Ok, my wife Loves the look of the early 80s Mercedes, the pale yellow 300 diesel station wagons.
l know that a mistreated Mercedes will be a Lot more expensive on annual maintenance than a pampered one, but...
Can anyone give me a range of how much l should expect to spend on maint. on one, if l buy now and keep for 10 years?
Something like:2k per 5 years if it has been taken care of vs. 5k or 10k per 5 years if not taken care of. Or, expect to pay 5k for a new tranny, 10k for a new engine, 2k on misc. engine stuff, etc.?
I will find a good non-dealer mercedes mechanic, and I am not a do it yourselfer. What do you think?Anygreatly appreciated!!!!
l need to add that l plan to wait and find one that is been well taken care of, which at least has nice interior and paint

As to cost you are going to have to discuss that with the your non Dealer Mechanic and how many miles you drive it a year, as to what the 5k oil changes will cost 15k tune ups that in clued( if you want to take care of it ) Valve lash adjustment. then there is the 30 k tune up that in clued transmission fluid change on top of that. And if you find one that is in great shape, it will cost you, that means it has been restored.
good luck in your hunting.

Lets see l bought a 83 300sd last feb. l put a $1000 in maint. parts,flex disk,injectors,fuel lines,coolant lines,trans filter,odometer repair gears,wvo 5 micron filter,wvo heater,tires,new copper fuses,steering shock, window reg.,valve adjust.Now l expect to spend maybe $280 a year oil changes.
The maint. parts r recomended changing every 20 years.transmission should l need one germanstar has them for about $2000 with convertor.Engines will last over 1 million miles, with timing chains every 200,000 miles.