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Why Mercedes, Why?

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Old 04-27-04, 07:50 AM
  #16  
Gojirra99
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Originally posted by mmarshall
No.....quality does not HAVE to be expensive. . . . . . Mercedes' problems stem from several sources.....partly arrogant leadership, partly high-priced labor, partly the policies of the German government, partly from pressure from Japanese competition . . .
That's why it's expensive FOR THEM, they cannot afford to keep prices competitive & increase material quality at the same time. Having to pay unionized labour wages is not something that can easily be changed.

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Old 04-27-04, 08:24 AM
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mmarshall
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Originally posted by SexySC
That's why it's expensive FOR THEM, they cannot afford to keep prices competitive & increase material quality at the same time. Having to pay unionized labour wages is not something that can easily be changed.
Yeah..but don't get me wrong. I'm not against union workers.....everyone has the right to make a decent living. And most of us would not want to go back to the old sweat shops. But in Germany and in some other European countries they have taken cradle-to-grave socialism, high wages, and job security to such degrees that it is seriously impacting on the ability of German companies to compete. And add to that the traditional arrogance of the people who run German industry, and you have a formula for some real trouble. That is why VW, BMW, Mercedes, and Audi all have assembly lines outside of Germany (and Europe) now.
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Old 04-27-04, 09:33 AM
  #18  
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Default Re: Mercedes quality drop

Originally posted by mmarshall
Mercedes in fact was the quality standard of the industry for decades....up until about 10 years ago. All through the 1980's, in spite of Toyota and Honda's growing reputation, Mercedes built what were considered the most durable cars available. Even then, though, like now, they still needed a lot of expensive maintenence, if not repairs. But in the early -to-mid 1990's a gradual quality drop started to develop that started to accelerate after 1996. The ML-class accelerated the drop even more, as did today's C-Class and SLK. A number of reasons have been given for this quality drop over the years...too many to go into in detail in just one post here. Perhaps this could be the subject for a new general discussion thread.
Okay, before my driving days .
 
Old 04-27-04, 10:29 AM
  #19  
mmarshall
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Default Re: Re: Mercedes quality drop

Originally posted by 1SICKLEX
Okay, before my driving days .
Yeah, a lot of you guys on this forum are younger than I am...but in some areas that's good....you guys never had to put up with carburators, breaker point ignition, weak batteries, fade-prone paint, drum brakes, sloppy steering, and a number of other things I had to when I first started driving. Those of you who ever had to deal with carburators, especially, on cold and lukewarm starts can appreciate multiport fuel injection and electronic engine management.

But on the other hand, in those days you could get in your car and go somewhere....and enjoy it. Today you get in your car and sit still.
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Old 04-27-04, 12:06 PM
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not a good move for mercedes imo
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Old 04-27-04, 06:09 PM
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...well the cat's out of the bag. It's not a rumor.
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Old 04-29-04, 04:38 PM
  #22  
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Default quality?

Originally posted by mmarshall
No.....quality does not HAVE to be expensive. Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Mazda, Nissan, and others all make good, durable cars for less than 20K...and even 10-15 K in some instances. And consider Hyundai....the all-time maker of junk and the butt of jokes for so many years. They have improved enormously in the past 5-7 years. Today's Hyundai products, while still not quite the equal of Toyota or Honda in durability, have high-quality materials and good fit-and-finish......and have not jacked their prices up much either.
Mercedes' problems stem from several sources.....partly arrogant leadership, partly high-priced labor, partly the policies of the German government, partly from pressure from Japanese competition, but mainly just from trying to cheapen the hardware in their cars and using too many untested and unreliable electronic safety nannies.
I may be dreaming but I think I heard on the news this morning that Hyundai made this years #1 spot on JD Power for reliability. I was half sleep but it couldn't have been a dream. It definitely put Hyundai up there high. If they can do that for reasonable prices, so can benz. They don't want to. Why should they. People keep buying their cars. When I had one I would see people who complained about their cars go right back into the showroom to buy another. I don't get it.
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Old 04-29-04, 07:14 PM
  #23  
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Originally posted by mmarshall
No.....quality does not HAVE to be expensive. Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Mazda, Nissan, and others all make good, durable cars for less than 20K...and even 10-15 K in some instances. And consider Hyundai....the all-time maker of junk and the butt of jokes for so many years. They have improved enormously in the past 5-7 years. Today's Hyundai products, while still not quite the equal of Toyota or Honda in durability, have high-quality materials and good fit-and-finish......and have not jacked their prices up much either.
Mercedes' problems stem from several sources.....partly arrogant leadership, partly high-priced labor, partly the policies of the German government, partly from pressure from Japanese competition, but mainly just from trying to cheapen the hardware in their cars and using too many untested and unreliable electronic safety nannies.
Unfortunately with the amount of technology MB is packing into cars these days, quality will be expensive. MB has been first to market with a bunch of features - some of which are just now coming to the LS. I think we can actually thank MB for raising the technology bar and finally getting Lexus to pony up with some advanced technology (6 speed trans, smart access, sport package, etc.). But the Japanese are often followers - they let someone else do it first, then they perfect it.
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Old 05-01-04, 07:04 PM
  #24  
Kash
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just see my profile our 98e430 has soo many problems and it only has 20k miles on it
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