We need a second car that's reliable and safe for my wife to drive from home to the BART station (commuter train), about 5 miles RT. I expect she will put less than 7.5K miles on it per year. We're looking at several used MB's, but I've never owned one and other than their reputation, I'm not that familiar with them, especially the older models, so I would appreciate any info on what to look for, expensive problems or repairs specific to MB, etc. Because of the short travel distances involved, I believe a gas engine is probably the better option. Our budget is pretty small, we need to stay under $2500. Location is the San Francisco Bay Area.
Here are some the cars we are looking at:
1982 280E, 196K miles, $2200 1988 420SEL, 164K miles, $1900 (salvage title, recovered stolen, vandalism, not wrecked) 1990 300E, ???K miles, $1850 (low price, suspect?) 1986 190E 4dr, 131K miles, $1,500 ('average condition' per ad) 1986 300E ???K miles, $1850, leaky radiator, cracked fog lamp covers, sun-roof non-op (but closed).I have not seen or driven any of these yet. On the surface the '88
420SEL seems like the best deal, but I would want a CARFAX report on it before I buy. Several are from used dealers (including the 420SEL), the rest are private party sales. Comments, suggestions and warnings gladly accepted.