Faults:

Wipers stopped working.

Radiator was weak - overheated in heavy traffic.

When in the rain, the car wanted to die... but would hang on. Barely.

General Comments:

I loved this car. It was my first car, but I have owned/driven dozens of cars since, and I stand by my Mercedes. If you are looking for a low cost up front, expensive to maintain car... this is your dream.

The handling is tight... and the engine would not die. I was a young woman, driving the car hard. It was not well maintained and the thing would not die. Non-essential things would become problematic - and were not cheap to fix, but the engine always started up.

This car feels like an extension of the driver. So if you have a "cushion" in savings for misc repairs, that can wait if needed, this car is perfect. MPG was 20-25 in the city.

Faults:

Injector lines went bad and snapped out in the middle of no place, but still got me there.

Injection system O-rings leaked when I first bought it, but fixed for 50 bucks.

Flex disc went bad, but the car warned me so no damage.

Ball joints went bad and is a common problem.

There have been a few other problems, but all were fixed easily. And this is after 13 years of ownership!

General Comments:

This is really an amazing car. Now it's not fast and it's not fancy, but it IS the best car I have ever owned. It's stone cold reliable, it gets amazingly good mileage for a 1985 car, it's comfortable, and still looks modern, even though I can put historical plates on it next year.

I do my own wrenching, and have taken a lot of this car apart over the years, and it's built right! From what I hear, I could probably drive it another 30 years.

Slow to be sure, but it will get you there and back!

Great car.

Faults:

Air conditioning is American model with climate control. Spent a fortune and never got it to run correctly, even at a Mercedes dealership - could not find the problem. Finally had an electrical specialist override the climate control and it is either hot or cold as in European models, no complicated air mixing.

Antena died, replaced motor.

Replaced entire wiper motor and blade assembly (not cheap).

Replaced shocks and suspension, had used it roughly several years on dirt roads.

Other items were replaced due to my own fault such as a head on collision 5 years ago. The rest is common wear such as brake pads, filters, etc.

General Comments:

Rock solid. Over 265,000 miles on it, and it runs strong and pulls like a tractor, and drives like a violin. Does not drive like a diesel. Still reaches 100 miles per hour, and accelerates very well.

Suspension is superior tho my Volvo S40, or Volvo 850. And 100 times more reliable than the 2 Volvo 240s I once owned.

I have put this car through mud and dirt while going to my farm twice a month for eleven years. I have driven it through flooded streets with water entering my door and up to the radiator, I have skipped oil changes and pushed it hard and the thing will not die on me. The only way to get rid of this machine is to sell it!

The most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. Always starts. Several years ago I promised I´d sell it the day it let me down, it never did.