Nobody is questioning the quality of the older benzes. Robert, you are probably in the 0.01% of car owners who can work on their cars themselves, so that keeping a 10+ year old car is a feasible thought. For the rest of us (99.99% of car owners), keeping a 10+ year old car is a big headache, generally.

As to the toyota and honda's, compare the 2004 Accord to the C240 (which is 10K more expensive, equally loaded) - except for the NAME - honda versus Mercedes - it would be foolish a buy a C240.

Again, I am not talking about the older benzes, but the current ones - the C-class and the M-class - are a POS. The E-class is still a fine vehicle, but 55 grand? That's a bit too much. S-class is another ballgame altogether, and as I said earlier, in that segment the Germans are still ahead.

What lexus can give you in a 30K car, Mercedes cannot give you even in a 40K car. That's a fact.