I hear ya Hattie!

My current E430 has about as much nannying as I could ever stand. I don't know what I'll do when I get a newer car. I'll have to figure out how to hack the ECU or something to disable all that crap.

The seatbelt one is especially annoying, as is the auto-door lock. That drives me NUTS!!! :D

And don't go wrapping that Prius around a tree...

Hazmat Teams, Power-plant operators (to assist in shut-down and the removal), toaster-bags (your body will be toast...black, crispy/crunchy), and a wood-chipper (all that battery juice - it will kill the tree)...

Yah, the Prius...the "Green" answer to the next "Carbon-Footprint" up your @55!

I hear ya, Hatt. I drove my GF's boss's brand new Lexus, and as nice as it was, I couldn't wait to get back to my w123. The Lexus felt like a toy: the steering wheel was tiny, not enough leg room, everything was plastic and looked/felt generally cheap (flamesuit on). I dig our cars, our hunkering beasts that float down the road so smoothly. Our cars feel like real quality, even wityh the bus-like steering wheel, and the shifter that can go to any position, anytime (whether running or not, whether braking or not). The fact that, being 6'3", I can push the seat (manually, I might add) back so far, that I have to reach to find the accelerator, is enough for me!

PS: anyone remember "the most annoying sound in the world," according to Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber? That's the w123 warning buzzer, and I love it!

^^^When I read that, I was so shocked I dropped my lipstick into my coffee!!!:D

The whole keyless go idea isn't a bad one at all, but as long as the car isn't in gear it should be able to start.

Will you really want to own a 2008 keyless car in 2035? Each one of these features shortens the useful life of the car by making it less cost effective to preserve. Folks on this forum complain about climate control and power windows.

I don't want to own a 2008 daily driver in 2012 if I can help it!

I just want a daily ride that runs and doesn't eat up my time, I'll leave the fun older stuff for messing around in my free time.

That's OK, but I just don't enjoy driving new cars; they feel too disconnected from the driver. All things being equal, I would rather be riding my old motorcycle.

And yet they offer other "driver distractions" as options! :rolleyes:

They HAD to offer cupholders if they wanted to continue selling their vehicles in the US...after all, we Americans are bereft of determining how best to sip a cup of latte whilst blazing down the Autobahn at 180 mph!!

Cupholders in an SL63 AMG? Perhaps not. But if I'm going to haul around soccer gear every weekend in the W164, there'd better be a "Big Gulp"-sized receptacle to accomodate!! :D

I think not having cup holders gave them character.

You shouldn't drink in the new ones anyway, spill something on the center console and you won't be able to shift!:eek::D

Lipstick? You wanna tell us something Jim? :D

Sorry , but convincing a German to do his without Wagner or Strauss for an autobahn run is not going to happen. They're smart enough to know that it's a given that music is an essential part of life!

Our Saab does that, as have a number of cars I have owned. I can understand having to depress the clutch pedal in an MTX car to activate the starter circuit, but it seems a little silly in an ATX as long as it's in park or neutral. I think this "feature" is becoming more and more common.

MB took care of that with the stalk-mounted (W164) and paddle shifters! The console area is now free to store all sorts of American crap! :D

What shade of lipstick?