zafarhayatkhan

Point taken. I agree that things seemingly as basic as head gaskets and a/c should be perfected by now, but overall you have a very solid, quality car, at least the w124. Glad you clarified on the MB-Ford thing. I used to like Fords above many brands, now only above American brands. I have found that in any good car, there are compromises. Personally, I hate Lexus vehicles. A rebadged Toyota?? Sure, the company is smart with platform sharing and all, but does it really hold the cachet that MB does? I know one owner of a '96 LS400 who traded to an '03 E320 4Matic. He sees 2 advantages the Benz has over the Lexus, and one is AWD, the other is image. Now it seems that all the former great car companies are heading down the drain: Mercedes quality is dropping and image too will as the result of the DC merger. Jaguar has lost it by becoming a Ford Mondeo / Lincoln LS rebadge, (although the current XJ is nice) Land Rover will lose it as soon as the Discovery is based on the Explorer (due in 2005), Bentley and Rolls Royce as a result of their respective takeovers by Volkswagen and BMW, BMW itself with awful styling and poor electronic design, Porsche with the pitiful Cayenne (Car & Driver says the "Porsche of SUV's" is the Infiniti FX45) and Volvo and Saab by their takeovers by Ford and GM. A Subie-Saab? Disgusting but probably more reliable. That's my 2 cents

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2002 Mercedes-Benz E320 4Matic
1995 Mercedes-Benz E320 Wagon
2005 Land Rover LR3 V8 SE
1999 Audi A8 4.2L quattro