[Vwdiesel] Should I buy a used Mercedes diesel?

[David Schwarze]

I had very good luck running vegetable oil in my 1991 300D.  The car
had over 200K on it, ran like a swiss watch and never leaked a drop. 
Unlike the older VWs, the injection pump in my '91 300D seemed to be
able to tolerate the oil without leaking, even after over 25,000 miles
and hundreds of gallons of oil.  Got about 28mpg consistently with
mixed city/hwy driving.  The '87 300D is a somewhat rare ride and was
the fastest diesel Benz until the '98 TD came out.  If you find one
of those for a reasonable price, grab it.  I am not 100% sure the 87
pump is as resistant to leaking as the '91 pump, but my guess is that
it would be fine.


Incidentally, I have not seen the price of Mercedes diesels drop here
in Dallas.  In fact, I'd say prices have gone up and there are less
of them available.  Compared to an 80's model VW diesel they are
well-engineered, nearly indestructible tanks.  Sorry, but it's
true.  Also much safer in an accident, and safety counts
forsomething, at least to me.  They are not particularly
fuel-efficient for diesels though.  People will claim they get 30+
mpg but in my experience it just isn't true except under ideal,
contrived circumstances.  Parts are a little more expensive, but not
that bad really and there is a large diesel forum at mercedesshop.com
where you can get help.  They are NOT, in my experience, "money
pits".


-----Original message-----
From: "William J Toensing" toensing at wildblue.net
Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 03:49:58 -0500
To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
Subject: [Vwdiesel] Should I buy a used Mercedes diesel?

> Looks like the offer to trade my Packard for a 1997 Mercedes E300
diesel fell thru as the dealer hasn't called back. However, I have a
possible offer to buy the Packard outright. I have seen several offers
on Craig's List for '80 to '85 M Benz diesels, some converted to WVO,
for $3,000 or less. Even saw a 1987 300D 6 cylinder TD for$1,750. I
plan on running on WVO, if I can find it with diesel now over $4.75 a
gallon. My question is are there some year Mercedes diesels that are
far better or worse than other years? I would like to avoid 1998 &
newer because they are coming into the Calif. smog check program in
2010. Or am I better off fixing up my Dasher & Rabbit diesels &
forgetting any MB diesels? I do know MB parts are more expensive than
VW parts. I wonder if the M Benz diesels are selling more cheaply
because of the high price of diesel, or because they are money pits
that owners are dumping? I see very few older VW diesels on Craig's
list, mostly astronomically price
> d high mileage newer TDI VWs.
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