This is impressive, and I hope it's representative of most Benz owners. The quality of the car is uppermost in their minds, not the fact that they are "seen" in a Benz.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

I drive a Benz b/c the women dig it. OH and because it's a good car too. lol

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2003 E55 AMG
2007 FJ Cruiser

Yep! 25+ years at Boeing. He was brought up from an aerospace company in LA to work on the 747 in 1966 as a subcontractor, and ended up staying on. He worked on power plant structures mostly. He did the design work on those turned up wing tips you see on a lot of the 747's, even though he always said they were too small to really do any good. But you give the customer what the customer wants!
Dad always said "if your going to do something, do it right, or don't do it at all." He really was upset over the way Boeing was going down hill the past many years. Felt all the old timers leaving and "dieing off" was a real loss to the company. His health finally forced him to retire when he was 70, and he passed away 2 years ago. Good man!

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past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

safety (a 2 door convertible weighs 3670)
reliability (the cast iron V8's are known to run over 300K)
performance (may be slow off the stop, but it's fun on the highway)
smoothness (the ride, and the transmission... you can barely feel it shift)
and as Dr. AMG would put it... "the women dig it." (red convertible.... 'nuff said)

I don't know to be honest.

Interior? (The older cars at least), design?

I like the 124 and 123 the most and that's why I got a 123. Women love it. Not necessarily. My car is just 'another old rust bucket' in a sea of brand new BMWs and Mercedes driven by the students who go to school here....

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2008 BMW 335i Coupe

They are just so damned good at being cars.

I was thinking yesterday, as I took a 1998 SL500 for a test drive, that I don't need a better car than my C240. Already that day I had driven 200 miles in appalling conditions with total confidence. In 18 months I've driven 50,000 miles and never once have I had even a flicker of doubt about the car's performance. It just starts and goes, day after day, without complaint, and better than anything else on the road. I'll be sad to see it go when I find the right SL.

The body shop I use says the same thing that the thread starter says.

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JJ Rodger
2013 G350 Bluetec
1999 SL 500
1993 E300 diesel T
1990 190

Wow! my dad flys a 747-400! he told me those wing tips are in a gray area "Probably don't do much good but its better to have them on" but they do look cool!

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280 SE 1980 W126+280 SE 1982 W126
280 SE 1972 W108
220 S 1961 W111
280 C 1977 C123( no. 1097 of 3704 made -Sold)

The big chrome grille and hood star!

Seriously, about 3 years ago, I was trading in a van that I had owned for several years (I had a van for strictly practical reasons--I HATED the thing!) and the '79 300 SD was on a local used dealer's lot...I looked it over, drove it, and couldn't believe what great condition a 20-something year-old car was in, and how well it ran and drove, so I was immediately convinced. I plan to keep this car for as long as it will hold together, and I will always own a Mercedes of some sort...the older the better!

Mike

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1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
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1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
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1985 300TD
270,000 miles
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1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

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