Dealer gladly took the trunk release switch back since it would in no way work in my '98 C230. While there I priced the shifter console switch panel that includes this switch...it's a bit higher at my dealer than noted above (& a slightly different part #)....$419.44 including tax. I quickly decided to live with the broken switch for the time being.

Regarding the check engine light...it has yet to come back on. But the car has not accumulated that many miles / trips since the reset at the dealer.

Meanwhile, on this Christmas eve we visited a few local dealers to acquaint ourselves with the current options (other than MB). The Infinity G25 looked nice for the price, though the Chrysler 300C caught my eye.

Let's see what Santa has to say...

Ho!