When buying a 1977 to 1984 Diesel Mercedes there are just a few things to look for to make sure your not getting a complete money pit. Keep in mind that these cars are around 30 years old so they may have been through a lot of hardship. If the car you have your eye on was treated well, and you take care of your new ride, it will run great for another 30 years and upwards of 1,000,000 miles (no joke). Here are a few things to do when you drive out to the middle of no where to pick up your soon to be SVO machine.

1) Does the car start right up? (Remember to wait for the glowplug light to go off before turning the key all the way).

2) Feel around the dash, rear dash, by your feet, in the trunk for water leaks.

3) Check the dipstick. If the oil looks whitish-milky that is a bad thing. AVOID!

4) Diesels are loud, however they should get smoother after they run for a little bit and warm up. It should be pretty warm after 5 minutes or so. If its not, that is a bad sign.

5) Check to see if all of the tires are worn evenly. Otherwise there may be a suspension problem.

6) Oil leaks are normal, but make sure its not dripping profusely. Its a good idea to go see the car where it is normally parked so you can see what the ground looks like under it.

7) Mercedes have vacuum door locks so make sure they all lock and unlock together. If they don’t that is life, but at least you will know.

8 ) The tachometer often will not work. If this bothers you, buy a newer car.

9) Push on all the corners of the car and check to see if you bottom out the shock. If you do, it may need to be replaced.

10) Get in the car and go for a drive. Try to take it on the freeway so you can see how it does at high speeds. It may shake a little, but this is a cruiser. You just want to make sure its not going to come apart.

11) Drive over some speed bumps and those bumps on the shoulder to see if anything is loose or rattling hard.

12) Turn on the stereo. Just to make sure it works. Then turn if off because we are really interested in the car.

13) Check the air and the heater. Most won’t work but if you get one that doesn’t GOOD ON YA!

14) Windshield Wipers. On/Off/Intermittent.

15) Power Seats - This is a dangerous one in mine. We have a rule. Get the seat to a good place and DON’T MOVE IT. Look for non-power seats if you can. Unfortunately the nicer models were luxury sedans and they all had them.

16) The Transmission - These things are solid on the old Mercedes. Just shift to make sure it easily goes into gear and you should be fine.

17) Turbo Chargers - I just want to comment on this because all of us SVO Crazies don’t really care about power, right! Wrong. Our friends at Lovecraft (www.lovecraft.com) are getting these things drag racing off of vegetable oil and smoking Corvettes. These old diesel engines have a ton of power and with the right mechanic you can get a lot out of them. A friend once told me that a diesel engine without a turbo is like a lost soul. They are made for each other and if you can find one with a turbo you will get better mileage and more power. Do It!

18) Look at the chrome and see if there is paint on it. Paint doesn’t stick to chrome so you can scratch it off and it will tell you if it has been repainted.

It also can help to take the car to a diesel mechanic but usually the cars are so inexpensive that it is not really worth it to spend $250 dollars to have it checked out. It is best just to do the once over, make sure it runs and that it hasn’t just been sitting around forever. Its an exercise in patience and just dealing with older cars, things go wrong, so learn to love it!