PERDANA vs MERCEDES - the Battle of the TITANS?

There seems to be a lot of hot air being generated by the Mercedes Benz purchase by the Terengganu state government as depicted by this story in malaysiakini:

"T'ganu gets PM's nod for Mercedes"
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/86728

There are a few reports in NST about how the maintenance costs of Perdanas should not be as much as RM100k per car. Yes that amount is simply absurd unless one changes the engine and gear-box each year. I am going to guess that a brand new car should cost less than RM15k per annum unless the car is driven on rough roads on a 24/7 basis.

This is the article from the NST:

" Impossible to have cost so much to maintain the Perdana Executive V6, say Proton dealers"

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Frontpage/20080724172137/Article/index_html
The article mentions several crashes as being included in the maintenance costs.

If that is the case buying a Mercs will not reduce the bill. They should consider getting better drivers.

I wonder if the PM has granted his blessing to appease the state assemblymen as they could all abandon the BN and join PAS or the PKR. So this could be the state that could tip the balance against the federal government.

Let's wait and see if the ACA comes up with any smoking gun this round. Maybe everyone in high office in all states will soon get a Mercedes too. Just produce your bills to justify.