diesels are good 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,

Mercedes Diesels are some of the most reliable engines out there. All the guys at my shop love them and I'd say about 1/3 of the techs own them. Gas mileage, I've heard, is great. But repairs can get pretty costly if something major breaks.