[onewhippedpuppy]

Funny how every teenager car thread goes like this, a bunch of us trying to talk someone into a car for their teen that is about the most terrible choice possible. How comfortable are you with the concept of your daughter being stranded? Maybe middle of nowhere, late at night? Because we are talking about a 26 year old German car. For us its no problem, most of us enjoy tinkering, it's part of the experience. But for a young girl who I assume has no mechanical interest or inclination? No freaking way. Who fixes the car when it breaks? What if she's out of town? What if she's out of town and there's not a shop willing to even work on a Mercedes, which is common in more rural areas? Are you willing to pay $200/hr at the local MB dealership when she breaks down and that's the closest shop to have it towed to?

I am not an advocate of buying young kids new cars, my kids will not get a brand new car for their first. But they will get some variety of reliable transportation that I am reasonably certain will get them to their destination. A $5k Honda Civic would be better in every possible way than that MB. This is coming from someone that loves the W124 and would happily drive one. Don't try to project your "inner car guy" onto people that only care about cars as appliances.