Silly boy, should have got something sensible like a Volvo.

But will Volvo sell you a car if you don't drive like a blind arrogant homicidal bastard?

So why don't you just make your own key? Or are Mercedes keys shaped like DNA or soemthing, and can't be duplicated by someone with a file and some time?

James

James,

If they are anything like the keys to my 'vette, just cutting a new key to the same physical shape won't start the engine. (It might open the doors). The reason for that is that modern cars have anti-theft devices that check for a secondary signal of some kind.

Since at least 1990 (my last 'vette) the keys used an electrical resistor in addition to the physical shape of the key; my mechanic tells me that newer cars are using RFID chips for a presence-detector (and even moving to keyless start for that purpose -- keep the keys in your pocket and press a button to start the engine); the poster here mentions an infrared element which probably serves the same function as the resistors in my keys.

I had a key, but I split it with the sound man.

"But will Volvo sell you a car if you don't drive like a blind arrogant homicidal bastard?"

Get a second-hand one...

They'll never know it was you.

They have eyes everywhere.

Don't they charge £85 an hour for servicing too?

Why not buy a VW? Or even a Ford, I hear they're just as good these days.

M-B need to get real quite soon, because their reputation is pretty much shot, they are just trading on snob value now.

I've had a VW and a Ford, as it happens, and they were both good. The Focus is a fantastic car, but Ford's attitude to aftersales customer service might be a reason not to buy a brand new one. In fact, Vic worked for Ford's aftersales customer service briefly, and it is her reason for never wanting to buy one.

But anyway, it's Vic's car, and she loves it to bits. Me, I don't much care about cars, and have purchasing criteria along the lines of "Must have wheels, must cost 500 quid or less." I mean, really, any more money than that and I'd be seriously cutting into my musical instrument, DVD, and silicon chip budget. So the proper car was chosen by Vic, and it is lovely, and, now I can get to work by train, my old banger's being scrapped. In other words, stop giving me advice about which car I should have bought.

Oh, and I don't care how much they charge for servicing, because they don't service it. All the manufacturers charge silly money for servicing, which is why we would never use them. That's what mechanics are for.