Mercedes, What's the Deal ??

[blingo]

The Sprinter saw modest success, but it needs more attention than a Transit, Promaster or Express. But many fleets are moving away from diesels - if Mercedes offered the Sprinter with NA V8 or even a tuned for regular TGDI V6, it would be the only RWD completion for the Transit.

S and G weren't the most typical fleet cars, therefore they could be positioned with more loyality and less rationality in mind. So there never was a Sprinter with 400 CDI horror e.g. I guess. But if Mercedes had seen fit it would have done one. As a "Maybach" perhaps

Leading to the reality behind the loyal "reasoning" here: If Toyota wanted to use its V12 catering to the crowds it would. Who would actually believe they couldn't? (Some german "Du kommst hier nicht rein!" aside.) There are always crowds viewing an output rating of Toyota's V12 as if it reflected difficulties of Toyota to race some AMG or whatever. That's beauty in the eye of the beholder
If Toyota had wanted to sell some Lexus with a Diesel they always could have done that with just what they had in the heavy duty LCs.
If Mercedes had ever been serious as Toyota, the G or S 400 CDI hadn't become that horror, 350 TD had not been offered above maybe an E-class. Gasoline 3.2 hadn't been meant to compete with Toyota sixes, GM V8 or anything of format.

Your typical hater ain't pulling anything out of a hat to make up threads like these where somebody just wanted to talk about C-class. Even to the typical hater it's clear that Mercedes always (mostly) could have tried to compete instead of just relying on loyalities.
Interestingly in upper Mercedes' loyality it seems much more difficult to differentiate between Toyota's incapability and Toyota's fundamental disinterest while just doing other things. Whatever they may be. A bit of hybridization here, a bit of quality in America, a little bit of bush taxiing in Africa. Not even Toyota's cooperations have anyone serious about cars believing in Toyotas tight limitations. Not even indian Jaguar would have the difficulties insinuated. Not on gasoline, not on diesel, not on currents. The only one that would have a true problem is ZiL – as they have been superseded in total. Some silly Porsche prestige being on offer now...

I'm not into C300, any C, any Mercedes or any german product, but I don't think that's the problem with me when in my view Jake_J's lines stood out being exceptionally rational here.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

So I guess you drive a 60's era car? Any modern car, yes even Toyota and Honda at some point will probably need to be hooked to "a computer".

Yes, my Toyotas will need to be plugged into a Toyota Tech Stream system possibly at some point, but not to change struts, not to change power steering fluid, not for an alignment, not to replace the battery, not to change the plugs, not to change the alternator, not to change the air filter, not to change the serp belt.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

By the way, someone mentioned tires. I paid more for tires on Sienna than my BMW X5. Stop believing what boyfriend of a cousins friend says.

You probably did, but the tires on the Sienna will last 60-80k miles, while the tires on the X5 might make the 20k mile mark. So over the course of 60k miles, how much are you spending on tires total for each vehicle?

 

[Trav]

Where do you come up with this stuff? Honda Odyssey 19K original tires worn out, BMW x5 original tires over 40K.

 

[Astro14]

Yes, my Toyotas will need to be plugged into a Toyota Tech Stream system possibly at some point, but not to change struts, not to change power steering fluid, not for an alignment, not to replace the battery, not to change the plugs, not to change the alternator, not to change the air filter, not to change the serp belt.

Same as a Mercedes...

Are you just making stuff up to support your dislike?

As a guy who owns both Toyota’s, and Mercedes, including several examples of each in the past, and who has both Tech Stream and STAR on independent laptops, you’re parading falsehoods and opinion as fact.

To what end?

 

[edyvw]

You probably did, but the tires on the Sienna will last 60-80k miles, while the tires on the X5 might make the 20k mile mark. So over the course of 60k miles, how much are you spending on tires total for each vehicle?

LOL, Sienna is tire eater like no other, and no it won't last as on X5.
Also, I do not buy tires lasting 60-80k. Those are not tires, that is plastic.
Your post is obvious example of misconceptions about brands. Your post indicates that somehow tires for Sienna are made better? Bcs. Toyota?
So what distinguishes Bridgestone DriveGuard tires on my Sienna from Bridgestone DriveGuard tires on my BMW 328i xDrive?

 

[Dino01]

Siennas in AWD trim and even my RX which probably share some components are somewhat notorious for enjoying the taste of tires, of course the roads in WA are ATROCIOUS as is the weather, so in a nicer place they’d probably last a little longer, but with 10 months of rain I tend to err on the side of tire tread for maximum control and stopping power when wet, especially since it’s the baby hauler.

Everything is in alignment and in perfect working order, but I’ve heard this from other owners as well. I tend to use Michelin Defenders or Premiers as I’m happy with their performance, same with my Honda which usually make it close to 80k.

My signature CLK is pretty bad as well, however. It has factory staggered wheel sizes so they can’t be rotated front to back, usually 30-40k max on Pilots there. My old 1995 w124 could eek out about 80k like the Honda, so it’s car/wheel/tire/environment based moreso than brand

 

[JeffKeryk]

In business schools, they teach about Acura, then Lexus coming into the American market.
Acura made tiny dent in Mercedes sales; Lexus made them change the way they did business.

You want fun? There are much more fun cars out there.
Having said that, it's your money. Buy what's important to you; buy what you like.
All good.

 

[nthach]

S and G weren't the most typical fleet cars, therefore they could be positioned with more loyality and less rationality in mind. So there never was a Sprinter with 400 CDI horror e.g. I guess. But if Mercedes had seen fit it would have done one. As a "Maybach" perhaps

Well, an S-Class is kinda of a fleet car if we’re taking limo/town car fleets. I was referring to the commercial market with vans and when Freightliner first brought the Sprinter to American shores, it was the first Euro-style work/cargo van sold in the US - Ford brought over the Transit sometime later.

But, if VW shoehorned a 911 engine into a T2 Transporter/Vanagon, just imagine a Sprinter with a CDI 400 or the Mercedes-labeled version of the Detroit DD8...

 

[edyvw]

Siennas in AWD trim and even my RX which probably share some components are somewhat notorious for enjoying the taste of tires, of course the roads in WA are ATROCIOUS as is the weather, so in a nicer place they’d probably last a little longer, but with 10 months of rain I tend to err on the side of tire tread for maximum control and stopping power when wet, especially since it’s the baby hauler.

Everything is in alignment and in perfect working order, but I’ve heard this from other owners as well. I tend to use Michelin Defenders or Premiers as I’m happy with their performance, same with my Honda which usually make it close to 80k.

My signature CLK is pretty bad as well, however. It has factory staggered wheel sizes so they can’t be rotated front to back, usually 30-40k max on Pilots there. My old 1995 w124 could eek out about 80k like the Honda, so it’s car/wheel/tire/environment based moreso than brand

Sienna is notorious, AWD or not. It helps a little bit with increased pressure, but bottom line it eats tires. I went to Yellowstone last week, you could literally see wear after 790 miles. This set of Bridgestone DriveGuard's will last 20-25k.
But that is not point, point is that bcs. it is Toyota, another member immediatly assumes 60-80k tire life, and BMW 20k. My X5 35d racked up some 30k on Bridgestone Dualer's RFT before I ripped one tire in Las Vegas and had to change all 4. 255/50 R19, $204 for piece of Michelin Premier LTX.
Those Dualer's after 30K had 5/32, on 5,198lbs vehicle that always used full potential of 425lb-ft torque.

 

[edyvw]

In business schools, they teach about Acura, then Lexus coming into the American market.
Acura made tiny dent in Mercedes sales; Lexus made them change the way they did business.

You want fun? There are much more fun cars out there.
Having said that, it's your money. Buy what's important to you; buy what you like.
All good.

MB and BMW are still bestselling Luxury vehicles. MB GLS is for year bestselling full size luxury SUV.

 

[blingo]

Also well, thing is.., while lots of brands have lots of cars to compete and be considered..,

there's also the addition of Toyota, which brought the world the Prado downgrades beyond the serious Land Cruisers conquering it, and brought the world the Sienna Front Tire Wear Excess. And then there's the addition of Mercedes, the brand that is officially to be reduced to a fraction of its production to at least have you believe in parts of a fraction of its production to finally see the prestige. Discarding smaller cars below E-class or whatever in the seats of the Maybachs the products of the exact borderline are imaginated to be.
This selection from a fraction of the larger MBs might not be too dependant on overpricing the smaller ones, as loyalities alone would have people sustain production of the selection for a few more last years, but it's true fun to read the essays if your a hater anyway. And if in addition, who knows, somehow it may help with the legit ones.
Where the grand preselection is impaired, as in Europe with its higher fuel costs, Mercedes as one of the first manufacturers fitted diesel engines to the heavier cars. And then for ages hardly ever got them half way right. Stuck with insufficient IDIs, then infamous DIs as the horrible 400cdi.
The G wagon got quoted as pertaining to some old time qualities of MB. In reality a preselection ruling out most of its motorization (as lesser gas engines also weren't up to the task) throughout the life of the old G would be needed to phantasize that way. Which of course may be standard in the US where you're not about conquering the world as the Germans and non-Prado Landcruiser for ages are. But with off roaders around here the G was always seen as the Försters Auto for nothing too deep into the woods. Something inbetween Landrover and Landcruiser, but nothing for travelling the world, reliably hauling through all parts of Europe, not even durability downtown anywhere just hauling itself. The work around was indigenous preselection – you could have guessed it. Often abysses between gasoline V8 and most other Gs (swapped ones above them all) – quite unique fun off the road.

Even though Mercedes naturally also sells well in other places. As many japanese cars ever may flood to about Moscow even with the steering wheel on the wrong side, the nowy russki have no tradition of shopping for anything but a clueless selection of labels. Beijing too being late freeing people to choose between Cadillac, Toyota and Aurus instead. Or choose based on anything worth anything at all.

All irrelevant to choosing or letting go a C300, these Maybach&Rolls worries? Absolutely, if one's not decidedly after an overpriced new Mercedes S or M to help another one with its Mercedes XL. But in a Mercedes you're not only fighting for a german export, you also have to enforce the narrative of the smaller or medium Mercedes as the barely acceptable problematic first step into the the real realm. Even in the US – with quite some preselection of the least troublesome Benzes leaving worse fractions to the rest of world – this seems to be essential to an extent. And looking at worn front tires on other families' lifes.

Stuffing 400cdi or else into a Sprinter hadn't been the publicity any fraction of Mercedes could have wanted to make a living from. No way, technically. As usual they'd only have made it fit, not work. Sprinters could be more about work than the loyalities and prestige and ruin.

 

[artbuc]

Question for Blingo...what the heck are you talking about?

 

[blingo]

An answer to nthach who may have got me wrong on an exorcism theme.
Otherwise cheap entertainment with Mercedes' schism and other holistic weaknesses. With the caveat that the german "billig" above "cheap" means "just, fair and proper"

 

[willbur]

Question for Blingo...what the heck are you talking about?

Absolutely! None of his posts make sense! LOL

 

[Astro14]

I reckon that English isn’t Blingo’s primary language, so, even with a careful reading, I struggle to understand his point. I do get what he is saying about each of the models, but it’s a challenge. Something is lost in the translation.

 

[blingo]

No problem, will leave it at that. Not on a mission myself ;-)

 

[Silverado12]

I agree with a lot of posts here; I would like to have a Benz but only an E-Class. That's an impressive car. I like my domestics though because that's what I'm used to and repairs are a lot cheaper. Also helps my union brethren.

 

[Astro14]

The E class is a great choice. As with any used car, maintenance is key.

For example, Mercedes has a 10,000 mile/1year OCI. I’ve seen lots of them ruined by “smart” owners who say, “I ain’t gonna’ pay no $100 for an oil change!”...so they use non-specified oil, installed by a “hack”, sludge up the engine and then blame Mercedes.
That $100 oil change includes filters, and checks, that the hack won’t be doing.

If you follow Mercedes’ maintenance, they run for a very long time.

As an example, a buddy leased a 2007 E350 through his company (he was the owner of that company, by the way) and he liked it so much, he bought it at lease end. That car has 150,000+ on it now. Looks new. Runs perfectly. Gets 30+ Mpg.

He drives it back and forth to DC several times a month. A superior driving experience and dynamic. A great car.

He has the annual service done at Mercedes of Virginia Beach. They give him a new E class loaner for the day while they change his oil, filters, etc. under Mercedes recommendations. To be fair, he and I worked through the M272 intake flap actuator failure a few months ago. We fixed the issue for an order of magnitude less $$ than the dealer. We used my STAR/XENTRY laptop to diagnose the problem, provide procedures and torque values for the work, and to clear the codes when done.

If he wanted to sell that car, I would buy it in a heartbeat. It’s just a great car.

But Caveat Emptor, not all cars are as well cared for as his.

 

[MCompact]

I don't know that I'd ever own any German based vehicle. My FIL used to own several MB dealerships in the Northeast. He always asks why we don't want one or own one. I tell him that I don't want something overpriced that carries 3-4 times the cost of maintenance that I'm used to with Toyotas or Hondas.

I don't want to afford a $1500 set of tires every 20k miles. I don't want to pay $150 for an oil change. I don't want to pay $100 for wiper blades. Nor HAVE to take a vehicle to ANY dealer because everything is tied to a computer.

No thanks.

And we German car owners thank you for your decision as well.