quote:

Originally posted by Peter:

quote:

"Sir John Lucas, Prince of Darkness.)

Ouch! That hurt!!!
Peter.

Isn't that "sudden unexpected darkness"?

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Hello Wink, bonjour la France !

You'll have more positive surprises in the future. While my M-B costs 2x the price of my wife's Alfa Romeo GT, it's more economical to maintain (I'm talking official dealer's prices). And, apart from a single yearly servicing, your M-B will never see a repair shop anyway

I would advise your buying a Coyote anti-radar device, though. I often travel in the Lille area and the speed controlling radars are getting plentyful and downright nasty...

My first MB was a '91 190 2.6 and I've owned 9 others since, mainly SLs and S series, including a couple of AMGs. The last 2 I bought were disappointments- an S 550 and a GL 450 for my wife. The others were reliable and zero hiccups. The C class is a nice little car- had a few as loaners. Drives well.

MB service is expensive, but I've always been treated well, with loaners always available.

The bottom line is the C Class is a decent little car and I'd recommend it. You may get a lemon, but that's luck of the draw (I had to replace the power steering pump in my SL 550 after only 3 days go figure).

PS FWIW the GL 450 is just a pig. A gas guzzling, very loud vehicle that drives like a truck. We had to replace all 4 air struts- front ones first then rears a few months later (lasted 70,000 mi) at $1500/pair, and when we finally traded it in the steering rack was leaking fluid (the rack alone costs $2599). So IMO it's a POS and I would not recommend it at all. I bought my wife a Cayenne GTS as a replacement, which is one of the best cars I've ever driven. Her only complaint is she can't get 14 bags of feed in it. But a phenomenal car.