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Old 4th May 2014, 11:02   #16
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

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Originally Posted by veedub89 View Post
There will be a new Yeti out soon. I suggest, if you can wait for it, you will have a better choice. The new car was displayed at the Auto Expo and it seemed full to brim with features.
I did forget to mention, I am already a Yetian Even both me and my father had a soft spot for it the moment we saw it in the showroom 4 years ago. Finally our dreams were realised last year.

Anyways, Happy Mile Munching!

OT: I hate the new Yeti's looks.
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Old 4th May 2014, 11:55   #17
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Congrats on the B, vee-dub. It is, as you say, a true-blue Merc but as a car-buying nation I think we are a long way away from growing out of our sedan fixation. You're bound to get guys that wonder why you paid so much for a "hatch", and you did well to pay no heed to them.

Keep this thread alive and updated, and wish you miles of smiles in your baby Merc.
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Old 4th May 2014, 14:19   #18
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

Congrats on your new ride. The interiors of the B class really look young and refreshing. However the exterior designing is a little bit boring but I guess it goes well with the targeted audience of the car. The one problem area I felt with the B class was the rear bench space specially the under thigh support. For a familt hatch, it felt severely compromised. Even in the picture you have posted the seats look so small.

The colour you have chosen is looking absolutely gorgeous on the car.
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Old 4th May 2014, 14:40   #19
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

Congratulations on the car. Is this the very first B-Class ownership report we have here?

Solid choice and I wish you several trouble free miles in it. Do get in touch with Tune-O-Tronics for a remap. They would be happy to oblige. There ought to be a few in the Delhi NCR region too. Just remember to reflash and drive the car for a bit before you give it for a service

Cheers!
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Old 4th May 2014, 19:00   #20
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

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Originally Posted by drmohitg View Post
Congrats on your new ride. The interiors of the B class really look young and refreshing. However the exterior designing is a little bit boring but I guess it goes well with the targeted audience of the car. The one problem area I felt with the B class was the rear bench space specially the under thigh support. For a familt hatch, it felt severely compromised. Even in the picture you have posted the seats look so small.

The colour you have chosen is looking absolutely gorgeous on the car.
Thanks!
Yes that's a very correct observation. The under thigh support isn't great. It is not really a family hatch. It is more suited for a single driver who needs the badge value and the comfort/convenience of a Merc/automatic.
The color was a tough choice. Everyone at home thought that the Silver is the best one of the lot. I asked the dealership to put both colors out in the sun. That's what sealed it for this color, which is called Monolith Grey by the way. Yeah, grey. Weird isn't it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by IshaanIan View Post
Congratulations on the car. Is this the very first B-Class ownership report we have here?

Solid choice and I wish you several trouble free miles in it. Do get in touch with Tune-O-Tronics for a remap. They would be happy to oblige. There ought to be a few in the Delhi NCR region too. Just remember to reflash and drive the car for a bit before you give it for a service

Cheers!
Thanks!
Yeah I guess it is!
There is no official review for the Diesel B so I hope my review helps everyone in the future when considering the B.
Thanks for the tip. I will surely get in touch with Tune-O-Tronins for a re-map option.

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Originally Posted by androdev View Post
Hey congrats on your fabulous new car!

If you were to do this without a Jetta in your garage, what would your pick be among B class, Jetta AT topend and Q3 topend?
Thanks androdev!
That's a very good question. I hadn't thought of it that way.
I guess if I didn't have the Jetta in my garage I would have most definitely picked up a Jetta top-end. The sedan factor would have surely played on our minds. The Jetta top end is basically an A4.
If the budget was not as issue it would have been a Q3 top end.

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Originally Posted by razor4077 View Post
Congrats, great car! I had checked out the B recently while evaluating a car for my dad. Didn't opt for it since backseat comfort and space were the priorities. Was good to drive though. Nice touch from the dealer- letting you try out the car for half a day. Sealed the deal for him I'd say
Thanks razor.
Yea it sure did seal the deal for him. We were quite amazed when he offered to "lend" it to us for half a day.
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Old 13th May 2014, 17:03   #21
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

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Originally Posted by veedub89 View Post
What happened next was pretty unique. The Service Head introduced herself to us and gave her visiting card. This I feel is a great step. After Sales is not an issue with Mercs but to have a direct line to the Service Head is re-assuring.
.
Congratulation on the B class. Nice review and great colour choice!!

Service head introducing themselves and reassuring you is the new norm everywhere in high end showrooms as they have identified customer retention and word of mouth publicity as their biggest drivers of sales in the future. Audi even gives out service engineers number in case you need help in figuring out warning lights and operational controls.It's also a nice touch. Makes you feel confident

Once you are in the luxury segment, then they know your next car will be one too hence they will try to retain you. In fact I was shocked when I came to know that Audi's loyalty bonus runs into lakhs and even bigger than the discounts given!!

Happy motoring!!
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Old 13th May 2014, 22:00   #22
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

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Originally Posted by microaubin View Post
Congratulation on the B class. Nice review and great colour choice!!

Service head introducing themselves and reassuring you is the new norm everywhere in high end showrooms as they have identified customer retention and word of mouth publicity as their biggest drivers of sales in the future. Audi even gives out service engineers number in case you need help in figuring out warning lights and operational controls.It's also a nice touch. Makes you feel confident

Once you are in the luxury segment, then they know your next car will be one too hence they will try to retain you. In fact I was shocked when I came to know that Audi's loyalty bonus runs into lakhs and even bigger than the discounts given!!

Happy motoring!!
Thanks man. I appreciate it.
Yea once you a buy a car from the big 3 all your next cars are guaranteed to be from the same set.

This Audi loyalty bonus being greater than the discounts is news to me.
Do you mean that if an existing customer buys another Audi he gets the standard market discount + loyalty discount on the car ?
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Old 13th May 2014, 23:18   #23
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

Many congrats vdub!

I find the omission of the rear AC vents a bit strange considering this is a 20L+ car. Even the space saver tyre seems to have been tossed inside the boot without any proper securing in place! I could notice the hooks inside the boot - maybe you could use them to secure the tyre. Do the rear view mirrors (interior and exterior both) have the electrochromic functionality? If it isn't too much to ask, can you post a night shot of the interiors with the backlighting please?

Glad to see that Chandigarh has adopted the HSNP system. Be careful of those round rivet enclosures - they seem to get rusted after a while especially after the monsoons.

Have fun with the B and drive safe!
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Old 14th May 2014, 00:17   #24
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

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Originally Posted by Gannu_1 View Post
Many congrats vdub!

I find the omission of the rear AC vents a bit strange considering this is a 20L+ car. Even the space saver tyre seems to have been tossed inside the boot without any proper securing in place! I could notice the hooks inside the boot - maybe you could use them to secure the tyre. Do the rear view mirrors (interior and exterior both) have the electrochromic functionality? If it isn't too much to ask, can you post a night shot of the interiors with the backlighting please?

Glad to see that Chandigarh has adopted the HSNP system. Be careful of those round rivet enclosures - they seem to get rusted after a while especially after the monsoons.

Have fun with the B and drive safe!
Thanks!
The rear AC vents are conspicuous by their absence but the saving grace is the AC itself. It is a chiller! Super effective so not any complaints.
There are hooks to hold the space saver tyre in place but the whole setup is quite an eye sore. Funnily enough the recess beneath the floor board could have been tweaked easily to fit the space saver in the conventional place.

I will upload a photo of the interior soon.

Thanks for the tip on those HSNP plates. The plates themselves are pretty shoddy I will need to be careful with them too.

Cheers!
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Old 14th May 2014, 11:35   #25
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

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Originally Posted by veedub89 View Post
This Audi loyalty bonus being greater than the discounts is news to me.
Do you mean that if an existing customer buys another Audi he gets the standard market discount + loyalty discount on the car ?
Yes, that's true. While I was going through his file set looking at different service plans I chanced upon this sheet. Its too good to be true. When I asked him he said its true and quoted the Q7 in fact has a waiting period and no discounts, but if you are a current Audi owner, you get the loyalty discount by just giving them a copy of your RC book. He also mentioned because of this he has a high rate of repeat customers who take advantage of this.

Market discounts vary from time to time. So I don't know if loyalty discounts are higher than standard discounts, but surely it runs into lakhs which is quite significant even to a prospective luxury car buyer.


Thinking about it too much, even Maruti and Hyundai give out loyalty discounts. Higher the value of the car, proportionate is its loyalty bonus.

Last edited by microaubin : 14th May 2014 at 11:43.
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Old 20th June 2014, 15:57   #26
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

2000km Update

The car is doing great!
My daily run is just about 20 kms so obviously haven't put in a lot of kilometres on the odo.

Mercedes had given us a coupon on the delivery of the car which entitled us to a free checkup between 1000 and 3000 kms or upto 6 months from delivery, whichever is earlier. So, I have yet to make use of that. I will most probably be doing it next week. I will share my experience here.

One of the things that I have grown to love the most about the car is that it is extremely easy to drive in the city. It seems huge from the driver's seat but that sense of space is not transferred to the road. Squeezing into parking gaps isn't a problem at all. Living with the B is certainly quite easy. Chandigarh is getting really congested (issue being discussed elsewhere on the forum) and therefore one is always fearing a shunt or a scratch to the car.

The Edition 1 B-Class is scheduled for launch soon. It adds Panaromic sunroof, rear entertainment package and a few other things to the car. I hope that now there will be a possibility of adding these features to my car.

I have noticed 2 other B-Classes doing the rounds here in Chandigarh. Both are white but one of them has a sunroof so it is probably the Petrol B180 Sport.

Until next time!

Cheers!
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Old 20th June 2014, 16:31   #27
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

Congratulations on the new Merc

Amazing car to drive, I had the pleasure of driving one which belonged to one of my friend. Actually a friend of a friend who I met for the first time, the friend of the friend understood that i was appreciating the car and not her, from the way I was looking at it. She offered me the car and I took it for a short spin and was left wanting for more but then the friend of a friend wanted the car back (guess she felt hurt on my undivided attention to the Car instead of her).

Someday, maybe.
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Old 21st June 2014, 10:35   #28
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

A little late in the day but nonetheless a very big congratulations to you on your Baby Benz. The color is stunning and so are the interiors.

One thing that you could avoid is the use of the liquid Ambi Pur prefumes on the AC vents. They have a tendency of spilling and spoiling the dash plastic. I would suggest that you remove it ASAP and replace it with a a solid(wax based) air freshener like My Shaldan. There is one from Glade that is available in Supermarts these days.

Wishing you thousands of safe and happy miles on your new ride.

Cheers
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Old 21st June 2014, 12:12   #29
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

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Originally Posted by Baddychat View Post
A little late in the day but nonetheless a very big congratulations to you on your Baby Benz. The color is stunning and so are the interiors.

One thing that you could avoid is the use of the liquid Ambi Pur prefumes on the AC vents. They have a tendency of spilling and spoiling the dash plastic. I would suggest that you remove it ASAP and replace it with a a solid(wax based) air freshener like My Shaldan. There is one from Glade that is available in Supermarts these days.

Wishing you thousands of safe and happy miles on your new ride.

Cheers
Thanks for tip!

These solid air freshners need to be mounted on the dash right? Are they like a permanent fixture or could you remove them later on?
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Old 21st June 2014, 18:00   #30
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Re: The Baby Benz - My Mercedes B-Class

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Thanks for tip!

These solid air freshners need to be mounted on the dash right? Are they like a permanent fixture or could you remove them later on?
They come is disposable containers, plastic/metal both. You could mount them on the dash with a double sided tape or keep them below the AC controls.
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