Originally Posted by Walkenvol

This appears to be a commonly held opinion, but I'm beginning to wonder if its true. While certainly it would take a very long time to make up the difference in fuel savings in a new off the lot car and a 25+ year old MB, how about comparing the MB to a 6-10 year old car. A good example of an 80's MB diesel rarely surfaces below $3,000 while one can buy good early 2000's toyota or honda sedans easily for $8,000. Price your indy replacing all the suspension rubber, ball joints, freshen up your steering, drive shaft flex discs, struts / shocks, injectors on the MB, and possibly a timing chain vs a timing belt on your Toyota and the price is now about even. You still have to deal with the crazy climate control, problematic cruise control amp, clock, outside temp display, power windows, etc on your MB. The Toyota you pretty much just add gas, change oil and drive.

Some may have different experiences but I bought a new Toyota Sienna MV in '98. 250,000 miles and 3 kids later the only thing to ever break was a door handle and it was teenager user error. Regular oil changes, 2 timing belts and water pumps, brake pads and tires. My current 158,000 miled MB has needs everywhere I look.

Lots of reasons folks drive MB's. Cost of opperation is probably not a good reson.