New here. My wife's uncle just bought his wife a 1983 diesel Mercedes, I forget which model. He said it's a great car, will run forever and gets 36 mpg on the highway. I'm intrigued. I currently am driving a 98 Chevy Cavalier that is starting to develop some problems at just under 100K. I did a very little bit of research and now I'm looking to possibly get a mid 80s 190D for a daily driver. I'm seeing a few of them locally for $3000-5000. I'm interested in getting some experienced opinions on reliability, safety (2 kids in car seats), economy, performance and which models/years I should be looking at. $5000 is probably the most I'd want to spend. Thanks in advance for any and all comments!

Paul

 

I have an 84' 190D diesel and get 37mpg. Silver, only 78,000 miles on it and it runs perfectly. I've never seen one under 250k on it and wouldn't doubt that the 190D's are the most reliable vehicle ever built. You might run into a few problems due to the age of the vehicle though, mine had cost me $800 to get it on the road. It needed three tie-rods, center drag link, an allignment, hood release handle and a battery hold down plate. Try to get one with a turbo around 1987 otherwise you can forget about performance and especially accerleration. Lol