Faults:

Water pump replacement.

Thermostat.

Belt.

Fan clutch.

Upper and lower hose.

Radiator.

Total cost for parts $600.00.

Needs glow plugs.

Leaking injector pump and some oil leaking.

General Comments:

I love owning this car, but remember that it's a Mercedes, and parts are not cheap.

Also, working on this car is horrible. I can't change the glow plugs myself. I need a special tool to get in there, and the injector pump leak is covered in silicone, as the previous owner could not spend the $2.00 on the proper gasket. Now it will take hours to fix that mess.

Inside the car it's awesome and very comfortable. Better than a Caddy or Lincoln any day for that era. I would buy another in a heartbeat. I spent $4900.00 on getting this one. Beware the lack of speed from a diesel, but love that sound.

MPG with A/C; 26 average.

Faults:

Although there's a distinctive rattle coming from one of the front wheels that's probably going to cost a few euros to fix, I finally own a W124 combi. I've wanted it for 20 years, but it was of course out of reach, as I just started working at the age of 18 in 1988.

Now I've bought a very well maintained 200TE from a man who's owned her for 11 years. It's been living under a cover in the garage for most of its time with him. So, the car looks like new.

As I said earlier, I do have a soft spot for the W124 combi, and I don't really care about the money I'll have to spend maintaining it. Within reason of course, which is why I tried to buy the best one available.

But as I'm driving around with the grin on my face, I feel very rich, driving this incredibly quality car on the cheap! This car was probably the best balance between modern engineering and old fashioned quality building the world has ever seen.

Faults:

Self leveling rear suspension failed, and subsequently it handled like a hearse.

Spheres replaced and hydraulic pump reconditioned.

This was costly to fix, but it has done wonders for the handling and ride - worth doing.

Rear window jammed as the insulation in door frame had perished. Cleaned out and running fine now.

General Comments:

The doors close with a fine clunk..

Loads of space and versatility. Fits 7 with ease, but can fold the seats down in all sorts of permutations - can take 3 adults and 3 surfboards inside, 2 adults and endless crap or treasure in the back, etc etc.

I love the attention to detail - like the toolbox and fine first aid kit. Even the fuse box is pretty cool.

Cruises all day quietly on the open road with plenty of grunt for passing trucks and things, and on roadies does 10.5l/100km (and not driving like my deceased grandfather either).

It has a great lock, so parking is fine for what is a pretty big car. Relaxing to drive around town.

One gripe with the car is that the top of the steering wheel obscures my view of the top of the speedo (80-130kph) and I have to bend down to see what speed I'm doing. What the hell were they thinking?? I guess measuring speed is irrelevant on the Autobahn.

Quite a few people have given me a hard time for driving a Mercedes, and lump me into the filthy rich capitalist pig basket, but comparing it to other cars (soul sucking people movers, Japanese wagons that tempt harikari, butt ugly vans) that cost the same, it was an easy choice.

So far it's reliable, it was well priced, and I plan to have it until the kids leave the roost.