My wife and I just got back from Europe. We went to Paris, Prague, and then spent five days in Germany with a car. Didn't get a diesel....instead got a brand new C180 with a six-speed manual which was a lot of fun. Only $200 or so with unlimited mileage. Great deal.

A few Mercedes related observations:

1. I was surprised how few older Benzes I saw. We were in Munich, Dachau, Rothenburg, Stuttgart, Fussen, Tubingen, and Konstanz and on the roads in between. Lots and lots of MBs....just not many classics. Surprised me somehow.

2. The Autobahn is a blast. Usually cruised at around 150 kph, but occasionally was able to build up more speed and briefly touched 201. Kept getting passed by Audis! Back to pokey American driving...sigh.

3. Returned to the mother ship: the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart! Very impressive and well done. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend it. Even my wife, who cares nothing about cars, loved it. (Unfortunately, we were not able to snag tickets for the factory tour.) It's exceedingly well executed and does a great job of integrating the MB story into the broader cultural and historical context.

We had some frustrating moments....like thinking "frei" meant "free" instead of "available" at the Mercedes parking garage (lots of very patient Germans lined up behind us as the gate would not open) and navigating narrow medieval streets as the GPS led us in a loop of futility....but it was a great trip and we especially enjoyed driving around Germany.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Great adventure.

I was in Germany from March 1972 to Oct 1973.
Most Germans drove Audis and most Taxi Cabs were Mercedes Diesels.

I bought a used 1957 VW bug which was absolutly scary to drive maxed out on the Autobahn with the faster Cars and cross winds.

The Country side is beautiful. When the VW Engine overheated Due to a broken Belt I bought a Moped an used to ride around out in the farming areas.

Still remember seeing an extremely beautiful German Farm Girl in Hot pants and Rubber Boots shoveling Manure on her Farm.

The other vechiles I rode in were Military ones. That also means my trip there was paid for as well as my room board.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Hot pants and rubber boots is de rigueur where I live too

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Germany is VERY strict with cars on the road. You will not see any cars with german plates that have rusted out or dented anything. Annual inspections with zero tolerance weeds out most classic "daily drivers" Mercedes. In the smaller towns and bergs on the weekends locals will roll out old school Mercedes and other classic. However every sunday (after church) it seemed like every resident with an automobile was washing their cars.

Germany had a cash for clunkers program that took a most of the older cars off of the road. Also, the annual taxes get pretty high to use a "classic" as a daily driver.

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2012 B Class

1981 300D - Now with greazzer

And I thought American politicians were the only ones to come up with such a...ahem..."brilliant" idea.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Ain't Europe grand? Good place to visit. That's why my great great great grandparents got the hell out of there and came to the new world—to not have a bunch of creeps managing every aspect of their lives.

Richard

What did you think of Prague? I stayed there for a couple days and had a blast! Awesome beer and that castle was stunning.

Did you notice a lot of station wagons in the passing lane as well?

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

Absolutely loved it...a very different kind of place....and beer for $1.80 a pint or so was icing on the cake.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Did you see the museum of torture in Rothenburg an der Tauber?

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

No....and we also noticed there was an instruments of medieval torture museum in Prague.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Yes!

But not as embarrassing as being passed by a minivan with Quebec plates (which happened to me in the States)....

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife