I just bought a Mercedes

Ok it was a year old with 14k on the clock, but I got it from the Mercedes Centrum in Berlin, Salzufur if you know it. Fantastic modern building built like a multi storey carpark with carpets. Water features, restaurant, indoor climbing walls (?) and giant screens with...wait for it ...permanant sport showing.

I was ushered into a minimalist glass walled office..., presented with the docs and escorted upto the top floor in yes, a glass walled elevator, to the waiting room. Sofas, coffee brewing a partition, glass, seperating me from my baby. Handed more paper to sign, (something about paying for evermore) then driven down the external ramp of the building to the car park, handed the keys with a knowing smile and drove off, with the phrase
" Don't do anything to it Sir, just bring it back in 14,000km and we'll do everything"
ringing in my ears.

I just bought a coffee maker

Well I just got a pressure cooker

did you go for it in the end, then?
did you get the one from aldi?

@ Topsy

I was about to post to the original thread that i started and got distracted. On my way there now.

I guess when you are building cars that used to rank #1 in the JD Power customer satisfaction tables (1990) and that have steadily dropped until now ranked #21 (2005) you need to be very nice to customers.

I just traded in my S500 for a new Lexus LS430, I got an excellent trade in value for it. Mercedes seems to be slipping in quality, I have been noticing some problems with my vehicle, I was constantly hearing loud wind when I go over 80mph. I have went over 100mph in my new Lexus and its silent. In the US, the best luxury cars are Japanese(Lexus(Toyota), Acura(Honda's luxury line in NA), and Infiniti(Nissan's luxury line in NA).

Perhaps it was just you talking.

Turn the Aircon off...

That can happen when there isn't much between your ears.
The wind just gets sucked into that great vacuous space.
Try ear plugs

Its definitely the bean burritos you have been eating

@Marcus Blair

I worked in the car industry in various capacities for many years. Dont take this the wrong way but the reputation of Lexus owners, in general, are that they are a right bunch of pretentious tossers that really want a Merc or BMW but cannot afford one so have a very large chip on their shoulder . I am sure that you are not one of the aforementioned.

Lexus tend to be souless and very boring to drive though they are very efficient, just no soul, no pedigree and absolutely no involvement whilst driving. Stick with Merc or BMW if you want to enjoy driving!!

By the way, the "quality excuse" for not buying a Beemer or a Merc is really a cop out for "I cannot afford the cost of the equivalent Merc or Beemer and cannot afford the running costs". Believe me, Lexus drivers cause great mirth amongst the BMW and Mercedes drivers.

I was also a car fleet manager in the UK, so have driven lots of cars. My "best cars that I have driven are:

Best 4wd on road - Range Rover
Best Long distance cruiser - Mercedes S600
Best "poser car" - Aston Martin
Best "fun" - Subaru Wrx prodrive (awesome fun)
Most reliable and value for money but sterile and would not be seen dead in one - (you can guess this one)

And what model of Mercedes bus or truck did you go for.

And remember that you are now entitled to keep in the outside lane of the Autobahn doing something really fast like 135 kmh and dont bother looking in the mirror at that long queue that you are causing because, hey, you are important as you have a merc.

You are alos allowed to change lanes and turn corners without indicating because you will expect everyone else to stop and let you do your thing because, hey, you are important as you have a merc.

Oh, and in car parks, you are permitted to park across two spaces to prevent other cars getting too close and maybe dent your doors because, hey, you are important as you have a merc.

Crispybee. How about...

"I havent got a Mercedes so I am going to make sure that when I am doing 135kmh I am going to pull into the outside land and make the Mercedes doing 200kmh brake really hard.

I am only going to use my mirror to make sure that I am really obstructing and annoying the Mercedes queue behind me that I am deliberately slowing down

I am going to park really close to this Mercedes to ensure that I dent his door with my car door and to make it extra awkward for the Mercedes to get out of the car park.

Because I dont have a Mercedes I am not really jealous and I dont have an inferiority complex but I will make assumptions about and generalisations about the drivers of Mercedes...AND as for BMW drivers well...I would never have one even if I could afford one, overrated, waste of money, not that good..etc, etc, etc..." Sound familiar??

Jesus, you lot get bitchy easily...

You can get a Merc S500 that's a few years old for 5000 euro (less for a crap one or a really nice one for 10000). It's built like a tank, fuel consumption to match, weighs two tonnes but gives you that lux feeling. Hardly mega money, I mean you can also buy a new Ford for that but Mercs of this age just don't break.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Agree you with totally, my remarks were a little, er, sarcastic. I have a CLK diesel and thinks its a good car. I do use my indicators, I do move over for cars making faster progress than me and dont have two toilet rolls on the back sill with those crotched covers (though I do have a cushion for my back that is knackered from my rugby playing days)

Got a horse shoe in the front grill?

anyone know a dealer that sells year old or demo Mazda cars?

A reliability survey published last week put Land Rover very low down on reliability / time in worrkshop etc

You have went? So what is it was liking to have went over the legal speed limit in the USA. Were you to have some great feelings?

Anyway. Thanks for the info. We are watching you Mr Blair, we are watching you...

Sincerely

California Highway Patrol

@ Mr&MrsC

I bought a Mazda recently from the dealership in Erding and whilst I went for a new one in the end, they have or can get access to nearly new models - http://www.auto-eder.com/

V pleased with it as well!

As I said, it is the best 4wd for road use that I have driven. I didnt say it was the best, is the best or the most reliable etc etc. It is just the best that I have driven. I am sure that there are better ones but I havent driven them.

You must also remember that the customers expectations with cars like that are sky high and the service levels are very high too. This results in people taking cars back for things that they wouldnt take lesser brands back for and that the after-sales take any problems very seriously whilst lesser brands tend to dismiss the same sort of faults as a "you get what you pay for" problem

You know, I had a Lexus from '97 - 2000 and I loved that car. It was like a tank - a total animal in the snow, which was really important to me because I was driving to Vermont to ski every weekend, snowing or not. I did not buy a BMW because 1) it is rear wheel drive and you do need snow tires for that car in the winter and 2) the insurance on a BMW in Massachusetts is ridiculous and 3) I was never going to be driving at the speeds we can drive here in Germany. My friends loved this car because I had a remote starter so I could start it from inside the ski house or from inside the bar and it would be warm and ready to drive.
I loved that car. Never had a single problem in 3 years.
In contrast, we have two BMWs here. One has left us stranded twice(dead battery - car was less that 1 year old) and the other has had problems with the roof, the radio, you name it).

As America is a car-driving culture, we want a reliable car to get us from point A to point B.

you should have winter/s&m tyres on ANY car, doesn't matter if it is front- rear- or all-wheel drive, if you are driving in the mountains in winter to ski resorts

If you missed it last night, TOP GEAR is on again tonight. Clarkson shreds the American Ford pick-up. His worst car ever!

He shreds almost all american cars. The whole building a quality car thing has not quite been discovered in the US as of yet (some exceptions)

hasn't been discovered by the Italians or French, either.

If he had tried hitting the claimed 186mph claimed for the Corvette, he would probably think that the Corvette is worse. 160mph and the whole thing shakes, floats all over the place, gives you no idea what is going on as the steering is so light!! and that is in "sports mode". Gave up trying to get to the claimed top speed as it felt dangerous. I also loved the plastic body panels as they matched the plastic interior (only the japanese make worse interiors

Just paid £130,000 of his own cash for one however (although it did break down 3 times in the first week).

My wife has been driving Hondas and Toyotas the last 10 years which pisses me off now. When my KTM bike goes in to get a new tyre, or the brakes adjusted etc she says "god that thing is just always in the garage getting fixed!".

I am not gonna bother trying to explain that not everything on wheels works 100% despite being abused like Hondas and Toyotas.

That comes under the exception category...I'd love to get my mits on a GT40, firstly have to save up for dinner tonight, then I'll start putting away for the GBP 130k

true. but they don't break down. well hardly ever. And that is the most important thing isn't it?

*shakes head and wonders if those words actually got typed by own hands, whilst dreaming of fast and unreliable British sportscar*

I love how the latest vette has leaf spring suspension in the rear...just like a Roman chariot! Not particularily modern (unless you still live in the 60's)

Could not agree. My top 3 priorities for a car are:

1. It works when you turn the key
2. It works when you turn the key
3. It works when you turn the key

Everything else is minor. If you cannot rely on the bastard thing to get you there without bits falling off, or alarms going off, or calling the AA etc it ain't worth more than a bycycle.

I forgive my motorcycle as that is built for pleasure not transport!

I think this also applies to sports/supercars no?

Sorry Timmeh but I'm stuck in my own personal bubble on that one. Once you get addicted to a fast motorbike even 0-60 sub 5 supercars are still just transport for me.

Which I must add is a much cheaper way to get your thrills! (albeit possibly more dangerous).

@Owain -
Maybe, if I actually lived in Vermont where I had to use my car to get to work and had to track through several inches of unplowed snow daily, maybe. But, I never, not once had a problem with this car in the snow. It was a complete animal. All my friends who had Toyota Forerunners were amazed (it was, BTW, an ES 300 which is the only Lexus that was front wheel drive at the time).

owain glndwyr. Have to say that you are right about the breakdowns. I spent 18 months at Toyota and we did not have a single break down in, even with the local taxi drivers that had between 150,000 - 184,000 miles on the clock. We used to get loads in with creaks, engine management lights on and bits (lots of bits) falling off but most customers loved them.

Mercedes give you a 30 year breakdown warranty which, if nothing else, show that they are confident in their product.

I wouldnt mind a Triumph tr4 or tr6 though!!!

JD Power gave the LS430 four stars in mechanical quality, while the S-Class got only two. A friend of mine who lives in London recently traded in his troublesome E-Class for the new GS. He could easily afford any top of the line Benz or BMW, yet he took the Lexus because he was tired of all the problems he had with his E-Class Benz. The truth is that the Mercedes brand is beginning to slip in quality. Forbes ran an article about unreliable luxury cars, and I was shocked to see that most of the vehicles on the list were from Mercedes Benz and BMW, I did not see a single Lexus on that list. I know a lot of people who have switched over to the Japanese luxury cars because of the issue of build quality and reliability.

I couldn't give a hoot about what Europeans like but in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Japanese car makers have made serious inroads in the marketplace for premium cars, and the US is the biggest market in the world. Audi is now giving its US customers its company employee discount because of intense competition from Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti. The only area where Japanese automakers have not yet invaded successfully is the sports car market. I own a Gallardo with the E-gear transmission, however, I barely drive it, except on a sunny summer afternoon weekend or two. Friends of mine told me to look into the F430 but I am a Lamborghini fan and I always found the futuristic wedge shaped Lamborghini cars to be more attractive than Ferraris.

Get a life

There you go again MB. First you think that Taco Bell is Mexican food and now you are saying a Lexus is a luxury car...

You will be saying Wigan Athletic will win the Premiership next...

I dunno

Why is Marcus Blair posting here anyway? Does he realise that Munich, in Germany, is in Europe and not somewhere in frickin' Montana?

Isn't the use of capitalization charming. You really know how to relate to people don't you MB ?

I recently saw an image of Lexus' new Supercar(the LF-A) that is supposed to be introduced in the US in a couple of years. The company's engineers in Japan are building it to compete with the Ferrari F430, the Lexus is supposed to faster and more powerful(I bet will be a lot more reliable) so far it looks quite impressive.

Well, for once I have to agree with Marcus Blair(although, I've blocked his posts so I don't know exactly what he wrote) and say that Lexus is considered a luxury car (at least in the States) and obviously the automobile industry considers it to be also. That's just the way it is.

I agree with Marcus Blair too, not so much his opinions but his posting style. He is a true master. Anyone with less finesse and style than him would simply be ignored, but he always hits the tone just right, to gaurantee the perfect responses. Toytown wouldnt be the same without him. Well done MB, you have a fan here!

@Kza: Couldn't agree more!

Me too!

MB's posts are just perfect swings every single time - the man just knows TT's sweet spot.

I still think you are bullshitter in general but I have to agree with you here.

I owned a E-Class Benz (300E) for 9 years. While it is a great car and quite high mainenance, I agree that it gave more problems than it should have. For a car of that class and that money, you would expect fewer problems. I never owned a Lexus but have driven it many times. It is definitely much quiter (especially the interior) and the high end Lexus cars are extremely smooth and are considered more reliable overall.

@crawlie
Lexus is a luxury car in th US

@Roots

Yes I know it is, due to the quality of car produced by the crappy American companies. Anything is luxury compared to them

I watched that.
Me dad was well laughing about the bit when they were going on about what you would do if a spotty oik turned up on a motorbike to take yer daughter out.
Ooops (even though he doesn't have spots)