. . . back in July, a '97 C230 (the "plain" 4-cylinder). There is nothing rough about it unless you drive it that way. I rev it up when entering the interstate via one of the rare uphill ramps here, and the engine is barely audible even when I have the windows down.

Over Christmas week I drove it to Bay St. Louis, about a 90-minute drive from New Orleans. This was my first road trip in the car (until now, I've been too busy and the weather has been too hot for me to drive it more than 1/2 hour at open-road speeds). It performed like the little thoroughbred it is, utterly smooth and solid. I didn't fill back up to check the highway mileage, so I can't tell you about that, but it looks good.

It takes premium gas, of course. Some posts here suggest you *might* be able to get by with mid-grade, with a corresponding loss of power. With the mileage the little 4-cylinder gets, it's not a real worry.

Oil is easy to change, filter about $9.00 at the dealer and cheaper online. It doesn't require synthetic oil like later models. Air filter and cabin filter are easy as well. There are fewer gadgets to go wrong than in the E- and S-classes (wonderful as those cars are, I understand, to drive).

About the only niggling complaints I have is that the trunk release button, at night, is easy to confuse with the rear window switch, and . . .

. . . actually, that's about my only complaint.

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-- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral)
('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream)
Formerly:
'97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino