I live in RI and travel daily all around New England making deliveries. I have most recently owned a `98 e300td. I lost it in a fire, unfortunately. I have been looking for another, or a 99, but have had no luck, using Cragislist and even ebay. Most are too far away to check out before buying but there aren`t many at all.

I have looked at a `97 recently for sale in MA. It seems okay, front end was solid, but there is a persistent buzzing you can here while driving. When you shut the engine off, you continue to hear it, then it seems to slowly stop after about 10-15 seconds. Would this be the fuel pump?

Is something like this a deal breaker?

Anyone have a nice 98 or 99?

Thanx.

 

As a matter of fact, the brake pedal felt a little too low for me, sort of squishy, rather than a firm pedal. But they seemed to operate okay on the test drive. Would that be a very expensive fix?

I do hate to drop down to the lower horsepower engine, especially since I do so much highway driving, over the course of my normal 350-500 mile driving day.

But I need something sooner, rather than later. My back-up car only gets 25 mpg. The Mercedes diesels I have owned, a `92 and a `93 300d, as well as the late, lamented `98 e 300td, all got around 34 mpg. I realize there are lots of higher mpg vehicles out there. But I need a vehicle that can really stand up to my approx. 75,000 mile per year beat down, and can only afford something used, under $10,000. Also I need a larger car anyway, as I am rather tall, and when you drive 8-10 hours a day, you need a comfortable car. The Mercedes diesels fulfill all these requirements.

Thanx for your reply