From a philosophical standpunkt I heartily concur. Costwise as well. I have never bought a new car. Although my wife has twice succumbed to the siren song of newness and financial irresponsibility she now shares, or pretends to agree with my rationale of choosing her a low-mileage lease return and hammering the dealer unmercifully while waving cash under his nose. She also has become a devoted thrift shop clothing buyer and ranks high among yard sale cognoscenti

My own choices are rather more enigmatic and hard to define. On the one hand vintage sportscars have always been a driving passion {pun intended},I drive them regularly and reliably. My '27 Buick has never let me down in 20 years, the '25 Bentley stops well and does not overheat thanks to an electric fan. The '12 Hisso has but 2 wheel brakes so must be driven perforce with care, even with a hydraulic disc brake caliper I installed on the driveshaft. I can't begin to describe the feeling of oneness and mastery driving such admittedly ancient but quite well designed and constructed machines gives to me. Some philosophers maintain that in one's life there is but one great experience, and all one's thoughts and strivings afterward are but attempts to duplicate it. Such has been my obsession with the former..Yet for practicality's sake, with an appreciation of mechanical excellence and economy of ownership as a corollary I've always chosen Mercedes diesels, primarily the bulletproof 123 of which 2 are currently giving yeoman service.

I did have a 210, a '98 E300 about which the less said the better. Not that there was anything really wrong with the engine as such but, Jeebus....where to begin? the spring perches, body electrics, fuel system O ring failure, 4 Goddamn radiators in 6 years for the stupid and unforgiveably shortsighted reason that the 210 was a GASOLINE chassis with a very long 6 cyl diesel motor thrown in as an AFTERTHOUGHT, necessitating moving the radiator forward and lower, making it subject to the most minor bottoming out on curbs, pushing it into the fan!!!!numerous glow plug drillouts, odd climate control issues.....all former listed issues successfully dealt with by the trio of me, myself and I plus the invaluable assistance of THIS FORUM.....but it was a constant struggle with that car, osteo-arthritis and a bad heart don't aid matters so I sold it to one of my contractors, let him throw money at it. I'll stick with my aforementioned 123 Benzes. There.....I feel better. They say confession purifies the soul.

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