Mercedes cars - what a disappointment!

[Andy in Germany]

Interesting conversation today about Mercedes, which for us is a local company. Opinion here seems to be that they are stuck because older middle and upper managers have several years to go until retirement, and they are pretty safe from being fired because of the nature of contracts in Germany, so they've got complacent and aren't really keeping the quality and innovation in the company.

The company can't get rid of them so they can't move on.

I have no idea if this is accurate, or if it applies equally to other companies, but it was interesting bearing in mind the comments on here.

 

[Globalti]

I'd be prepared to swallow the bit about older managers because my own employer has the very same problem but I do think Mercedes have innovated, they've just done it by dumbing down their cars to mass market quality levels in an effort to hook younger European and Asian buyers. Maybe the bigger more expensive cars are better quality, I don't know.

 

[fossyant]

Dumbed down the cars, because the others rusted.... ?

Not many early 2000's E Class around..... The Bosses got E Class Company cars, I had a Nissan I bought..... Guess which car is still like new and not in a scrap yard.

The new car market is based on leases....

 

[Oldfentiger]

Maybe the bigger more expensive cars are better quality, I don't know.

On a visit to Kwikfit, they managed to reverse Mrs OFT’s C Class into another customer. The insurance company provided a replacement car for the week it took to repair the bodywork.
350 CSL.
Different animal altogether. Well put together, luxurious, smooth and fast as f**k. Couldn’t fault it tbh. Around £50K to buy one though.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Drove the latest C class in Germany a few weeks ago bit of a curate’s egg. Think they’re trying to be all things to all men from aspiring boy racer to old and failing. Their answer to the i-drive is way too complex. Handling was a bit wayward.
The A class is horrible inside.
The Alfa Guilia I had was a huuuge dissapointment, dreadful jamdling, bland interior.
Most of the big luxo 4x4 are also torrid to drive with unpleasant handling.
Golf and surprisingly to me an Astra estate were absolute joys.

Dacia Logan update: just short of 80k miles so far, averaging 58 to 60 mpg. Still comfy enough, nothing rattling or falling apart yet. Aircon died but IME this has been common on all my cars over around 60k miles. Can’t be arsed to have it fixed (regassing did not work).
Only downside now, it’s not the only one in T5 Business parking amongst the wankpanzers....I’m the only smart cheapskate in the airport!

 

[stephec]

Possibly, but I doubt that high a percentage do of cars less than 3 years olf, many have service plans in place.

It still amazes me why people lash out such amounts on new cars, I've had company cars for the last twenty years and when I look at the P11D every year there's no way I'd pay that out of my own pocket.

Give me a well looked after four year old car after someone else has taken the hit on depreciation.

 

[screenman]

It still amazes me why people lash out such amounts on new cars, I've had company cars for the last twenty years and when I look at the P11D every year there's no way I'd pay that out of my own pocket.

Give me a well looked after four year old car after someone else has taken the hit on depreciation.

I am with you on that one, I buy my cars direct from Motability at the end of their 3 years, what you have to consider is that a lot of vehicles are bought for company use and that 800,000 cars under 3 years old are Motability vehicles.

 

[mustang1]

Ferraris, Lexuses and Porsches have caught fire. Iirc Ferrari and Porsche replaced the faulty parts.

You were lucky if you had a Lexus though because they got you a brand new car.

 

[mustang1]

Do not buy a big swinging dick car. Or watch. Or clothes. Or house. Or anything.

But do be a big swinging dick by telling everyone that you are in fact not a big swinging dick.

 

[Cavalol]

Imagine the faces on those who found their Mercedes 1.5 diesel had the engine from a Renault?

Agree with Russellzero, BMWs have become so bland these last few years. Rather than being a stand out premium brand, they all look the same pretty much and are quite dull.
I wonder if Mercedes and BMW trade on past glories or just clever advertising like VW and get people actually believing they're better than similar cars form different makers? Out of a reasonable number of cars over the years, every VW and Audi I had was absolute rubbish, really really don't see the attraction to be honest.


(Actually own an elderly T25 thing at the moment, the scene tax boys and 'dubbers' might want to pretend they're the best thing slice bread, but they're not a patch on the old Transit Di.)

 

[mustang1]

460BHP?

Jackie Stewart won 3 F1 World titles with less. I don't know what modern regulations are but when I watched rallying Group A Sierras and the like were limited to 300 BHP.

Why on earth would anyone need a road car with 460bhp?

Just about any mass produced car of the past 40 or 50 years (with the possible exception of the Fiat 126 and Citroen 2CV) will exceed the speed limits.

It's not about the speed limit. It's about how you get there.

Those 300hp cars were light and had light engines, light flywheel, stuff like that. A 300hp rally engines car is not the same as a 300hp road car.

I see Japanese sports cars have horse power but no torque. They're a doozy to drive in comparison to the German stuff.

 

[mustang1]

Imagine the faces on those who found their Mercedes 1.5 diesel had the engine from a Renault?

Agree with Russellzero, BMWs have become so bland these last few years. Rather than being a stand out premium brand, they all look the same pretty much and are quite dull.
I wonder if Mercedes and BMW trade on past glories or just clever advertising like VW and get people actually believing they're better than similar cars form different makers? Out of a reasonable number of cars over the years, every VW and Audi I had was absolute rubbish, really really don't see the attraction to be honest.


(Actually own an elderly T25 thing at the moment, the scene tax boys and 'dubbers' might want to pretend they're the best thing slice bread, but they're not a patch on the old Transit Di.)

I think the same about (push) bikes. A USD10000 bike looks very similar to a USD1000 bike, save for a flashier colour scheme and deep section wheels. More dick swinging?

 

[Globalti]

The A class is horrible inside.
The Alfa Guilia I had was a huuuge dissapointment, dreadful jamdling, bland interior.
Most of the big luxo 4x4 are also torrid to drive with unpleasant handling.
Golf and surprisingly to me an Astra estate were absolute joys.
!

So true on the A class - absolutely ghastly, really bling and completely impossible to understand the controls, in fact I'd say the screens are a dangerous distraction. I really hate seeing that aggressive radiator grill looming in my mirror because the car is sure to be driven by a cock.

Golf has always been a great car to drive, I had one when I lived in France 1985-87 and loved it.

The best car for driving that we've hired in the last year of frequent trips to Scotland was the Astra, a great little car. Just behind that was the Ford Fiesta.

 

[vickster]

I can’t fault my 7 year old low mileage Fabia VRS estate

 

[mustang1]

Interesting conversation today about Mercedes, which for us is a local company. Opinion here seems to be that they are stuck because older middle and upper managers have several years to go until retirement, and they are pretty safe from being fired because of the nature of contracts in Germany, so they've got complacent and aren't really keeping the quality and innovation in the company.

The company can't get rid of them so they can't move on.

I have no idea if this is accurate, or if it applies equally to other companies, but it was interesting bearing in mind the comments on here.

I think the least "corporate" cultures company out of the big manufacturers is BMW. That's why they brought out i3/i8 models, they took a risk.

The other companies seem very corproate-like. The Mercedes satnav says "please turn right".who the heck says please in a satnav?