New owner of a 940SE 2l petrol manual. No a/c, steel wheels. High 20s mpg for the school run, mid 30s on a dual carriageway/motorway run. Don't do a huge amount of mileage so it's not a big issue for me and the positives far outweigh the costs:
- Simple cars to fix so less garage bills at £60 ph labour
- Cheap parts in general
- Less to go wrong (although I wish the car didn't have ABS and electric windows for ultimate zombie apocalypse survivability)
- Lovely burble on startup
- Absolutely silent in the cruise, no rattles, squeaks, or bangs
- Refined handling
- Only a 2l so no point in hammering the throttle
- Easy preventative maintenance because there's a huge amount of space in the engine bay and (not too much) fancy electrics to go wrong. If you don't have the mechanic skills to fix ask your older relatives because they will.
- Don't rust as long as you take care of them over winter
It's a car you coax to your destination, and in return it cossets you. It also has pretty good range because it has a huge tank, much bigger than many modern cars. On a long drive you'll easily get well over 400 miles out of a tank. And well-maintained petrol engines are better for public health than even a modern diesel, even with a DPF.
Absolutely love mine, it's going to be in the family for a long time because if anything does break it will be worth fixing.