I hear people refer to the XF as a poor man's Mercedes. I feel offended by this, even though I know I shouldn't because everyone has an opinion about everything. Everyone has a bellybutton too, but we don't necessarily want to see it either.

I feel the car is unique for several reasons:

Its made with Mercedes quality parts, but its not a Mercedes.
Its made by a quality manufacturer (Karman), but its not really a Chrysler. That's not a shot at Chrysler, I think they were smart to have this car to their product line.
Its produced in small quantities compared to other cars so there are fewer of them and they are noticeable and don't fade into the background like the other cars do.

Lastly, its not a cheap car. Certainly not a poor man's car anyway. Lot's of people have Mercedes when they want to get a nice car. When I tell people I have a Crossfire, their eyes light up.

I kept my mouth shut as the person saying this was a good customer for the company I work for. Too bad he's too big to fit in one so he will be denied the pleasure of owning and driving one. I guess in the end, the laugh is on him.

 

Think of the Crossfire as a rich man's Chrysler.

 

Ditto, sorta.

 

Poor man's mercedes? Meh... maybe stylish man's mercedes... that sounds more true... SLK design is a joke... even the new ones... it does not come close to matching our beauty and if it did our car would not exist...

 

Some of the new SLKs and CLKs have good design points, but then the rest of the car shows up and ruins the show for me. The only one I've truly liked so far is the SLK 55 MINUS the huge triad on the front... if they had a different grill with a bit more muted triad it would be a winner!

Again, just opinion, but that's mine. (Do you like my belly-button)?

The Crossfire, whether a, Base, Limited or SRT, Coupe or Convertible... they are all beautiful. I'd have to say if I had not been so impulsive, I would have bought the Aero-Blue SRT6 Convertible or Coupe... but definitely blue...

Black is good... but more work to keep nice than my busy schedule (read : Lazy A$$) can keep up with.

Cheers!

 

We are on the same wavelength, the SLK55 is the only one I get too excited about, but if they had made the "belly-button" any bigger, you would think it had a Continental kit on the front bumper, but then again maybe that is the answer to the spare tire problem.

 

First I think of my XF as a COOL car.
Second I just don't care what others say, there I've said it.

 

The people that can't afford it, or can't fit in it, are the only ones that say stupid crap like that. Let them continue driving their overpriced Mercedes - my car looks ten times better and cost far less. I'll tell them where to stuff it.

 

That's the ticket...just enjoy your car and let others have their opinion. You may not like THEIR car but they are probably very happy with it.

It is a Daimler Chrysler product. You can say all you want it's not a Chrysler, but it carries a Chrysler badge, is warranted by Chrysler, sold and serviced through Chrysler dealers. It's a Chrysler. A different kind of Chrysler to be sure, but it's a Chrysler.

It's also a Mercedes. Poor man's, stylish man's, if it walks like a duck, acts like a duck, sounds like a duck...it may not look like a Mercedes, but all the mechanicals and even major interior components are Mercedes.

If you don't want it to be considered a Chrysler, nor do you not want it to be considered a Mercedes, the only other practical alternative is to consider it a kit car, made up of bits and pieces from other cars. You don't want to do that, do you?

So it is what it is. Let others think what they want. Long as you're happy with it, that's all that matters.

EVERY enthusiast car that evokes reaction will automatically evoke positive and negatives. Some people LOVE the Solstice and Sky, styling and all. Others hate them. The Lotus Elise and Exige evoke all kinds of comments, from people thinking they are $150K cars to others thinking they're kit cars. People either really love or hate the C6 Corvettes.

It goes on and on. The Crossfire is no different than any other enthusiast car in that respect.

The thing is, for each person telling you it's a poor man's mercedes, there are probably 10 drooling over your car, pointing at it, taking cell phone pics on the highway...

 

I've never given two, um, w/e about what anyone else thinks. I do admire the looks, craned necks, and double takes, none the less.

And while people may judge this and that, until they take a ride, they have NO clue. That has been my experience.

 

I have never heard of the XF as a poor mans mercedes. I personally have been lucky to afford pretty much any car I want, including a mercedes. In fact, I did own a MB E500, a $68k auto. but since I had so many problems with that particular car after 2.5 years I decided to get rid of it and get the XF as my daily driver.

 

This cracks me up. I busted two teenagers taking pictures of my car like that in the parking lot and I haven't even had it a week yet! My ego is enormous thanks to this car.

 

I'm not poor nor rich, but I couldn't afford a new Benz or a new Vette. So I feel I've got both in this great car at an affordable price. By the way I do drive an older Benz and have owned several Vettes in my younger years.

Bill

 

Love my car and could give a ---- what anyone thinks, as long as I'm satisfied with it.

 

At the rock bottom prices they are being sold for... almost anyone can afford a Crossfire.

 

I drive my red coupe everyday through the pissy part of town on the way to and from campus. I often cross paths with a man in a M-B SL550. He always does a double take as we pass. I don't know what that says. Either he's surprised at the car or is thinking who is that man with the ridiculous looking hat? Either way it makes me smile.

I've always thought our car looks more like that model than any of the other M-Bs.

I'm curious... Since I have only owned an old 240D (for 12 years) long ago I really don't know how these cars compare to the new M-B 320/50s. Could the SLK320 or 50 really be this much fun to drive? Are they as quick? The SLK drivers I see never look like they have that much fun with their cars. They're cute but a dime a dozen in Dallas.

 

...DITTO...

 

everyone has something to say about any car.

before my crossfire i had a acura cl-s and i would get the, "oh its just a nice honda".

any car you get there will always be haters whether they say its overpriced or a poor mans version.

also, a friend of mines dad can afford any car he wants, he owns a viper srt-10, range rover, ect. he also had a XF and loved it so much he traded it in and got a XF roadster, continued to love the car and got a SRT-6 roadster which he drives more than anything else.

 

As a former E-Class owner and mercedesshop forum regular...nobody considers the XF a poor man's MB...any real MB enthusiast considers the C-Class a poor man's MB...

And while early on a lot of the MB forum members believed our XFs were 80-90% MB...they still didn't consider them to be true MBs...they worshipped the mid-90s and older MBs but would still chose to deify the new MBs than to accept anything DC had to offer as being a beneficial use of the Daimler parts bin...very strange lot those guys are...considering new MBs are hardly something to be revered anyway...

All in all they just considered the XF an impractical Chrysler...however detrimental it and every other "merger vehicle" was to the Daimler side of things in their opinion...

Beyond that...nobody I've come across on the street or within my circle of friends/family even knows this car has a lot of MB parts let alone a MB engine...when they ask if me if parts would be hard to find and I tell them that certain things are actually proven MB bits and pieces that were produced in mass...they're surprised...but still don't consider it a MB...