Interesting responses.

Wabenzee, I am indeed going along the same lines of thought as you are. I may even leave the MB crew for a while due to that reason. A nice 1996 - 1999 Toyota Avalon can be obtained in my area for $4,000 - $6,000 depending on mileage and condition. I might go that way too. I owned a 2000 Avalon that I absolutely loved but got rid of because I didn't want to be making car payments. We'll see how things go in these upcoming months. Right now diesel costs $2.25 here while regular unleaded costs $1.90. That's an extra $0.35 per gallon. Adds up when you use about 15 gallons per week and like you said, still have to deal with sluggish acceleration and other annoyances. We'll just have to see. I wish for the conditions of last summer when gasoline was $1.80 and diesel was $1.30.

pawoSD, why get a 380SE when you can get a fuel efficient 300SE?

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver