I run through cars about one per year. Usually bored with them. I bought my 123 as a lifestyle change. Will I keep it for a while...... I dont know?...

I like the ones that need help... But not too much. . I have one car I bought before I met my wife and it represents...well,... my younger side I guess, I won't say I will never sell it, but it is a car that always needs something and I like it. Very sentimental. My wifes BMW is well.... a new car and drives like it.. it does its job well. My Alfa needs rust repair and a general resto, but I don't have the time to cut and weld right now. Its a high dollar car when perfect and is a special car to drive and.... I'm bored....but,

That said,

the Mercedes is what I expect. very solid, generally high build quality and pretty easy to work on. I really like it.., keeps me from speeding tickets, four door utilitarian, an '82 with shoulder belts in the back seat.., Yakima on the roof for the toys, my big weimeraner fits in the back seat, it actually has A/C and,.. is better for the environment when I pump KFC original recipe oil into the tank (they should pay me for advertising), cheap insurance to boot.... it all adds up.

I guess I'll ask my buddies next time we are driving back from a race in "Gerty" ... piss drunk in the back seat, A/C pumping over the Pacheco Pass in the heat of summer. Should I sell?
We'll see if she lasts the test of time.
Regardless, I have been converted to a great brand of cars.

-cheers-

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'82 300d
'73 Alfa GTV
'86 Porsche 951
'00 BMW 323 sportwagen

Braverichard, I do plan on buying one outside of warranty. My hope is if I buy one that one will have all the technology kinks worked out. I realize that this would not be a realistic car for me to buy but, if the money i right when I am ready I will bite at it just to say I bought my dream car... Then again they are coming out with new Aston Martin's for 100-110,000..6-7 years and that will be affordable as well.

I completely understand how you feel. However, even when all the bugs are worked out, the fact remains that repairs, even simple diagnosis on these cars will cost a fortune once the warranties are over. Everything is electronically controlled, and these electronic control units are still very expensive to manufacture. Add the fact that there's a high profit margin slapped on each of them and you have a situation in which parts are so expensive the car aren't even worth the expenses. Good luck nevertheless.

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver