here is another problem with owning a new d-c that goes undiscussed all too often.

the dealer owns you for the duration of the warranty.

in metro-houston, the nearest dealer to me is one that i consider a brigand outfit. owned by auto-nation.

and it is 30 miles away.

the only decent d-c store/shop is in sugarland texas. for all practical purposes, from my location, that might as well be los angeles.

my mechanic is 5 minutes from my stable.

the other great thing about my stable is that all are free and clear of all encumbrances. and probably no longer depreciating.

by the way, i did not acquire all these vehicles new. only the 560sel. but in 2000 when i encountered where daimler was going with electronics, i decided i was going to acquire the best that i could find of post-1976 benzes.

so that i could drive into my demise without an lcd screen, without a computer chip seizing control of the car, without big bro monitoring my whereabouts and/or the history of my driving style.

as an engineering proposition, the distronic[sic] cruise control system troubles me greatly. when i describe its potentials for highway mayhem, it concerns others as well. there ought to be a law outlawing it.

i envision scenarios such as this.....

a. one is distronically cruising down the hardy toll road at 140kph. your benz is within less than an assured clear braking distance from the car in front of you. you are on your cell-phone and disengaged from the real responsibilities of managing a lethal weapon. a deer springs out in front of the vehicle you are following. i think you will be involved in an accident.

b. another situation is that the distronic system allows for enough of a gap between your benz and the vehicle you are following to provide for a minimum assured clear braking distance. in my experience, this means that you are going to have rocketeers cut into that gap. when that occurs, i think that the distronic is going to brake suddenly. that will probably get you rear-ended by the clown[who might be in an 18 wheeler] behind you.

and these situations presuppose no chip failings.

i suppose, however, if you are into eating soylent green, these problems will not be troubling you.

personally, i am looking for a third world country with no highways, and with no resources that any evil empire wants to seize. and that gets plenty of rainfall as the temperate zones desertify.

illegitimi non carborundum

and one last important financial point, i acquired all the benzes other than the 560sel after 2000.

for less than the price of a new, loaded s550. which will do what within minutes after you title it? depreciate about 10%-20%. and 10% every year thereafter, i think.

they are out there. at least they used to be.

I personally like the new S550 although I wish they would offer a 6cyl model here in the USA. Like it or not cars are evolving to suit the needs of their drivers. Im not a big fan of moving map GPS systems myself but I do like some of the programability that the new S550 offers. Rather than have to read my owners manual and hold down buttons and do other strange things to reprogram a function you can see all of your options on a clean flat panel display.

I like the new shape of the 221 body because its a nice blend of angles and curves. The front of the 220 was always a bit softer than I liked. The 221 looks longer and sleeker and its flared fenderwells give it an aggressive yet elegant stance on the road. Just like the 126, 140 and 116 chassis cars theres no mistaking that your looking at the top of the line car.

The one great thing about Mercedes cars is they are designed to last forever. If you don't like the new S class there are several other wonderful models to choose from. My personal favorites are the 140 and 126 and I own one of each in black of course. The 220 never really did much for me and its probably one that I may skip owning. Like it or not the 221 will be the new S class for the next decade or so. Parts will still be around for the older ones for a long time to come. Its not like complaining is going to make Mercedes dump a car that they spent 5-10 years engineering.