but I liked that general period.

If I could afford to have six or eight cars around, I'd love to have an E190 2.3-16 parked next to my E30 M3 and 911SC. According to my BMW guy there just isn't nearly the support network in place for them that there is for the E30 BMWs.

Nice looking car. Hope it serves you well. :thmbsp:
 
Bought a 1990 560SEC last Dec, maybe some perverted Christmas present to myself. Have been dealing with a few small issues, like engine mounts, radio, and a few other small items you get with most used cars.
Nice car but a lot more complicated than I think it needs to be, working on my '79 Cad CDV is like a grade school project compared to this, MB might be college level in comparison.
 
Bought a 1990 560SEC last Dec, maybe some perverted Christmas present to myself. Have been dealing with a few small issues, like engine mounts, radio, and a few other small items you get with most used cars.
Nice car but a lot more complicated than I think it needs to be, working on my '79 Cad CDV is like a grade school project compared to this, MB might be college level in comparison.

Awesome car, but watch the head bolts, they may have been fixed by 1990 but they have a tendency to pull out.
 
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