Faults:

Seats are starting to sag and wear.

Costly repairs, probably because it is an older car and parts are harder to find.

Minor electrical problems.

Car seems to be getting slower over the years.

General Comments:

Very comfortable seats, although starting to sag.

Probably the most durable car I have ever seen.

Reliable engine, but engine is very heavy causing the car to lug on the highway.

Car stills runs strong after 176,928 miles, and still will after 300,000.

Beautiful, original paint finish - never touched up or repainted, but there are some very small bubbles by the bottoms of the doors.

Timeless look, always a head-turner.

I'm very proud to own this car, and always have been. I hope it lasts forever.

Faults:

Was told the fuel injectors were plugged at 60,000k and had them replaced. Doubt the story as the mechanic did not show me the old injectors and the car was running fine.

General Comments:

This car runs like a little Swiss watch. Maintenance costs are minimal-I change the oil regularly. The manual shift is a gem. Of course a slow accelerator on the freeway entrance, but once up to speed can cruise forever at 120kmh.

The car is so solid. It may not have any of today's electronic gadgets, but it is so simply and elegantly built that it is a classic that looks up to date. Original paint, garaged, still beats most new cars in depth. The manual 240D is so reliable that it is probably worth rehabbing one if the body is in good shape. My car is still showroom quality-garaged most of the time and driven only on weekends. It was my first Mercedes and was a learning experience about what quality was in those years.

Faults:

A/C compressor changed for like $500.

Driver's window fell off of the tracks at one point, but this was fixed easily in our garage at home.

Rear seat needed to be re-stuffed, upholstery was perfect, however.

The car was in desperate need of a new stereo, so we added two Infinity speakers to the rear shelf and put in a Ken wood CD changer-compatible cassette deck. The original Mercedes speakers up front still worked perfectly and sounded great, so we left them alone.

Door lock vacuum system was sluggish in cold weather, but always worked.

The odometer broke, so I'm guessing that it had about 180,000 miles on it when we sold it.

The car sometimes would not shut off in the coldest temperatures unless you choked it down. You could remove the key entirely and it would still run like nothing happened.

General Comments:

This was a great car that served our family well. One of my relatives ordered it brand new and kept it sheltered and had it partially restored before we bought it. (New paint, some upholstery on door panels, not much was needed really).

The car was incredibly slow, but very dependable and comfortable. It cruised quite nicely on all roads at all speeds.

Ours was the victim of mis-fueling when it was not very old. Some clown put gasoline in it instead of diesel, so it almost destroyed the engine. The engine was repaired, but was never quite as healthy as it had been when new and it used a fair amount of oil between changes.

The car was excellent and we could depend on it to take us anywhere. It became my sister's car when we decided to retire her Volkswagen Golf at 230,000 miles. She loved this car and kept it until it too started getting too old and we all became weary of the slow acceleration.