HI,
THis is a very interesting topic and id love to share my rather limited experiences driving my 1983 300D-T in the last 3 months. I decided to buy a benz after i had visited France in Febuary and drove one as a rented car and rode in a few as taxi cabs. I loved the cars understated beauty, class, and it seemed as they aged the more beautiful they became.
M-B are pricey cars, and they are imported.Which makes them a sort of rarity here. They are manufactured in a county which has a rather dark history and the M-B brand has a lot of snob-appeal in this country. But so what!!! Cadillac dosen't? BMW dosen't? Every single M-B that has ever been built is a work of art. Not everyone can appreciate that. As for keying a benz or stealing a hood orniment, this is jeliousy. Thieves assume that a benz owner is rich, so they break into them. As for senceless defacing a benz, i cant even explain, only that its a damn shame a person cant enjoy a fine automoblie without fearing that it would be trashed in their own driveway!!! Sick!!!
My benz is 17 yrs old, yet my co-workers love to take a ride in it, for most it was their first time in one! I paid $1500 for it. Yet, i get more looks and respect on the road than anyother car i have ever owned. Yeah, it is a major babe magnet! he he! My friends get in and love those circular air vents ( i have to smack their hands because they start playing with em), the power sunfoof,and they never touch the climate control because they can't figure it out anyways.
I have had nothing but positive from friends and co-workers about the car so far. Except for maybe my neighbors, when I wake them up in the mornings starting it and the people that ride my tail when i floor it.:O)

Thats my 0.02.

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