A whole lemon tree....

[Alcibiades]

I'm sure this should be in a record book of some kind. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Dr. Haas?
It's almost painful to read.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/06/14/pricey_lemon/index.html

 

[Gary Allan]

Grey market car. Things have changed over the past 25 years ..but at one time ..a Ferrari came with no factory warranty at all. It came with about 300 miles on it too. That's where the factory figured out that it would work on the track. That was before they put ultra low 1st gears in them so that Americans could leave a light without having to spin the tires to avoid stalling the engine. Beverly Hills forced a modification for the lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. They couldn't let anything like driving ability get in the way of such purchases. That mandatory squeal of the tires that you hear in the older movies when they started moving wasn't a sound effect.

 

[Alcibiades]

Here's a more thorough article. If the info here is correct, it seems as though Merc and its affiliates in making this vehicle are at fault in the oil pressure issue and several other problems, though obviously I have no firsthand knowledge of the situation. The dealer/owner/plaintiff does not seem to be an ignoramus. I just found the whole situation rather odd because it seems that Merc would want to keep its reputation untarnished in this niche market where it competes with Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani and the like.

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/06/14/011252.html

 

[Brikhead]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
Grey market car.

---

Exactly! Sorry...no pity here. If you take any imported non-US spec vehicle into a US dealership and expect warranty coverage...you're kidding yourself. What makes this guy the exception? He rolled the dice and lost, plain & simple.

 

[reyjay1]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brikhead:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gary Allan:
Grey market car.

---

Exactly! Sorry...no pity here. If you take any imported non-US spec vehicle into a US dealership and expect warranty coverage...you're kidding yourself. What makes this guy the exception? He rolled the dice and lost, plain & simple.

---

Tell me how did you miss that the owner of the car IS The OWNER OF THE DEALSERSHIP ALSO!

 

[OriginHacker21]

Interesting, we get screwed by dealerships. Dealerships get screwed by auto industry.

 

[Alcibiades]

The point is well taken that the legality of driving the car on public U.S. roads may affect the warranty in some way. But the more general counterpoint is that, as I said, it would seem pragmatically wise from Merc's perspective to fix their 1.7 million dollar car, given their competition in this niche market. Maybe the dealer/owner would write a contract for the buyer specifying that the car would only be driven in certain legal circumstances for warranty purposes...I don't know, but that seems beside the point to me.

And this is hardly a bone of contention with me personally: there are many more important things I could do with that much money than buy a car. The situation just struck me as rather bizarre.

 

[Hirev]

Gray market car are a bad investment period. I wonder how they were planning on getting it licensed and titled. Since legally it can't be done to a gray market car.

Back in the 90s I was getting an out of state vehicle inspected at the local state patrol.

They had a gray market Ferrari next to me that they just confiscated from a guy trying to get an out of state vehicle safety inspection, mandatory for a title change in some states. An unsuspecting guy had just bought in from out of state.

 

[Shannow]

Plenty of grey market imports in Oz, seeing that Japan is RHD also.

There are differences between the local models and the grey imports (chain versus gear drive Tx cases etc.).

The manufacturers are under no obligation to support models that they didn't ship to the country.

The importers often bring in the parts to satisfy their customers.

 

[Brikhead]

reyjay1, I do tend to "miss" a few things in my declining years, but I thought I read the article fairly thoroughly.

I wrote: "If YOU take any imported non-US spec vehicle into a US dealership and expect warranty coverage... YOU'RE kidding YOURSELF."

If He is the owner of a Mercedes Benz dealership, He should have understood the risks involved better than anyone else.

 

[9296D21B14]

This is exactly why I refuse to pay a dime more than $1.2m for ANY car.

 

[Alcibiades]

You're not thinking of getting one of these, are you?

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/bugatti.htm

Apparently, this one is legal on U.S. roads, which is interesting in and of itself.

 

[9296D21B14]

It's definitely on my short list. Along with the Versa, Mazda3, Honda Fit, and Scion xA. Gonna be close.

 

[Papa Bear]

Aaaawww.....poor baby.

Not you 929, the hoser who bought the car

P.B.

 

[CBDFrontier06]

quote:

---

Originally posted by 9296D21B14:
It's definitely on my short list. Along with the Versa, Mazda3, Honda Fit, and Scion xA. Gonna be close.

---

Get the Mazda3. I loved mine, but just wasn't practical for my needs anymore. Good car.