[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by v_s_natarajan

yeah, MERC: the recall because they care about Quality. Bull.
they did something stupid and let their cars roll out from their assembly.
Fiat or Ford, we would be saying bad cars.
Frankly, they are the cars being over-hyped and over rated.

You own a Merc, Natty (we normally call Natarajans 'nutty' but that would be taken totally out of context here) ? Driven one and enjoyed the sheer pleasure, perhaps? Try doing one long distance drive in a Merc, walk out as fresh as you got in after a 4-5 hour drive and you'll know the difference.

Feel an automobile fit itself around you, instead of the other way around. THAT is pleasure.


I would be the last to say that they are anywhere near the heights of their glory right now, but calling them over-hyped is uncharitable when the comparison is with the brands you mentioned. Compare them with Beemers or Audis and if you must, compare them to the new Cadillacs (CTS/STS - they're quite nice, surprisingly).

[RX135]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

You own a Merc, Natty (we normally call Natarajans 'nutty' but that would be taken totally out of context here) ? Driven one and enjoyed the sheer pleasure, perhaps? Try doing one long distance drive in a Merc, walk out as fresh as you got in after a 4-5 hour drive and you'll know the difference. Feel an automobile fit itself around you, instead of the other way around. THAT is pleasure.

Steer, you know what? We always seem to have diametrically opposite views on cars (especially Fiat cars :lol ). But this time you are spot on. German cars are pinnacle of mech. engineering. Unfortunately, they are facing lot of problems these days. But again mostly due to electronic gadgetry, which is, anyway, always suspect everywhere. They were pioneers and still keep on setting the trends. No wonder, they charge such high premium for their cars and still get it.

GTO, sad to hear about problems with your Merc.

[ported_head]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

You own a Merc, Natty (we normally call Natarajans 'nutty' but that would be taken totally out of context here) ? Driven one and enjoyed the sheer pleasure, perhaps? Try doing one long distance drive in a Merc, walk out as fresh as you got in after a 4-5 hour drive and you'll know the difference.

Feel an automobile fit itself around you, instead of the other way around. THAT is pleasure.


I would be the last to say that they are anywhere near the heights of their glory right now, but calling them over-hyped is uncharitable when the comparison is with the brands you mentioned. Compare them with Beemers or Audis and if you must, compare them to the new Cadillacs (CTS/STS - they're quite nice, surprisingly).

So one would think. But my experiences with C-Klasse has always been horrendous. Squeaking rear seats that paralyse the medulla oblongata. ABS/ESP failing mid way into a corner. Horn interferes with the music setup in the car. Quality? No, more like blitzkreig on the rest of the world. Maybe the upper echelons of the Mercedes brand offer better quality, or the Mercs of yore. Maybe the competing brands offer the similar deteriorating levels of quality, but I haven't been lucky enough to get a ride in any of those. But, when your driving car whose steering wheel has an embossed 3-pointed star, when you know at the edge of the hood there is another 3-pointed star which stands for all it's heritage and glory that commands a helluva premium should atleast be a peaceful drive, instead as if somebody is trying to kill you.

Mercedes probably gets criticised the maximum too because people always expect that much more from it. Though I still lust for a T-Klasse, those estate cars. Built like a tank and look the part too.

[Sahil]

Without getting into the quality issue's of MBIL, which is a never ending arguement. The good part about the company is that it admits its faults and recalls the cars, my family has owned atleast one car in almost all the big name in the indian auto industry and not once has any company called in for a recall. The only car of mine that was called in was the mercedes. The company called it in 2 yrs back or so and replaced the keys and the entire trunk including the opening mechanix of it, according to me both of them were pefect wonder why they ever changed it but since it comes free so i have no complaints.

[v_s_natarajan]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

You own a Merc, Natty (we normally call Natarajans 'nutty' but that would be taken totally out of context here) ? Driven one and enjoyed the sheer pleasure, perhaps? Try doing one long distance drive in a Merc, walk out as fresh as you got in after a 4-5 hour drive and you'll know the difference.

).

Oh yes. I had owned one in the US itself , my brother owns one too and i have driven it heck a number of times on long rides and also used to work for their ECU design unit in germany(I am an embedded software Engineer(should I say "was").
trust me, I know the difference. My point was Merc..s are run more with their reputations.
Also trust me, I have driven some Volvo's which will thump out some mercs..

[v_s_natarajan]

oh, not to forget the excellant driving experiences that I had with the merc...
no questions and second thoughts.
I somehow get the feeling that the quality is slipping, from what I read around

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Without getting into the quality issue's of MBIL, which is a never ending arguement. The good part about the company is that it admits its faults and recalls the cars, my family has owned atleast one car in almost all the big name in the indian auto industry and not once has any company called in for a recall. The only car of mine that was called in was the mercedes. The company called it in 2 yrs back or so and replaced the keys and the entire trunk including the opening mechanix of it, according to me both of them were pefect wonder why they ever changed it but since it comes free so i have no complaints.

We owned a pre V2 indica, pretty old pne, 1999 perhaps, after a few months tata recalled, changed the suspension and changed all the tyres. Since the car had done 10K, they took 30% of the cost of tyres(Tyre life is 30000 according to them). The problem was that the suspension setup was causing uneven wear in many cars. It was actually a surprise when the dealer called and explained what was to happen. And the interesting thing is that people who do alignment every 10000kms will never see this problem, its just that alignment had a tendency to go out of place sooner. Tata makes ****ty cars, no doubt, but this gesture went a long way into fooling the indians

[v_s_natarajan]

consider the Flip side.
if the companies do not recall any defective product and if any of their clients sue them, they not only lose lot of money but also their reputation. there are so many instances that these Auto companies have to cough up millions of dollars.
it will be very naive to believe that these companies(including Daimler benz) all altruistic

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

We owned a pre V2 indica, pretty old pne, 1999 perhaps, after a few months tata recalled, changed the suspension and changed all the tyres. Since the car had done 10K, they took 30% of the cost of tyres(Tyre life is 30000 according to them). The problem was that the suspension setup was causing uneven wear in many cars. It was actually a surprise when the dealer called and explained what was to happen. And the interesting thing is that people who do alignment every 10000kms will never see this problem, its just that alignment had a tendency to go out of place sooner. Tata makes ****ty cars, no doubt, but this gesture went a long way into fooling the indians

Well what can i say.... Mercedes taught Tata well Thanks to their joint venture when mercedes first started up by tieing up with Tata. I guess that taught Tata a thing or two about customer service haha. Jokes aside i didnt really expect this from Tata but its good that they r keeping a keen intrest to keep customers happy not many indian companys do that.

[lamborghini]

No one has called and informed me but i think it is only for the petrol models.
Will get it checked up.

[Deeps]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

No one has called and informed me but i think it is only for the petrol models.
Will get it checked up.

Its a bit late now anyway.

[tsk1979]

Mercedes is recalling all its C/E/S class cars sold since 2001 everywhere in the world. The result = 1.3 million vehicle recall. This was done because of frequent electrical faliures reported worldwide. This just came in this months Autocar India(May). GTO finally can heave a sigh of relief!

[Montoya]

But are they recalling it in India. It has been said that in India its majority of the S classes.