Thanks a lot to all of you. Part of my issue is that I really don't buy a "new" car all that often, this one is to replace my 1993 Toyota pickup that I did buy brand new, and drove until this year, to 308,700 miles. To say that this was an upgrade would be a grand understatement; I don't believe anyone in my family has ever had a car as nice as this one, and I want to have it for a very long time.

When I purchased the 300, it was more or less to have a dependable, reliable car, but yeah, there was a bit of "ahhhhh, now this is a car" in there too. I did buy a diesel partly because I believed the stuff about the S/WVO, but also for the better efficiency of the diesel and the reliability. I commute 30 miles each way to work, so I'm always looking for a way to make that more affordable.

At this point, the money spent on the conversion, as well as the money spent to put it back the way it was, to me, is something I'll consider a learning experience.

I'm reminded of the saying: It could be, that the entire purpose of your life, is merely to serve as a warning to others.

Probably not, but I find it to be somewhat of an entertaining phrase.