Peter Childers asks about MB 300D. My favorite car of all time was a 1980 MB 300D. (they were imported to the U.S. from 1979 'till 1985) I would have another in a flash, and may get one again soon. It is a sublime car to drive, especially on the road! It has an unbelievable turning radius, making it very maneuverable for a 4-door sedan.
The 5-cylinder is a great engine, and even without the turbo performed quite well. It was even fast enough for me! LOL Most advised me I'd be disappointed with it's pick-up and such - but this engine will take anything you throw at it, so I just nailed it most of the time off the line and was always satisfied. The ONE thing that I think is most important is that THESE CARS ARE SAFE!!! I was rear-ended by a rather fast moving Mitsubishi while stopped at an intersection and pushed not only into but through a very large intersection - Broadway and Van Ness in SF for those who know it - and there was NO visible damage!!! You had to feel the hard rubber on the bumper to feel where the headlight glass had broken against it. The Mitsu was collapsed all the way to the cowl (windshield) and was clearly totaled! As far as I'm concerned, the MB Diesel is THE car of choice even without bio-fuels! I'd be a bit concerned about the 4-yrs non-use, but 165K miles is mild on that car. When I bought mine, my MB mechanic told me that if it had less than 175K on it and when warmed up, with the oil-filler cap removed, didn't smoke out that opening, then don't even bother to bring it to him, just buy it since it would just be broken in. My mechanic - a certified MB mechanic - has worked on a MB 300 TD (wagon) owned by a man from Marin County who has been influential in the rebirth of bio-diesel. This vehicle has been driven for 10 yrs or so on bio-diesel, and the mechanic says the engine is cleaner and runs better, and is generally in better shape than 10 years ago! Get the best one you can get and go! Doug PS - a couple of tips. The thing to look for when buying is how well the such things as climate control, vacuum system (door locks et al) are working. The climate control unit was built for them by Chrysler and was very good, but didn't last as long as MB components, and it's a complex system. ALSO be sure you learn how to manually blow out the fuel injectors. Anytime mine started to run less than well, I'd blow them out (takes three-minutes) and it would be as if I'd just done a tune-up. _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
