I am with you. I am not a big fan of MB anymore. Luckily one of the two MB dealers in st.louis treats me like a customer. The other one has some serious problems.

1) refused to give me a loaner car when I brought my MB in for service because I was only 16 at the time.

2) salesmen dont want to talk to you

3) fix your car and then cause more damage to it. They forgot to add antifreeze/coolant to my car, and it overheated up the road.

4) scratched/dented my rims on the curb.

5) doesnt return phone calls for making appts to bring in car

Now the other dealership I have been going to exclusively is great, they are totally opposite. People are great. If I do buy another benz, they are a large factor for it.

Now as far as the "new" benz's are concern, I dont care for them. Look at the car reviews and test drive them and you will know why. And look at there marketing strategy of selling in volume vs. quality. They are so cheap now that ALMOST everybody can afford a benz. In my neighborhood, you see more mercedes than jaguar, bmw, lexus, etc. combined!

These are just my opinions so I am sure some people will disagree, but before you do, read the car reviews (all of them) and test drive one yourself.