"Have you considered a VW TDI? It may not be a Benz (ok, it's not), but it has many of the features that I was looking for and that MBUSA hasn't provided me with: a modestly priced car with high fuel economy, good reliability, good performance, manual transmission, and no fancy gadgets that break down."

I had a real nasty experience with VW dealerships and specifically their service department. Some years ago I bought a brand new VW Jetta for my daughter who started college, the car from day one was consuming too much oil, we live in Houston and she had to drive 200 miles to San Antonio where the college was located, after each 200 miles trip the car needed a quart or even more. We complained but the dealership went out of their way not to do anything about the problem or be helpful in any way. After much arguing they did gave in and did a complete ring job on the nearly new engine, it did not help.
After that experience I am not about to do business with VW again.

Vahe
240D 77 350K