Such a sad truth. I've driven or otherwise experienced Mercedes cars since I was a kid, and they always had a certain solidity and feeling of purpose. That's no longer true. The ones I have driven (new MLs, Cs, Es) feel strangely Japanese and cheap. My family has 5 in the stable; SLK, CLK, E, C, and CLK - and all have had quality issues except for the SLK. All feel chincy except for the CLK - a 430 with Sport package - and the E (a 2003 320) has had wretched reliability issues.

All of this drove me to purchase a Starmark 97 C230 with 61k, which I have to say feels twice as robust as the 2003 E320.

I just can't drive a Benz that sounds like a Taurus (any new V6 model) or that drives itself (in the case of the E-class), over-engineered with dozens of extra points-of-failure. (Who needs electronic brakes?) My next car will likely be another Starmark model, maybe a late-90s SL or something designed prior to the merge with Daimler.