Absolutely, to each his own. As argued earlier it's more of a personality issue than anything else - some people like following directions, others more prone to independent thought. Just don't ask everyone to blindly trust Mercedes because you do. The argument that belly pans are a necessity, especially on an older car, is a bad one. Mercedes themselves did away with them on the 140. Volvo had them and did away with them. The argument is especially difficult for me to swallow because I've driven a half dozen bellypan-less 124s at least 150k miles with no signs of a dirt, engine temp or slipping belt problem.