Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

They couldn't identify the Mazda by it's design, and yet they could identify their logo? i find the people who live in that part of the venn diagram to be a slim margin.

I think the worst one of those recently was for the new Chevy Equinox. They just got done all agreeing that it wasn't too "overbearing" in it's design ( <_< ), and then the hipster with the dreads says, "That's one bad mama jama" to everyone's giggling delight.
 
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I don't quite understand the point of "real people" commercials for cars. How many people are actually stupid enough to believe them? I swear the people in marketing must think literally everyone in the country is legally retarded.
 
The Chevy equinox is overpriced for what it is. It's about as slow as a 4cyl Outback with none of the style.
 
I don't quite understand the point of "real people" commercials for cars. How many people are actually stupid enough to believe them? I swear the people in marketing must think literally everyone in the country is legally retarded.


The Chevy VP of marketing said that the ads have been very effective and won't be going away anytime soon. http://www.autonews.com/article/201.../why-chevys-real-people-ads-are-still-running

So yes, our fellow Americans are really that stupid.

For Mazda's sake (because Chevy's are kinda dull in all aspects while Mazda is well...Mazda) hopefully that'll bring people into the showroom.

Mazda says they have a "perceived quality" issue in the US that they're hoping will turn around with their recent marketing focusing on craftsmanship and now "fellow consumer" opinion (notice how the gentleman says he's always "trusted" Mazda?) - https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/295007/mazda-aims-to-convey-its-maturity-quality.html
 
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If I were the VP of marketing responsible for a campaign of that size, I'd back it up with some choice numbers as well.
 
Some dickbag broke into the X last night, broke the rear window, rummaged around and didn't even take anything (I don't keep shit in the car) and of course this being a holiday weekend everything is fucking closed
 
Is that the floppy paddle gearbox?

Dunno, but it seems to be afflicted with erectile dysfunction...

Edit: Which, come to think of it, is probably a good description of much of their latest product lineup.
 
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I don't think that's a BMW, those climate controls look more Merc like to me.
 
Dunno, but it seems to be afflicted with erectile dysfunction...

Edit: Which, come to think of it, is probably a good description of much of their latest product lineup.

That IS actually a good way of describing it - it started out as a young sports guy in the 70s, got better in the 80s and 90s just to start to be kinda 'meh' in the 00s and now becoming (with some exceptions like the M2) a fat guy sitting on the couch all day.
 
Some dickbag broke into the X last night, broke the rear window, rummaged around and didn't even take anything (I don't keep shit in the car) and of course this being a holiday weekend everything is fucking closed
:hug:
 
Wait a minute. Isn't this a Mercedes-Benz?

It may be. Erectile dysfunction still applies to their lineup as well, what with all the new FWD crap in their lineup, the crippled E-classes, etc., etc.
 
Dang it, you replied to me even though I deleted the message pretty much after I wrote that. :lol:

I had the tab open for too long and didn't realise Rick has posted exactly that.

What do you mean by crippled E-class?
 
Dang it, you replied to me even though I deleted the message pretty much after I wrote that. :lol:

I had the tab open for too long and didn't realise Rick has posted exactly that.

What do you mean by crippled E-class?

For years and years and years, MB has sent us only the larger I6s of the diesel range in the E-class (we don't get diesel C-class or smaller and we haven't gotten diesel S-classes in a while.) Partly because that's the only diesel MB engines that the NA market considers to have sufficient power, partly because those were the only Merc diesel engines that had sufficient smoothness to be accepted in the class (remember, MB is a luxury-only brand here). The diesels were often sold as midline or premium variants and priced accordingly, and they sold reasonably well.

Flash forward to a couple years ago and Mercedes decides they want to change things. The E-class moves slightly upmarket in price; the diesel I6 is gone and it's replaced by the E250 BlueTEC I4 engine. In fact, Mercedes is so proud of this thing that it's the only diesel option available and better yet, they're going to make it *mandatory* in the base US E-class. In a market where the same money (~$50K+) buys you any number of competitive cars that don't have this rough, noisy unrefined power plant that you have to hear shut down and clatter back to life at stoplights. While it technically has similar power outputs to the I6 it replaced, it is emphatically not happy if you push it - it moans, groans and clatters. From a prior thread on it - even from a Euro perspective the engine isn't really suited to the car:

I've been in many, many taxis powered by this lump and I can't say it's very refined, not considering it's supposed to be a premium car. It's also hilarious how the stop/start system makes the entire car rock left and right. :lol:

They recently gave up trying to persuade us to buy this horrible POS as the base engine and for 2017 have gone to the E300 gas powered I4 pushing out a whopping 241hp as the base model. Yay. There are now no diesel options on the E-class in the US.

They have tentatively planned to try again in 2018 as a MY2019 car with your new 2.0L I4 diesel but unless they made significant advances from the POS in the E250, it's going to get the same rousing "fuck you" for a greeting as the E250 Bluetec did here.

You know what else I can buy for the $52,150 Mercedes wants for a base E-class powered by four guinea pigs in a treadmillthat 241hp/273tq I4?

I can buy a slightly older E-class design with a 363 horsepower V8 and still have thousands left over:
2017_chrysler_300_vlp_gallery1.jpg.image.1440.jpg


I can buy a Lexus GS 350 with a 311 horsepower V6 and still have a few grand left over:
Lexus-GS-350-shown-in-atomic-silver-gallery-overlay-1204x677-LEX-GSG-MY16-0231-01.jpg


I can buy an Infiniti M37Q70 3.7 with a 330hp V6. Still have money left.
2017-infiniti-q70-exterior-moonroof-original.jpg


Oh, and I can buy a Cadillac CTS for $45995 that comes out of the box with 268hp.
2017-cts-sedan-performance-masthead-1280x350.jpg


None of these have a shitty Chinese knockoff of a Galaxy Tab slapped on the dash next to the instrument binnacle like the E-class does.

In any case, yeah, the current USDM E-class is definitely crippled compared to past models and the current competition.
 
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???

Flash forward to a couple years ago and Mercedes decides they want to change things. The E-class moves slightly upmarket in price; the diesel I6 is gone and it's replaced by the E250 BlueTEC I4 engine.

???

I thought you would be really happy Mercedes stopped bringing the straight six diesel to the US? Nothing wrong with the engine, but the W211 body that came with it...
 
I thought you would be really happy Mercedes stopped bringing the straight six diesel to the US? Nothing wrong with the engine, but the W211 body that came with it...

No, because it was actually a decent engine and was a good fit for the car. If someone *really* wanted a diesel car and was absolutely set on getting one, for a long time the only choices here were Mercedes or VW. Which I didn't see as any choice at all; I tended to recommend the Mercedes option and rarely had any "comebacks" from people that bought one. For a while there, the diesel E-class was pretty much the *only* Merc I'd recommend.

Also, I think you missed this post here a couple months back.
In other news: A little less than ten years ago, friend of mine asked me which diesel car he should buy; he had a New Beetle TDI courtesy of his then-wife and he'd decided his next car should be a diesel. The selection being pretty slim back then, he initially was asking which VW TDI he should buy. I did manage to convince him that the Mercedes, despite the problems Merc had with Mercedes Rot at the time, was a far, far better choice than the Volkswagen options. He ended up picking up a 2006 W211 E320 CDI in 08 or 09 from a local dealer as a CPO lease return with as much warranty as he could pile on it. It's been a really good car for him, the warranty ate most of the Mercedes Rot problems and it has vastly outlasted the VW products that other people in his circle of friends bought - and it's not being recalled to be crushed because the manufacturer lied to everyone.

Today I got a phone call asking me to help him source some W211 body panels. It seems that after more than 180,000 miles, he's managed to kill it (at least temporarily) - he plowed into a fire hydrant with it. He at first claimed it was a 'glancing blow'...



Ouch.

Well, at least there's no shortage of dead W211s to get parts from in junkyards or even broken W211s to buy for cheap and scavenge body parts from.

I was happy to see the end of the W211; I was not happy to see the end of the I6 Merc diesels. I'm not a huge fan of diesel engines in cars - especially cars of this class - but if you absolutely have to have one you should at least be able to get one that's done right. As of right now, your new diesel car options in the US are either "no" or, well, this - AKA "crappy."

2014-Chevrolet-Cruze-TD-030-medium.jpg


if anyone over there comes across the person responsible for the current USDM E-class engine options, please throw them in the nearest river, canal, lake or other body of water to wake them the fuck up? There are soccer moms driving around in brand new USDM Honda Accords with more power than the base E-class has. :p
 
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