I'm thinking of buying a 1991 300TE 4Matic; it's got 278K kms on it (mostly highway) and the car's had the head gasket replaced recently and it has a new alternator. It's been well maintained and seems really cleanly kept. <br>
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It's showing a bit of surface rust from where rock chips haven't been repaired as well as a bit on the tailgate. <br>
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Two questions: <br>
1. has anyone had rust problems with this model?<br>
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2. The seller's firm at about $12000 US, which seems a bit high given the mileage. Is it? I'm tempted to go for it because the steering's really tight and it grips the road like nothing else. Where we live, the winter's are way easier to cope with if you have all wheel drive. <br>
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Thanks very much.
Unless the car is in pristine condition $12k sounds really high. There are alot of these cars on the road. I would shop around more, if you can wait. There are alot better deals to be had, with cars in much better condition at lower miles. <br> <br> Rule of thumb, stay away from any car showing surface rust, if the owner was unwilling to maintain the appearance, what do the mechanicals look like? The maintence history of the car is the most important, I doubt he was religious in the maintence if he allowed the body to rust.
I agree with the link Manny A posted.<br> <br> Everything I've read and heard about MB's 4-matic system has been bad. Real bad.<br> <br> Very compicated and problematic.<br> <br> Stay away from it.<br> <br> If you want a capable 4WD car, get a Subaru.<br> <br> If you want an MB, get any model, except the big 140 chasis from the 1990's.
Couple of things.<br> <br> Ordinarily these cars do very well against rust, but I just realised that you live somewhere with alot of snow, and you probably put down alot of salt on the roads. Therefore I do not recommend you purchase anything that has rust evident, it's only going to get alot worse.<br> <br> I don't know how deep your pockets are but the 4matic is very expensive to maintain. And things break with much more frequency than the standard 2 wheel drive. Complexity is great when it works, you just can't expect it to work all the time.<br> <br> I'll be a heretic and say that if you want a older european driving car with a near bulletproof 4 wheel drive find a bmw 325ix, much better system than the mercedes. But then you will have the usual 325 e30 problems.
that is way too much to pay for that kind of mileage. DON'T DO IT!!! <br> <br> If you don't believe me, just go on EBAY and you will find 300TE's from non-rust states (CA, AZ and FL)with HALF the miles at the same price or less.
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