Attached (I hope) is a link to a review of the new diesel Benz published in the March 21 Washington Post car pages.

I question whether these models represent "progress" or are in fact, retrograde. The GREAT virtue of the '80s diesels is that their long potential service life was due both to "mature" technology arrived at over a long period of refinement, and the fact that these cars are uncompromised by computer-reliant technology and other frippery which shortens their lifespans.

I wonder if the "new" diesels will be worth it, given the fact that they will have the same inbred check on "longevity via care and maintenance" that gas cars (and all other cars built recently) have...in other words, the "live forever" capacity of the diesel engine may not be present in these models.

Your thoughts, please.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8394-2004Mar19.html