Mercedes is no longer a proper premium brand

[Frontstep]

Most MB models are not premium cars just premium priced.

 

[ampwhu]

you get what you pay for. no different to buying a pair of jeans. do you buy ones from asda or levi?

for what I paid for my car, I wouldn't get the same with a Vauxhall.

 

[EmilysDad]

the equivalent other brands don't have the same style as a Mercedes......

of any particular Merc?

 

[ampwhu]

of any particular Merc?

ok then, I don't consider an A class to be a proper Mercedes. simple. they may as well have badged it as a Vauxhall corsa. anybody really have a good thing to say about them?

same as a 1 series bmw. are they really what the badge say? I don't think so.

 

[EmilysDad]

.....

same as a 1 series bmw. are they really what the badge say? I don't think so.

I've never been in or driven either, but at least the BMW still drives the correct wheels.

 

[st4]

the equivalent other brands don't have the same style as a Mercedes.

read into that what ever way you want.

There is something about these cars that other car makers don't have.

You buying a low end upmarket car are buying a better engineered product, or should be. A Mondeo titanium X 1.6TDCi has a lot if equipment but its only been engineered to handle the performance of the top of the range 2.5 Turbo. A C180k poverty spec may not have the fords tacky Sony cd changer but the body shell, everything about it was engineered to take the 6200cc V8 AMG.

Prestige cars typically were built to more exacting standards, painted and trimmed better and lasted better than the mass market Fords of this works but as prestige cars have got cheaper, so have the quality if assembly and the mass cars are catching.

Give me a Pov spec 3 series, A4 or C class over a Mondeo

 

[EmilysDad]

.... A C180k poverty spec may not have the fords tacky Sony cd changer but the body shell, everything about it was engineered to take the 6200cc V8 AMG. .....

You sure? I suspect not If MB don't even make a loom as a one (or two) fits all, I would think that MB use a C Class shell for most cars & then modify the shell for the hand full of full fat V8 AMGs they make.

 

[st4]

Very little mods and anyway the standard car in 350 guise is engineered for 400ft lb plus and 300bhp and cruising at 155mph.

 

[roop_the_loop]

ok then, I don't consider an A class to be a proper Mercedes. simple. they may as well have badged it as a Vauxhall corsa. anybody really have a good thing to say about them?

Actually, my missus had the original (post-elk-test, pre-interior-redesign) A-class, and whilst I never really got on with it, she liked it - so much so that she drove it for over ten years, until it started to go rapidly downhill (I don't mean the brakes failed, I mean it started literally falling to bits in the last year or so). Granted, she's not particularly interested in cars (when I met her, she was happily driving a Fiat Uno - nuf sed!) so that may not be much of an endorsement. But whilst we had it, it was the cheapest and most low-maintenance car to own and run that either of us ever had - which is the good thing I would say about it.

 

[Frontstep]

Since when did you "get what you pay for" with MB certainly not recently.

 

[ampwhu]

ok, if I had spent the same amount on another car that I just spent on my 1st Mercedes, I would have got a Vectra or a ford.

I wouldn't be seen in either of those.

 

[rhud]

It was entirely predictable that this thread would generate another bout of A Class-bashing,not unknown hereabouts.

Yes - the original W168 was a bit of a disaster, despite the fact that a million-plus were sold. It was MB's first real attempt to widen the customer base, but was flawed in execution - and launched in the dark days when just about every other Mercedes was rubbish and the reputation of the marque plunged into a near-terminal nosedive.

This realisation took far too long to dawn but once it had - around 2003/4 - we should give MB credit for addressing the issues with energy.

In the case of the A Class in 2004 the car was transformed over its predecessor in terms of build quality and design improvements. Still they stuck at it, with the result that the 2008 facelift made it just about as good as it could be. By no means to everyone's taste - but good enough for Which?, the UK's most credible car consumer survey, to describe it as "very, very dependable'.

Human nature being what it is, I can understand why owners of higher-end MBs are sniffy about the cheaper models. But to me the final version of the W169 A Class exhibited enough of the marque's rejuvenated core qualities to justify choosing it over others.

I accept that the extra investment and the car's unusual construction design made it impossible to continue to build it economically for what was essentially a super-niche market. But I am delighted to own one - and yes,I do get a bit riled when people airily dismiss it as unworthy of the marque.

 

[EmilysDad]

v....
I do get a bit riled when people airily dismiss it as unworthy of the marque.

Does the 'marque'/badge make this a 'prestigious' car?

IMHO no, the maker is, but the car isn't.

 

[rhud]

Does the 'marque'/badge make this a 'prestigious' car?

IMHO no, the maker is, but the car isn't.

You misunderstand me (I suspect deliberately). I don't like the A Class because it's a Mercedes. But because it's a well-made small car.

 

[EmilysDad]

You misunderstand me (I suspect deliberately). I don't like the A Class because it's a Mercedes. But because it's a well-made small car.

I'm not answering you specifically. As I said earlier, they're not for me, but I also didn't buy my car because it has a Merc badge on it (not many people world wide did) but because I liked the idea of something a little different and wasn't FWD.
The general theme through the thread is that because it's a Merc then that makes it a prestigious car. IMHO, Merc, like other car makers, make prestigious cars, but the badge doesn't make them all prestigious.

 

[grober]

OH! I SEE YOU DRIVE A TOYOTA.

 

[EmilysDad]

OH! I SEE YOU DRIVE A TOYOTA.
....

I have to say that I've always quite liked the iQ :Oops: :Oops: So wouldn't say no to an Aston badged version (no idea how much that bit of 'Badge Engineering' costs ) ......

 

[whitenemesis]

I have to say that I've always quite liked the iQ :Oops: :Oops: So wouldn't say no to an Aston badged version (no idea how much that bit of 'Badge Engineering' costs ) ......

Approx £31k, apparently

http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/aston-martin-cygnet-toyota-iq-2011-01-20

 

[EmilysDad]

Approx £31k, apparently

http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/aston-martin-cygnet-toyota-iq-2011-01-20

You could have an even week iQ & an odd week iQ & still have a spare for that money :lol: :lol: :lol:
Toyota iQ

 

[SAABfan]

I paid around 4k for a 10 year old CLK320, 3 years ago.
It has been the best car I've ever owned.

What else would have as got that is as good for 4k?

Age for me doesn't matter. It's all about the car.