Have you *ever* been in a Mercedes ?? Overpriced and expensive perhaps, but you can't fault the ride. Certainly not if you come from the US which has a history of deriving its ride quality from the marine industry and has been slow to give up cart springs. Wait, that would be logging waggon springs.
Dave Milne, Scotland.
Change it to read "The German car makers couldn't sell a car in Germany unless it was expensive..."
People would still buy these cars because they are expensive, or because other people know they are expensive, no matter the speed limit. "Qué dirán", you know. A friend fell asleep in 1975 or so, and drove a TVR into a rock wall. A natural rock wall, part of a mountain in Vermont. The car looked like hell, but the driver was fine.
You forgot Porsche. "Subarus"? Four wheel drive socker mom station wagons.
Earle
We get a Subaru Imprezza WRX turbo over here - a 280bhp 4x4 saloon.
I didn't mention Porsche as it's German !
Dave Milne, Scotland
In Germany the Mercedes is not expensive, it's like our Ford or Chevy. It's what the police, and taxi drivers use. God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O mailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com
Right:
You appear stupid, since you obviously aren't aware what has been going on. While the Big 3 have shown token interest in reasonably sized cars the "import" manufacturers have been building what consumers want at very good quality.
Nothing to do with the NYSE or the UAW, just very poor management by the Big 3.
Why?
You are.
And it's not a violation anyway, you just like to threaten.
Yep.
The whale-watchers can't get enuff.
Moby Hughes, The Father Of Cowards.
Sorry, I forgot 'original' and 'clever'....
You are very out of date when is comes to NA cars. I rent a UK (sold, none made there anymore) car every year or so, thus I know what I'm talking about.
I guess I wasn't too clear - even the mainstream cars in Germany have to be competent to operate at Vmax otherwise many Germans wouldn't consider buying them. They have great brakes and good steering and most of the engines are equipped with engine oil coolers to allow sustained high speed operation.
The Ferraris, Lambo's A-M etc. you mention aren't mainstream cars but their sporting capabilities are obvious.
The others you mention tend to be low volume versions of mainstream models with the requisite go-fast parts added on ...
And the 7L American cars generally don't have good handling and aren't equipped or tuned for the high speed operation seen in Europe and especially Germany.
Sorry to bother the group ...
reboot Detroit (well, nearby)
I don't agree that the braking or steering is significantly better. In fact, I've driven some pretty poor handling BMWs and VWs !
Dave Milne, Scotland.
I don't think the OP is necessarily "stupid"...he's right about greed in US business, but you're right about Big 3 management...THEY'RE the culprits, and have all the money in the world to deflect blame onto the floor workers through Rockefeller-like "PR" campaigns and sniveling to their press puppet, the WSJ...one of the least credible news organs on the planet.
If you read my post carefully, you will note I said "was slow to give up" not "hasn't given up". Although you rent a UK car every year or so, I bet you don't drive nearly as many of them as I do...
Dave Milne, Scotland
Is the low-sulfur diesel available all over the US yet?
DAS
For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling
On the whole Mercs have been and are classy and timeless.
That's why a 20-yr-old Merc can still pass muster today.
DAS
For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling
Timeless is a nice way to put it. They certainly aren't out of style. 20 year old Mercs don't have any character lines on them anywhere, or any kind of styling features. They weren't really styled at all, just basically a block of soap.
I admit new ones are quite a bit more styled. I was just saying they didn't actually use styling for a long time, say 1960 to 2000. I'm not saying I didn't like the styling - I'm saying there wasn't any. If you don't put lines on something, it's just flat.
We have it in OR also. What the ironic thing is, is that this mandate is one of the reasons fuel prices went up - it's more costly to refine heavy crude to get rid of the sulfur - yet the diesel prices here are lower than gasoline.
Ted
That's because they don't change their style that often... I've never understood why someone would want to buy a car that will automatically look like an "old" car once the new model year comes along...
There are certain cars over the years whose style is such that they will be classics... Usually these end up being sports cars, but sometimes other cars end up in this category... If a car has style, it will still have style 20 years from now if you can keep it in like new condition... I seriously doubt that any Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infinitly, Honda/Acura, or Kia sedans will ever be classified as such... Of course, the CJs get classified this way...
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.