i found a 1987 240DL on craigslist and im very interested in it, i need it to get me to school and work. my question is, is this a good car to get me around? and are there any problems with these cars i should be aware of? and while going to look at this car what should i be looking at and what questions should i be asking?

thanks in advance and please feel free to add anything you think i may want to know.

 

Yes. Yes. Yes. The main thing you should know is that the car is very old and has exceeded it's useful life. If you are not mechanicly inclined, run!

Other than that, you can hire a CAR INSPECTOR and have them go through it for you to make sure you can afford to purchase it. I love tinkering on cars and have been an aircraft mechanic, have owned lots of Volvo's and I hired a car inspector before buying my 850 T-5R. If the car starts COLD and HOT, drives well, and has good brakes (they will likely squeel but not grind), should be ok. You can test everything to see what works and what does not. Another good thing would be to find out when the last timing belt replacement was done.

It's better to buy a car that has not sat for over 3 months. Hopefully it runs, is dirty and you can buy it for less than $1,000.