Hi Paul -

Can't say I've put a tremendous amount of thought into it, but here's my $.02. I'm planning to skip owning the 211, largely because of SBC. I read long ago that SBC makes it impossible to perform your own brake work; access to the HHT (or similar) is required. So no more $100 brake jobs on this car. I've only driven a 211 briefly, but I very much disliked the subjective feel of the brakes. The pedal had an artificially heavy feel, and the relation between pedal force and decelaration was non-linear. Made it difficult to drive smoothly.

I'm not quite as pessimistic about reliability. ABS brakes have not proven to be problematic. That said, I'm sure an SBC repair would exceed the value of the car! Given that SBC has come and gone in a few short years, on only a few model lines, I suspect many independents won't be willing/able to work on it - so dealer service only?

- JimY