I love those giant boxes of steel and am looking into buying one. Coudl anyone tell me things to look for in terms of reliability issues. They are old cars, and as well built as they were, there have to be soime problems with them. Thanks in advance.
The W126 bodies are probably one of the most reliable... as I did own one. However, if you never owned a Mercedes, then find someone who is... tech, dealer or hard core MB owner who also fixes his own car to look over the car before you buy it.
There are alot of parts that can be very pricy to replace.
A 24 year old car is geriatric and requires attention. If you WANT to do the wrenching these old cars are fine vehicles as all their parts are available and everything can be fixed. But if you PAY a mechanic to fix and maintain the car its a very expensive ownership experience. That's the truth of the matter and buy only a car in very good condition.
Find one in nice condition, and you will have a fantastic car. I did. My 82 is trouble free, rides and looks like new. Oil gets changed ever 2-3k miles. I expect it to last at least a few more decades. These Benzes are not disposable cars if maintained. And with the help from members on this group, you've got a good situation if you can find a nice one.
I have nearly a half million miles on mine with the original engine and transmission. Althogh I live in Ontario Canada I went to Atlanta to bu mine as there is no rust there but they aren't sun baked (leather, wireinsulatoin) like tey are in Florida, Arizona California etc.
Here's a checklist of what to look for:
Only if you buy new parts. There's not many parts you can't get perfectly good used or rebuilt. Keep in mind this body style had the longest production run of any Mercedes ever; they built over a million of them (which isn't much for say, Ford, but is 2-4X the normal production run for MB)
Parts for older models (123, 108) are drying up but there's lots of 126 models around.
I can certainly vouch for that. Parts and mechanics cost the same whether the car is old or new. The car (1981 300SD ex-Pimpmobile now Der Klunker) cost $1,500 in 1999. The most costly $1,500 I have ever spent. It is today a great driving car. Virtually everything under the shell is new or rebuilt new. But it looks like hell. Simply put, it may be a Mercedes but it is an old, old car. It won't wear out. It will rust out or rot out just from old age -- bushings, shocks. springs, brakes, exhaust system, steering box, etc., etc. And we discovered the odometer was swapped out for a newer one. No idea what the actual mileage is.
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