1st Mar 2007, 17:45

I own a 1988 Mercedes 300TE and have accumulated 205,000 miles with 3 trips to the dealer. I am the owner and the primary mechanic for this automobile. This is one of the best constructed automobiles I have ever owned. I am impressed with its reliability especially when considering the complexity of the machine.

7th Feb 2008, 22:13

Another year or so later...

Still going (strong). Heater/fan system packed up, had our Mercedes mechanic look at it (apparently non-standard system) would cost approx $1500 to fix/replace, we decided to use the windows instead ;-)

Something has fallen off the sunroof as I can here it rattle when going over bumps and we dare not slide it open for fear of never being able to close it.

Burning of oil apparently caused by worn valve guides ($1500 to recondition - new brass sleeves?). Haven't bothered, just remove spark plugs every fortnight and clean.

Essentially resigned ourselves to taking care of only critical repairs - which fortunately there haven't been any yet (since the transmission went).

Still hasn't let us down, still love driving it and creeping past 240000 miles now. However, with fuel prices as they are we have decided to use her only when we travel as a family, the wife is looking for a cheap little runabout to ferry kids to their various extra-curricula activities. (Gutted by the poor feedback on the A-Class, even our mechanic told us not to go near them! - for shame Mercedes, what have you done?!)