1996 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Sedan

3.0L 2996CC l6 DIESEL DOHC Naturally Aspirated

Four-speed automatic

WDBJF20F9TJ016956

Clear

Diesel

On the good side, this car runs well, starts every day, the transmission shifts smoothly, the air conditioner blows ice cold (I had it replaced a few years ago), the car does not leak a significant amount of oil (I had the rear-main seal replaced several years ago) and the paint job is holding up very well. The car has a couple of teeny-tiny scratches/dents, but other than that, it has good body integrity. The tires are also good. The car gets about 28 MPG in the city and about 33-34 MPG on the highway. The cruise control also works along with the windshield wipers, all of the lights, and the power windows. 　 However, has some mechanical/electrical issues, which are: 1. The car has had a tendency to stall on rare occasion. We took it to the local German auto specialist, and he replaced one of the ignition-related modules. The car has not stalled in the last couple of weeks, and I have driven it every day. Thus, it *may*be fixed. But then again, we do not really know. In the past, when the car has stalled, I was able to start it after about 1 min. It is one of those things where if it happens again, you go to the next step, which might mean the K40 relay, or maybe there are bubbles forming in the fuel system (?) 2. The stereo emits something between a high-pitched whine and an outright, detestable screech. For a while, I thought it might be a ground. But after chasing around the ground lugs, nothing presented itself as the root cause. For now, the stereo works sometimes. When it does work, there is at least a detectable high-pitched whine. Sometimes, however the screech is so loud that you really have to just turn it off. 3. The key is stuck in the ignition. It has not been a problem as the remote-controlled central-locking system works, so you can still lock up the car. I should note, however, that the front door key lock does not work, and has not worked for several years. Opening and closing the car from the trunk lock is also an option since that works. 4. There is some squeaking in the right rear suspension. I took it to the shop, and they said they would probably have to take things apart to figure out where the squeaking is coming from. It has not been a problem. 5. The SRS light is on. Sometimes with these older cars, the igniter contacts get corroded. So when the system senses resistance, it illuminates the SRS lamp. The car has not been in any sort of mishap, it just needs to go to the dealer so that the dealer can service the SRS. 6. There is a small cut in the passenger front seat. You cannot really see from the pictures, but it is there. 7. The air filter cover has never really fit right. Right now, and for the last couple of years, I have used a bungee cord to secure the cover to the air filter. It has not been a big problem. 8. It has a spot of rust on the passenger door. They do not salt the roads in Oregon, so that is very likely the only rust on the car. I have not figured out why rust decided to accumulate there, but my thinking is that we have the car parked in the driveway, and the sprinklers got to it day after day, which, over time, brought about rust. 9. There is sometimes a faint smell of diesel fuel. It has always been like that. If I think of more things about the car, I will be sure and post them. I am pretty good about taking care of my stuff, and this car is no exception.On Sep-21-15 at 19:52:43 PDT, seller added the following information: I added some pictures of the underside. I had a couple of questions about rust, and I wanted to show that there does not appear to be any more rust other than what is shown on the driver side door. I also wanted to mention that the automatic transmission shift indicator is a little off. When it is in "Drive" it is actually about a quarter inch below the "D" marking on the shifter panel. It has been that way for a year or thereabouts, and it has not been a problem.On Sep-28-15 at 07:12:24 PDT, seller added the following information: Car still has some tendency to stall. My son informed me that it happened once over the weekend. However, the occurrence is still rare in view of the fact that I drove the car for over two weeks without an incident.