Non-turbo Mercedes diesel drivability input wanted

[War_Wagon]

I have been looking for something new to drive, and I found an imported from Europe 1988 Mercedes 250 D. It has a 4 speed automatic. It is a really neat little car, and only has 133,000 kms on it. It pretty much runs and drives like new. It's a total bare bones car with manual windows, no tilt, etc - all it has are factory alloy wheels and A/C.

Now I know it's not going to be a race car, but sadly because of where the car is I can't take it out for a long test drive, and I have never owned a diesel Merc before. Anyone out there have any input on just how slow the non turbos are? I am used to my 5 speed Civics, which get similar mpg's, but at least I know with them that I can drive up to the mountains without holding up traffic etc. If you want to pass someone on the highway, are you out of luck? Most of my driving is local, but sometimes I have to take a 4 or 5 hour trip and don't want to be banging my head on the steering wheel for not finding a 300D instead. Thanks.

[some_other_dave]

A friend of mine used a 240D for a while for his longish commute. He wasn't too impressed. He decided he had to run it at 70-80 MPH (traffic on that freeway does move quickly) and the economy was nothing to write home about at that point. It got a lot better if he drove 55 MPH, but he did not want to do that.

That particular road has some half-decent hills on it, and I don't remember him complaining. I do remember from riding in it that it did take a while to get up to speed. I wouldn't be surprised if a 5-speed Civic would get similar numbers with better performance. After all, the Civic is newer, lighter weight, with better aero.

His cracked a liner about eight months after he got it. Cost more to repair than the thing was worth, and it is evidently hard to find good used engines. So he dumped it, and got a Beetle TDI. He has been very happy with it; more power and better economy at the speeds he drives.

I would be worried about a Europe-only model, if the one you are looking at is one. They can be a real pain to get parts for, and it sucks to have your car parked for four months waiting for some part to get shipped from the other side of the pond. (I used to know several people with "grey-market" cars, and that was a problem for some of them.)

Personally, unless you need the interior room or really want the luxo-boat feeling, I would pass.

-soD

[Odin]

I've had several NA Mercedes diesels, not as fun as the turbo and i really can't figure out why in 86 they decided both with the 190 and 250 to go back to the NA option even though they bumped it up to a in line 6, i think.. NA Diesels are dogs at low end but (especially with the more aerodynamic body) you should be able to get into the mid 30's but if you can i would advise finding a turbo model, Reliability wise i would swear by them Mercedes knows how to build a diesel engine. My 1980 300d had 300k when i got it as my first car and when i sold it I had 435k on it and all original still running exactly the same- 90% of those miles were on strait WVO compared to the turbo model my 80 300d got about 25 city almost 30 highway but it was difficult to reach since the w123 body style was 4200lbs- my current 1982 300d turbo gets closer to 35 average and i've gotten as high as 40 on super flat strait highways at 55-60 and with a little boost increase any black/white smoke disappears

in reality though if you aren't doing a WVO swap there are better options to get better mpg, merc knows how to make a diesel but they do NOT know how to make an automatic, A LOT of the power is lost to the drivetrain

[bestclimb]

Drove a cousins a few times I would not own one.

[War_Wagon]

Ok, thanks a lot folks. I was on the fence to start with and now I think I will pass on it. It's a neat car for someone, just not for me. I found an early '80s 240D with a manual transmission, but the more I think about it I think I'll just stick with my Civics for now.

[Odin]

those 240's are insanely rare here i would kill for one!

[War_Wagon]

Yes I was surprised to see a 3rd pedal in it too. Saw it pull into a parking lot and started talking to the guy about it, he can't find front fenders for it anywhere and his are all rusty, so he said he'll probably get rid of it. I should have asked if it was a 4 or a 5 speed, or do they only have one option for a trans in a 240?

[Odin]

240's only came with a 4 speed, the euro 300d came with an option of 5 speed but only a hand full of those made it to north america- the 4 speed in the 240 fits in the 300d too with very little modification just a balanced flywheel and shortened driveshaft

[War_Wagon]

Cool, thanks for the info. If it comes up real cheap maybe I'll grab it just to try out a Merc diesel.

[comptiger5000]

Odin - It's not that they don't know how to make an auto, it's that they were going for a comfortable riding, not harsh auto, rather than an efficient auto.