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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    But other than the quality of the interior materials and decent diesels, they have nothing to offer, really. And they are bone crushingly expensive to repair. An SCCA buddy of mine runs an indie shop that often services Benzes. A recent A/C repair on a fairly new Benz cost more than my car is worth, due mostly to the cost of OEM parts. Mercedes makes more 400 hp cars than any other car maker, and they make more 500 hp cars than anyone else also. They also make 4 convertibles and are adding 2 more (although the SLS is going away and the AMG GT may not get a convertible). BMW and Audi each have 3, Lexus has 1, Cadillac none. So if you want power or open air motoring, they have plenty to offer. Audi and BMW have high repair costs too, and they don't have Mercedes reliability or longevity. Lexus probably is cheapest to own as far as repairs, but that is to be expected since it is just a glorified Toyota with a V6 from 2008.
  2. smk4565
    Mercedes has no lack of perception. The Germans own the global luxury market and Mercedes probably has the strongest image of the 3.
  3. smk4565
    There is about a foot of length difference between an ATS/3-series and the CTS/5-series. I could see how if you added 6 inches and put it solely on rear seat legroom you make a bigger backseat, and that could have appeal in China. But then why doesn't a Hyundai Genesis or Toyota Avalon or some roomy car sell there that already has passenger room. But I suppose they just want the badge on some level. Mercedes makes a long wheel base E-class for China also, I guess if the luxury market really wants chauffuer driven cars that is what car makers have to do there.
  4. smk4565
    I will say BMW interiors lack imagination, and they have looked basically the same for a long time but BMW owners like that look. The 7-series gets beat in every measure by the S-class, making the 7 lighter and adding an M version are probably just a couple fixes they are working on, they will have to work on the interior also. The S-class line is about to expand though to add the Maybach model and the convertible, the others in this segment can't offer so many body style variants. I guess the others will never admit defeat and back out of the segment, but you wonder how much money is Audi or BMW willing to put into a car that probably won't sell that well. Same for Cadillac, think they are going to spend $2 billion on the LTS for it to be a slow seller, I doubt it.
  5. smk4565
    That is a really good price, because this car basically performs with or maybe even better than the old ZR1 and that was about $40k more.
  6. smk4565
    Is this the most fuel efficient V8 now? I would think 16/29 is hard to beat, especially since a lot of V8s are heavy sedans.
  7. smk4565
    You have to wonder about the reliability of these cars. Dodge isn't exactly great to begin with, are these transmissions and chassis really going to stand up to this much power. With the Viper they can put even more power in, but the wheels are just going to spin and it is still going to have loads of oversteer and wild handling. It is easy for the people in the marketing department to sell horsepower though, doesn't matter if the car is awful or not, if it has 700 hp it makes for a nice commercial and whoever buys it has bragging rights.
  8. smk4565
    But Mercedes isn't selling S-class taxis in the US, and it clobbers the competition in sales here. Maybe fleet/government/taxi sales help in Europe, but the S-class beats anything else by over 2-1 margin. And in China, Audi is the fleet/government brand of choice, and the S-class outsells the A8 there. Even if 50% of the S-class sales were fleet, they are still outselling anyone else on retail. Bottom line is the S-class is a profit machine for Daimler, it generates more total profit than any other car line, only the Big 3 pickups create more total profit and they need to sell 500-600,000 a year to do that. These other automakers underestimate the S-class, other than maybe BMW who is looking at carbon fiber to cut 600-700 lbs off the 7-series and to do a 600 hp M7, I think at least they realize they need to step it up, but the others might as well die on the vine.
  9. smk4565
    Excuses, excuses though, why can't BMw Lexus or Audi compete with the S-cpass then? Infiniti, Acura and Cadillac don't even try although at least Cadillac is taking a shot at it. And you think a $100,000 Cadillac sedan won't depreciate fast?
  10. smk4565
    If the S-class was overpriced, it wouldn't be a market share god all over the world. Every competitor undercuts the S-class by about $20,000 and it still outsells the BMW, Lexus, Audi and Jaguar combined. If the S-class price was too high, buyers would go to cheaper alternatives. The S-class is almost good value, it is a better car than what you get from a Flying Spur or a Ghost, and those cost over $200,000.
  11. smk4565
    Cadillac is planning a car below the ATS to compete with the Audi A3 and Mercedes CLA. If the ATS is $33k, then you gotta figure $28-29k for the new smaller Caddy. They are copying the Germans at every turn, so GM must think the German strategy works.
  12. smk4565
    A 2007 is a borderline 8 year old car now. Most cars at 7 or 8 years old are only going to hold 1/3 of their original value. I have seen 2008 CTS for $15k, so 1/3 what is what new. An S600 has to depreciate because there aren't many people on the used market that can afford to run a V12. Only crazy rich people can pay that kind of cost, and they can afford a new one. The S-class is still the best car in this class, has the most engine options and they have a coupe and soon to have a convertible.
  13. smk4565
    As much as you like to deny it, every time some soccermom spends $40k on an SRX, that is $40k not spend on an equivalent X3. The two do compete.... and the Cadillac wins in sales most of the time. Agreed that they bought something else, so it is a lost potential customer. But it is sort of like if someone buys an Avalon or Impala instead of an Audi A3, they cost the same, but are different in character. Crossover buyers mostly want generic and fwd, that is why the Rav4 and CR-V sell so well. The SRX is Cadillac's best seller because it capitalizes on what crossover buyers want. The Germans are more into cars, and a midsize SUV from them is $10-15,000 more than what it costs at Lincoln, Lexus or Cadillac, for the typical crossover buyer they don't care about driving dynamics or engineering, so the Lexus RX on the Camry platform is perfect for them.
  14. smk4565
    I'd imagine most that can afford this can afford and S65, even though the S63 is quicker 0-60, I'd want an S65 to have the V12. Once you get into this price strata, why wouldn't you get the V12.
  15. smk4565
    Rather weak mileage for a small engine, sort of surprising. Really the 2.0T should be the entry level engine, most of these should be built with a V6, but I don't know if that is what they are doing. They should also drop a diesel in there, my friend has a 535d, and averages 31.7 mpg and he has 413 lb-ft of torque available from 1800 rpm, there is no power lag at all in his car.
  16. smk4565
    The SRX competes with the Lincoln MKX and Lexus RX350 though in the front drive, mid-size crossover arena. Which is a huge segment because the soccer moms want luxury crossovers that drive like the minivan or CamCord they used to have. There is definitely room and opportunity for Alpha based crossovers, I think a rear drive crossover to compete with the X5 and ML is a no brainer, the SRX can stay at the bottom end, Escalade at the top.
  17. smk4565
    I am curious to see what they do with the CTS-V, I'd assume some variant of the Z06 engine. The ATS-V and M3 are going to be seriously out powered by the C63 AMG, although I know power isn't the whole story.
  18. smk4565
    Well the EPA rates the CTS-V lower than the S63 so I was going off that. But Car and Driver in 2 different comparison tests with a CTS-V, one in 2009 and one in 2011 got 11 mpg each time. So if they got 16 mpg on an S63, that is pretty good.
  19. smk4565
    GM builds pickups, SUVs and sedans. No room for hot hatches or any of this Euro nonsense. Next people are going to say they want a convertible that isn't a Corvette or Camaro.
  20. smk4565
    How many above CAFE cars do they have, the 500 and Dart? Maybe the 200 4-clinder? So that is 3 cars to offset all those Jeeps, pickups, V8 Chargers, etc. It seems like the numbers wouldn't add up. But kudos to Dodge for putting an insane amount of power in a production car and not just playing everything safe and listening to the bean counters.
  21. smk4565
    I guy that lived on my street when I was in high school just bought a 1983 Mercdes 300d, he likes it, it has like 250k miles but runs and drives smooth. Chrysler Pacifica can be had for $5-6k if you get one with 125k miles.
  22. smk4565
    Even a lot of $5,000 used cars are like 04 Dodge Ingrepids with 125k miles and are awful. It is tough to find a decent cheap car.
  23. smk4565
    What about a 2002-2005 era Ford Focus, they had a sedan, hatch and wagon of that car, they are under $5,000 and fuel efficient and cheap to repair. There are a lot of Chrysler Sebrings under $5k and Buick Century type cars that are cheap.
  24. smk4565
    Clue was an awesome movie. A mid-engine Corvette is sacrilege! It has to be front engine rear drive, and the Camaro should stay an affordable sports car, with the Corvette still not outrageously priced. Value is part of the Corvette's equation. Make a mid-engine Cadillac supercar if you want one, then you can go all out and price it high and make it more of an exotic car.
  25. smk4565
    A friend of mine sent me a link to the world's hardest car quiz, and I must say it was very hard but a lot of fun also. I got a 72%. It was made in the UK so a few of these questions are more about European cars, or cars sold in Europe at least. http://www.carwow.co.uk/world-hardest-car-quiz
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