Faults:

Oil pan leak.

Vacuum system has leak.

Power locks inoperable.

Door seals need replacing.

Engine stops only when going to engine to stop it.

General Comments:

Purchased in San Diego, and the car had no exterior or underside rust.

Now the Mercedes is located in Detroit. Coated the exterior with cold galvanized zinc, and the underside with corrosion proofing.

Engine runs great.

Model year with an idle adjuster on the dashboard.

Mix diesel fuel with biodiesel.

Easy to do maintenance on.

Faults:

Very few things over the years have gone bad. With some maintenance and proper care, these car last forever.

General Comments:

If you find a 300TD non turbo, they are worth every cent you pay for them. While it is not a speed freaky type car, they outlast any other car that any of the family ever bought. Plus the ride is smooth as silk still. It is like sitting on the couch.

Faults:

One trunk light.

General Comments:

Great car. If you get the transmission tuned properly (Mine shifted into 4th at 22 MPH, it's now at 45 MPH) Then it actually has a bit of a pickup, either that or I've been driving this too long.

It's yeah, a tad slow on the freeway when everyone else is doing 90, but other than that, if you're looking for a car that you want to go to point A to B, then consider this car.

Faults:

Shortly after I bought the car, it was very difficult to start when warm. The cause turned out to be a failure of the diaphragm (located below the fuel tank) which holds the static fuel pressure.

The engine also made shockingly loud cam noise, especially when driving at highway speeds. I have been told that this is common with this engine as it has mechanical (rather than hydraulic) cam followers - but you should have heard it! It was certainly way beyond normal. Even after adjusting the valves, the noise persisted, so I had the rockers and rocker pivots replaced. This helped immensely, bringing the engine noise to the standard level, but it's still a noisy engine.

When I bought the car, the steering was rather sloppy, so I had the steering box replaced with a rebuilt unit.

The door strikers also needed replacement. This is apparently a very common repair with 123's.

General Comments:

It's a really delightful car to drive. It has a lot of "presence" on the road. The best way to describe it is serenity. It is not a sports sedan, rather it is a compact luxury sedan. It feels very solid (but also a bit heavy!).

Around town it sometimes feels a bit cumbersome, but the motorway is where it really shines: The faster you go, the better it feels.

But make no mistake, it should not be judged by modern standards - the series was introduced over 30 years ago, and even that was an update of the W114/115 series introduced in 1968. So it's not surprising that it feels very charmingly vintage. What a huge quantum leap they made when introducing the W124!

The engine is a big lovely all-alloy twin-cam six. It's got loads of torque. It is only let down by the automatic transmission, which starts out in 2nd gear and doesn't allow the engine to rev fully before shifting to the next gear, even if it is floored. I discovered that for best acceleration, it's a simple matter to hand shift through the gears. Then it really surprises people!

To the smallest detail, all of the parts making up this car are of the finest quality. They apparently engineered their cars with the cost as no object. It's really true that in this case that; "they don't make them like they used to" The seats are definitely the most comfortable I've ever experienced.

It's really an enjoyable classic car.