Don't discount the Dodge and Ford options. Having come from over a decade of Mercedes diesel ownership and learning, I'd say that the weakest aspects of owning a Mercedes are very proprietary, possibly difficult to source parts, and they always have electrical/electronic gremlins. This is a baseline expectation. The most reliable Mercedes diesel is either the one that is expected to not work at all, or one that has ZERO electronics, just simple electrical components.
A good diesel engine should last well beyond 300,000 miles as well, half a million is not unheard of amongst Mercedes and Volvo engines. My first Benz had almost 400,000 on the 5cyl naturally aspirated engine and was going very strong when I sold it. When I gave away "Trudy" last year, the engine had about 147,000 miles on it, so it was just barely broken in.
If I ever build a camper, I'm going to use a Ford turbodiesel powered box truck ambulance.
Phil
Agree to all this. Wise advice indeed.
Used cars can be like a loaded gun held up to your temple. You hope for the best as you pull the trigger. Inevitably you get the bullet.
It's not a good place to love a car. The costs are too high. Yet they can so easily take over your mind, and your life, if you let them. As seems to have happened with you and your quest for a rolling home away from home.
So many of us mostly hate them darn things but we can't get on without them. Especially out here in country Australia, where a 200 kilometer ride to go shopping in the nearest town with a mall and a supermarket is a common weekly thing for many rural folk. With gas at AUD $2+ a liter, this can be an expensive journey, not even considering the environmental/ecological damage cars do.
As an Audi owner, I've (we've) been 98% happy with one I bought in 1990. Two years old, little used, in fact just broken in, from a deceased estate. Like Cal, I was the only bidder saved all the hidden costs of depreciation, taxes, out of warranty (just) servicing, in all it was the best AUD $10K I spent in the '90s. Now 30+ years later it still purrs along like a kitten, but we take good care of it, and happily our Melbourne dealer still has all the required basic parts to keep it on the road and performing well for the four wheel antique that it is. In fact it's still in such good order internally and externally, I regularly find notes tucked under a wiper from would-be buyers keen to get their hot little hands on it. No thanks.
Mercedes are overrated. As a German friend says, why bother? Grandmothers and taxi drivers have them in Germany. Too much plastic in the innards. Volvo still uses (or uses) mostly metal in its cars, at least they did a few years ago. My friends who own them say they last forever and servicing is still still easy as the parent company has more or less guaranteed an availability of stock parts.
As for you, Phil_NM, buying an ex-ambo (ambulance) is a good option. With luck it will come already equipped with beds, and the flashers and siren will be useful in heavy commuter traffic...