Dear Duped, where youre duped is thinking you'll get a bunch of enthusiasts to badmouth their religion. "Mercedes has engineering flaws" is definitely not what anyone's wanting to hear. You're going to get answers like "if you don't like it, go buy a 2003" which misses the point. The point is not if cars have improved over the last 20 years. Its whether anyone ever really gets his moneys worth buying a Mercedes, new or old. The ugly little secret is you only get your moneys worth if you're willing to pay for snob appeal. It's like Gucci shoes, only not quite as gross. Mercedes, while a quality car, has alwas cost more than you get, unless you factor in the snob appeal. and that goes double for their sports cars. I like driving around in a Mercedes sports car because it seems cool, but I don't kid myself that I do it because of their attention to detail. For the $40+ thou they were getting for these in the early 80's, major bucks back then, they could have put a lot more into them. But in marketing, good quality/great status goes a lot farther than great quality/good status. Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. Whoever said that I think was on to something. I think that's the way most of us are, and its one of the things thats kept both Gucci and Mercedes in business a long time. No, theyre not what theyre cracked up to be engineering-wise, but so what, they're still pretty good, and it all comes down to the eye of the buyer anyway. PS, add poor brake dust dispersal and overprice parts and service to your list. They're just part of the package, take it or leave it.