Ashman, I don't disagree with what you're saying, but when an expensive product cosistantly shows a consumer that it has problems (remember I'm basing this on my 5 recent purchases) the consumer has to give his head a shake and re-evaluate priorities. The cost of ownership is not cheap, and the inconvenience of not having the car available or not being able to rely on it eventually becomes an issue and choices must be made. I'm not convinced that MB will seriously address the issue until it gets acute. I would be most interested to find out if Europe is a different marketplace and if they are more accepting of the inconvenience.