You are driving a car that very few of this group have ever driven, myself included. I can tell you that you have a better than 3000 pound car with a motor the size of a Honda..... response was not what it was built for.

I can tell you that from a professional standpoint, MBs are as cheap to repair as anything going. From many of the posts I have read, many pay a lot more than others. A well informed owner can seriously minimize their auto repair costs both through proper maintenance and through finding the proper repair facility (including one's own garage).

Buying a new car with a warrantee will really reduce your repair costs... for a period. Its a trade off. I can tell you that any car built in the last 5 years will cost considerably more when 5 years old than its predicessors. This is because of all the electronics in ALL late model cars. Many more systems require much more repairs in the long run.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician