Rchase,

Regarding your twinkies analogy, I don't really want to debate which manufacturer is better, a Mercedes or Honda. The Japs didn't start making cars to compete with MB until 1988 with the Acura's. The Jap luxury cars, though good from the start, probably didn't BEGIN to hit their stride until 1992or so, and I think around 1997 they got even better.

I would think today (I can't afford a new car, so I won't know for sure) that Lexus provides a much better vehicle than MB. I can't think of anything MB could really offer to outdo the Jap luxury cars (Lexus, Infinity, Acura), but again, I really don't know, I've never driven them nor do I intend to.

That all said, twinkie or high quality pastry chef, take a look at some repairs that I've never had to do with ANY car, except a MB. We'll have to agree to disagree then, that I think these things shouldn't have happened in the first place by a manufacturer that puts themselves out there as being a #1 car.

1988 300 CE, when it was 10 years old and just 90k on it. (I sold it in 1998).

Oil gaskets, upper and lower $600
Transmission gasket leak $500
A/c problem $500
Broken seatbelt part $30
Inner and Outer CV joints $200
Crummy radio and speakers, came standard on this high quality car

Now for my 1991 300 d, my current car with just 95k on it.

a/c problem $1200
seatbelt retraction problem $50
power steering leak $300
Center link on steering rods $280
The car is on its 3rd dampner (holds the serpentine belt with correct tension)
Dashboard light out (small, but I've never had to replace one on any other car)
Seat spring problem, hurts my rear end after just 15 minutes. Will have to be looked at.
Crummy radio and speakers, came standard. Painful, will have to replace.
Fuses got old, caused problems, had to replace. Not expensive, but I've
never had to do that with any other car in my whole entire life.


Work done on my 1988 Toyota Camry with 166,000 miles on it (recently sold it): Oil gasket leak, easy fix, $20, New CV joints needed at 155k $300,
a/c worked great, needed nothing. Car purred like a kitten.

Work on my 1990 Acura Legend. Had it up to 100k miles. Needed nothing.

I've owned several other Camry's, with 80k on them, needed nothing.

Several Honda Accords, up to 90k. Needed nothing.

1999 Toyota Avalon sold at 40k, needed nothing.

All of those Jap cars are easy candidates to get what the MB is capable of, 300k miles (the diesels can go more, but I understand they need rebuilt around 300k).

I admit the Mercedes has a nicer feel than a Camry or Accord, but they're not in the same class, either. If you compare a 1991 MB to a 1991 Jap car, the MB would probably win, by a bit, as far as how it handles, quiet, etc. But I'll bet by 1997 or so, the gap narrowed. MB still made cars with bad a/c's, and they made the entire cars WORSE from what I've heard. They went DOWN in quality while the Japs went up. I'm figuring at this point, the luxury Jap cars are far better. I even heard MB changed their steering box to a power steering unit similar to Jap cars.

MB's of today (current models like from 1997 and forward) are nothing but a nameplate at this point from what I've heard. You're paying at least 15,000 for a 3 star circle. As to the older cars, in my view, which is different from yours and that's okay, they require more repairs than they should. Problems such as a/c should have been addressed when problems were found. But they weren't. Seat springs, ditto. Oil gaskets, ditto. But it's just my opinion, and that's all I have to say about it. Goodbye.

jeff