Faults:

Nothing wrong, the car's been perfect, no reliability problems.

General Comments:

Very nicely built, reliable, comfortable, good on fuel for the kind of car, but the equipment level is really poor. It's a 1992 K reg Mercedes Benz, and it doesn't have a load of gadgets it should had. Here are some things it doesn't have, but it should have: air conditioning, electric windows, adjustable steering, rear wiper and lots of other kind of basic gadgets that should be included in a £20,000 car.

Even the power steering isn't fully 100% power steering; that is really poor for a Mercedes Benz. Other than that, it's a very good car.

Faults:

Brakes were worn very badly when I first got the car. Also the left outside tie rod end needs replacing.

The sunroof has a hard time closing due to a dent in it.

Rear right passenger door won't open from the outside.

Rear left passenger window won't go down.

General Comments:

This car was in very rough shape when I got it in an even trade deal for my 1994 Mercury Capri.

I have always wanted an older Mercedes; I feel there are the best built, most mechanically reliable cars on the road. I feel as though Mercedes build quality is getting worse as they produce more modern vehicles.

This car is a tank. The engine still starts right up and purrs as it should even with almost 215,000 miles on it. The 4 speed automatic transmission still shifts flawlessly as well.

The 2.6 inline 6 cylinder engine is really a good match for this vehicle; large size and amount of torque in this relatively small car.

The car just humms when I accelerate, no loud obnoxious exhaust note.

The suspension on this car is truly an engineering marvel; it rides very smoothly and it handles great around town, and just as well at 130 mph on the freeway... no violent shakes, sounds or vibrations.

The ergonomics of this car are great, however space in the rear is fairly limited, yet adequate at the same time.

Parts are not as expensive as one would imagine, this being a Mercedes and all.

In my opinion, the only car that comes close to matching the build quality of this car is a Volvo 240. If you come across one, do not hesitate to buy it, you will not be disappointed.

Faults:

The differential was worn - they all go after about 120,000 miles on these, so I had to get it reconditioned.

The prop shaft & rear sub frame bushes were gone, so it made a noise like driving over a dead body when you changed gear.

There was a oil leak onto the alternator, so that had to be replaced.

The interior fan made a noise like a coffee grinder, and eventually ground its last bean.

One of the glow plugs had failed, so the glow plug light would glow inanely at you after you'd started the car. It would still start on the button in -6 temperatures though.

General Comments:

Being a 92bhp 2.5 five cylinder, you'd think it'd have a bit of poke, but you'd be disappointed. It's definitely faster than any of the W123 Mercs, but it'll have you screaming the slogan from Vauxhall Corsa commercials on motorway inclines ("Come on!").

The fastest mine would go was indicated 115mph, which was probably about 104mph in real life.

Due to its, revolutionary at the time, 5 link rear suspension, it did handle pretty well for a big car. If you popped the clutch halfway around a round-a-bout in 2nd, it would merely gently under steer, which was very safe for such a large rwd car. Just boring. It was a bit boaty around the corners, but the ride quality was good.

The engines on these cars are faultless, aside from the glow plugs they run with out fail. There is an unofficial world record for a W123 Mercedes 240D engine that has done 2,300,000 miles.

An added bonus is that you can run these diesels on various other oils. Peanut oil is the 'optimax' of the alternative fuel world, but I generally ran mine on rapeseed as that is cheapest in this country.

You can also run them on WVO (waste vegetable oil) without doing much other than filter the burnt chips from it.

Fuel economy wasn't great, I found I had to clog it to get anywhere, thus it would return around 27mpg. If you don't mind having a funeral procession of at least 10 cars flashing, beeping and gesturing at you, then I think 40 mpg is possible.