Looking for economical first car, diesel?

[sona1111]

Hello.

I am trying to buy my first car, i am 19 years old. I am trying to get something that will save the most money possible because i am on a tight budget. diesel cars and manual transmission cars i have heard will get better mpg, and after some initial research i have found that a mercedes diesel seems to fit the bill, something like a 4 or 5 speed 240D. I have not learned manual transmission yet but i have read and watched many tutorials online and i think i can learn it fairly quickly. I have seen these for sale usually having about 200k miles and asking about 4,000 dollars. I have about 10k saved to buy something with.

Basically i came to ask if the claims that 200k miles is not bad / it can last much longer is true and also if you think this would be a good first car. I don't care about looks / features / really fast acceleration (within reason), the only thing i might do is add a tach to it. I have never worked on cars before except replacing a tire and fixing some bad headlight wiring, but i would be willing to do work myself if it is necessary.

thanks.

[Jamesfranklin]

Diesel car may be a good choice if you are purchasing it for commercial purpose. The reason is, they are far more economical than patrol cars. Along with that, commercial cars mostly require heavy duty work. So going for a diesel car will be a better choice. They are always able to carry more load than patrol cars.