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While we may prefer our Mercedes products to most Japanese products (I like the S2000 and the G35 Coupe lots...), there is a large segment of the population that thinks of cars as simple appliances, and not devices for creating joy.
They want their car to start everyday, get them to where they are going, and not require tons of repairs. They want cheap tires and low maintenace schedules. They want the car to outlive the payment period by a couple years, and then they want a reasonable dollar for a decent 5-7 year old car.
Honda and Toyota understand that COMPLETELY. The Accord and Camry are built just for those folks, and they sell over a million a year combined in the US alone. Pretty smart folks working there, methinks.
My wife is one of the above mentioned folks. She enjoyed her C36 while she had it, but purely for the novelty. She bought her E300 on the premise that it would fulfill her "appliance" need, and it did not. It was horribly unreliable and required frequent trips to the dealer. Her Subaru is completely the opposite. So far it has not even hiccuped.
I like the Subie in inclement weather, but in dry conditions, it's just another "non-Mercedes" automobile. Nothing special about it at all. I see why Subaru went AWD line wide. Without that, why bother? Just buy an Accord.
When it comes time to replace the C230, I have no idea of what I'll do. I know so many later model (2001+) MB's that can't wait to rid themselves of their cars, it makes me hesitate on buying another one. With MB's platforms being rolled under Chrysler sheetmetal, it dilutes the brand.
Maybe I'll just buy an Accord, sell the 750ACE and C230, and buy a GSX-R1000 or Hayabusa to keep life interesting...
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