I had to young man, I couldn't fart in my clk without it costing me $800 or so. I just as happy driving my Mountaineer. :D

Much as I like driving my old Benz, it is nice having a newer vehicle that doesn't need much done to it.

FRS is badged a Toyota GT86 in England. Clarkson loved it:

Top Gear GT86 Segment [FR-S/BR-Z] - YouTube

Edit: Found a video listing the differences between the BRZ and FR-S http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSmx-vqK1TM

Know when to say when.

With each passing day, I'm thinkin' more & more than I've put the kickstand down for the last time on my Harley.:( Haven't ridden it in the past 11 months. I lost a good friend with whom I traveled many, many miles back in August when he was killed on his bike going to work.
JOSE NICK SANTANA Obituary: View JOSE SANTANA's Obituary by The Press of Atlantic City
Hamilton Twp. to honor Nick Santana on Veterans Day - pressofAtlanticCity.com: Hamilton Township

Three weeks ago, a fellow motorcycle club member was seriously injured in a collision with a school bus on a winding S-bend road in the middle of the day. He was a retired motorcycle cop. He's been in an induced coma for three weeks. Broken back, two punctured lungs, spleen ripped out. So sad. :(

Know when to say when.;)

I'd still rather die in a motorcycle wreck than crapping and pissing all over myself in bed when I'm 105.

Been there, done that, regretted it. You'll get tired of the car and wonder why you have 20k in something when a $5000 car gets the same enjoyment, and you can use the money for other toys.

The new GLK250 diesel is tempting though.

To me, these old cars are toys to drive when I'm in the mood. If it was my only car, I wouldn't own one. "Newer is better", and my daily driver is a 2013 2500 Suburban. If I had to sell all my stuff, the Burb would be the last to go. No sure what your situation is, but if you only get one car, get something newer and spend your new-found free time doing something you love.

I wouldn't daily-drive an SUV if you paid me a million bucks to. If I wanted to drive a truck, I'd get a job with UPS. To each their own, I guess.

Wow, I thought for sure that you would all talk me in to keeping the MB's!

I guess I can elaborate a little more as to why I'm wanting to do this.

Basically I'm right in the middle of school and I just don't have time to put a ton of work in to the cars anymore. For example, my E320 needs brake lines. Just brake lines! And it's needed them for a few months! But I haven't had the damn time to do a one hour job.

I also am going to be driving about 250 miles a week for the next several semesters due to my location to school, and right now I'm getting about 20mpg in mixed driving. So roughly a tank a week just to get to work and school in the E320.

I've got an absolute TON of parts for Norm too, but they've seriously just been sitting on my shelf for the last two years. I just don't see myself getting the chance to really sink a ton of time in to the car as I once thought I did.

I know that once school is over with that I'll be moving to wherever the job may be, and I don't know if I want to lug a truckload of parts with me. Even if I stay local I'll be moving out of the current house I'm in.

Lastly, I'm a mechanic of sorts for my job. I get my tinkering thrills a few nights a week and get paid to do it. When my days off come I would rather study than go in the garage and get really pissed off from working on my cars.

I think the BRZ would be nice on a few levels. It's fun, it's a good looking car, it gets 30+ mpg, it's a manual, and it's not overly expensive.

It is too easy to go the wrong way for all of the wrong reasons. If it takes your time and money and gives little back then it is probably not a good match.

A new car can also be a poor match and it is a more costly mistake in terms of both time and money. Pay, pay, pay. Measure many times and cut only once.

Stuff doesn't make you who you are.

Drive cheaper cars, don't eat out and you can retire about ten years younger.

Drive less, lots less. Understand what a consumer is and try to not be one.

Tons of salient points being posted. You pretty well have to have a very reliable car for daily transportation. Or if married two of them usually today. Other cars are optional.

Reliable does not have to be really new. We consume new and low milage used vehicles. Then there are the others. Depending on your local climate you could set your older Mercedes aside for another day.

At your age things will change has to be a given. I hope everyone realizes that these old 123s may not signifigantly rise in value but they will soon be scarce and will represent another time. Pretty much as a finback Mercedes does today.

I ditched my 50 mercury in good condition for 100.00. My 39 ford two door in very good shape for 125.00 and my 46 ford hot rod business man coupe for 100.00 at one time.

Many times I have thought to myself my father was right. He told me I should be putting some of my older cars away at the time and not just letting them go. Those three cars incidentally where in real good shape. Plus at that time were already older cars.

Each one had a story. The 39 ford resided in a small community in the far north. There were no roads in or out of the community. The car was always put up on blocks for each winter. The old couple retired to southern Ontario and barged the car out with their other possessions.

I put a note on the windshield and the lady called our home. My mother of course told the lady her son would not want a car that old when she called. At least my mother told me she had called. I went to work really fast to find that older lady and did.

Even though the car had less than 20k on the odometer. She insisted her husband have a garage go over the whole car before passing it over. Essentially a new 39 ford was passed to me in the end.

The 50 mercury was almost pristine as well. Still back then an older car was worth very little. Many of the local guys would frequent the ritzy section of wealthy north Toronto and grab older pierce arrows and their like for very little money..

Usually the cars were in great condition flower vases and all. But older. On a few of them I was aware enough of the future for those examples to suggest to a few guys they should not be driving them as daily Drivers.

Time has proven me right I guess but there was no way we could be certain of this much change in the future back then. A few of the guys were unconsciously driving todays really expensive classics as daily drivers. I was not.

Some very good points here to especially get free of the system early.

I have almost always gotten a milage return from either my employer or situation. Even now I think it is about .43 per kilometer for some of my driving. Not sure of the exact current amount as my wife files the expenses. That's about .60 cents a mile still.

I remember back when it was .10 cents per mile well before metric was introduced in Canada. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. Needless to say I like animals and this is just an old expression seldom heard anymore.

Come live in Texas - you'll change your mind. Suburbans are the best highway, family vehicles around, and it takes us 3 hours to get to the next city and 12 hours get across the state. I wouldn't live in NYC if you paid me a million bucks to. To each their own, I guess.

Back on topic, for me, these old Mercedes are toys - not daily drivers. Yes, they can be daily drivers and do a good job at it, but it's impossible to beat modern climate control, new engines, and reliability - it just comes at a cost of depreciation. But when I have to be somewhere without fail, I don't take one of the toys, I take my modern driver. I know lots of people who daily drive these old Benzes - it can easily be done, but there is a cost associated there too and it's not always money. It's time as well.

I've never owned an SUV and virtually all of my driving has been long distance. N.B.D. I'd sooner have something like a Passat turbodiesel for that job.

I think what some are getting at is not to buy new, but to get a newer used vehicle. For example, my "new" vehicle was purchased for about 20% of the original MSRP when it was four years old. The FR-S has only been in production since January of '12, so they probably aren't seen much on the used market yet. You might consider a Mazda MX-5. I've pretty much ruled them out until they offer a coupe. I owned a convertible once, and that was quite enough. If I want to go roof-free I'll ride my motorcycle. A V-6 Mustang might also be something that would work for you.

Thinking about abandoning ship...
 

I'll give norm a good home.Really, I'd love to give him a good home. Hopefully I have enough when you decides to bail.

I will say it is nice driving a modern car, even though mine is a 2004.once I got it sorted out a I have to do is out gas in it and drive. As long as I don't get sucked into customizing the cooper I can focus my attention on a toy car or something else. I do need another automatic car so Megan's car can be down for repairs so maybe my toy will be something I can restore and she can drive to and from work.