is the 300sd or 300sdl a good buy for a newbie?

I am looking at some 84-87 300 SDs and SDLs but not sure if it’s a good choice for me. I’ve never dealt with diesels, except some trucks and it was a looong time ago. The reason I am looking at those cars, is the hope of some fuel economy because it’s a diesel and to save some money by not making payments on my car. $2600 to $3300 seems to me a reasonable price for daily transportation, but I am not sure if that is not going to cost me an arm and a leg in repairs. Any comments, suggestions please.

Thank you,

For that kind of money you can get a 300 D (w123) in good condition. You could more than likely get a good w126 for that money but the choice will not be as good. As I own both cars I can tell you the w126 is a large heavy car. It’s great for the open road and reflects MB excelent quality of the time but can be expensive to repair.

Read about the w123 here:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=159151


The w126 S Class trubodeisel 300 SD is larger on the inside, it’s shorter then the long wheelbase SDL. Fuel mileage for the w123 will be somewhat better, but not a great deal better.

Although I love my w123D if I was forced to have only one car I would go with the 300 SD as being a much better all around, modern car.

Good luck.