I'm 17 and planning to buy a 300SE/SEL or 300SD for work, college, etc. I won't have a lot of money for maintainence, fuel and insurance, and that is the reason I am looking for a 126. However, my dad who is a PE isn't very inclined to look at one of these "rich man's gas guzzling maintainence nightmares." Anything I can tell him to convince him that 126's are as good as Mercedes enthusiasts say they are. Specific numbers (eg. insurance remiums) would be great for use as proponents to him.

 

welcome to the forum DIL.

just make sure you buy a good 126 with good service maintenance on it. slightly used if possible.

tell your dad that you will learn how to fix those minor items and maintenance. better start learning how to do them for it's not difficult.

most members they enjoy doing it to their car and share their techniques.

 

I will let the experts here better guide you. But being a student on a budget the single most important thing is proper maintenance. We just bought out first used MB in a 1990 300SE. You must remember you need to run high test in these cars. While only a few dollars more per fill up it can be a temptation for a starving student to decide between a six of beer and a pizza and running his MB on regular gas @ 87 octane to save a few duckets. Our car by the little I have driven it has fairly decent acceleration for a 6 cylinder. This performance is helped by the engine cylinder heads having a higher compression ratio. Like my Mustang 306 motor with aluminum shaved hand ported racing cylinder heads this means both cars need higher octane gas to avoid detonation. In my Mustang at 375 hp this can mean a lifted head gasket. I used to sell cars so go look at a bunch of cars before you buy very the first one you see. If you are not able to do the routine maintenance an oil change alone can be over $150 on these cars. Our car has 209K miles and it runs like new. The motor was replaced in 2004 and the tag is still on the motor. I went to look at it being very skeptical. A near mint example of a 1990 300SE for only $2K? Well the car was near mint and it showed. The mechanic in the garage just finished up the work at $1K to make it road worthy. Ball joints and front end work, a full tune up, motor mounts, and other work. So for 3K my Dad now has a sweet ride that looks and drives like a brand new car. Pay a good mechanic to look over whatever car you want to buy.This is a good prepurchase inspection to include going up on a lift to look for problems and rust. Good luck and find a nice car. The other folks here can better help you. John