I am not un American, I'm a Canadian and we use Canadian dollars.
I might have purchased a Japanese car if they would have admitted their atrocities in WW2, their pride won't let them and my pride won't let me buy. A friends father survived 3-4 years in a Japanese POW camp, he returned a broken man, the tales he told his son were horrific.
The Germans bombed me in London and have since made reparations on lots of fronts, so I forgave them. But I have not forgot.

 

I.ve owned three Mercedes in my lifetime. Two of them were excellent automobiles and one was a "dud". I buy all my cars based on esthetics first and engineering second. The dud was a 1998 Mercedes SLK230. I consider it one of the most beautiful cars in the world, however I think it was over engineered with all those combined electrical, hydrallic and vaccum operated componets. It also rode like a truck. My favorite car was a 1987 Cadillac Eldorado, considered by historians to be one of the worst. I think it was because it didn't sell well because it was too small for most Cadillac buyers.
EOLJR

 

Ohioans got some jobs, but the real issue is that the capital goes to banks in Tokyo and in that country they are invested in the further capacity to challenge our industrial ability.

Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes, Toyota and Kia are all built here in Alabama and that is great, however very little of that actual profit finds it's way into the American economy. This is an issue very few people want to touch. I suppose because of the jobs. It is reminicent of the colonial era. We have become third world to Japan and others, but if American workers are comfortable with that then okay.


+fireamx]I purchased my Crossfire inspite of the fact it was basically a Mercedes. Not because there is anything wrong with Mercedes, (or any other German car for that matter) it's just my experience that many more "costly" problems seem to occur with German cars than ANY Japanese car I've owned.
I don't think I'll ever buy another Mercedes product in the future. But I'm sure glad I bought my Crossfire.
By the way 180, 15000+ fellow Ohioians appreciate EVERY new Honda I've purchased. Probabably only a few dozen "Americans" at the Chrysler dealership profited from my Crossfire purchase.[/quote]

 

Isn't it amazing that Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, and all the other non union factories here in the United States are all extremely profitable. Hell, these non union employees aren't even complaining about unfair wages or working conditions. I often wonder how much the quality of the big 3 cars suffered because they had to cut so many corners just to be able to produce cars in a competitive price range due to UAW concessions. I find it amazing that the UAW negotiated for its workers to be some of the highest paid non-skilled workers in the world, and now when the rug is being pulled out from under them, they blame the companies and not themselves. I believe that the UAW screwed the big three, it's union members, and the american people. And, at the same time all of you flag waving.... only buy american..... patriots.... I assume would be happy to own a company held hostage by a union that made it impossible for you to make a profit. You would surely continue to put your american employees first before financial profit which is non existent.... Remember, the union took away any chance that you had at making a profit. The american auto worker bought into the BS of the UAW and now all americans along with the american economy are suffering. An important lesson to remember is that... Pigs get fat, and hogs get sloppy. A free market cannot sustain hogs in the long term.

Instead of being pissed at the big 3 for taking our jobs overseas, why don't you get outraged at the unions that drove the companies away.

 

Well I am mad at the unions, we have a Chrysler plant down the road not 10 miles from here and they get overpaid, three times what they would be lucky to get outside the plant gates, $36 + an hour plus benefits for old workers less for new hires.
But the companies kept upping the wages to keep them on the job as they could not bite the bullet and break the unions, one year on the picket line would have broken the unions. The Big Three would not do it and we see the results. Margaret Thatcher busted many of the unions in the UK, and the UK would have been worse of if she hadn't.
Twenty miles north and we have a Honda plant expanding while others are collapsing, the wages and benefits are not so high and the product is what people want so they grow.

 

Yet these unskilled laborers are more than happy to take wages that surpass some highly skilled jobs that require a bachelors or masters degree. They build a lifestyle and family based on these inflated wages, then cry foul when the company can no longer sustain it. Then these workers are left jobless.... still unskilled....... wondering why they cannot find another job that will allow them to maintain the same lifestyle that they have become accustomed to.

 

I have owned three top of the line Benz cars. Each and every one had annoying issues. From window regulators to fuel delivery systems that failed and cost thousands to fix. A 12 year old Benz can be worth 4 grand and cost $6K to repair. I dunno, it seems silly.

But everytime I got in my Benz and drove it just a little bit, I wanted to keep it, no matter what. More than once, despite the impracticality of the repair costs to the value of the vehicle, I just couldn't let go. If you have ever owned one, you know.

They ride great, handle well and, in truth, are extremely reliable. And never an embarrassment to own or drive. That is why I bought the Xfire. And I wasn't dissapointed.

My logic is that I saved $20K on the purchase and can put that back in anytime. True, I may not always come out ahead on the dollars but I will always come out ahead on the value.

And the Perma grin.

Would I buy another Mercedes? Why, I have two Xfires. They ought to keep me smiling for 20 years or so.

Beside, the Benzes are too damm expensive.


roadster with a stick

BTW, the poll questions suck. I know I won't buy a Benz again but it is not because my Xfire is a POS or their car is a dud.
I also doubt I will ever again be satisfied with less than a Benz.
My next truck however, will likely be a Ford. Just because they gave Obama the finger.

 

I had my Crossfire for about 2 years when we got my wife an 04 C240 4Matic. I guess it would be considered a base Mercedes but it is all wheel drive. The car is beautiful, probably one of the prettiest body styles Mercedes has done. We got it with 39,000 miles on it, 1 owner. It was a certified vehicle so the first year was on Mercedes. Right away we had a problem with the dreaded Steering Angle Sensor, same one that kicks a code and the BAS/ESP light in our cars. That took two visits to repair. About a year into the car I noticed a "creaking" in the front end. By this time the certification had lapsed and I had purchased a 2 year, bumper to bumper warranty for 1900$. That repair was 1200$ replacing some front end components. So we are now fine, fast forward to this summer, 57k on the odometer and we are heading to the beach. Two blocks from home the A/C Blower seizes and instead of blowing the fuse the wiring, fuse box, dash catch on fire. Another 2000$ repair, my warranty has now paid for itself and then some. The car is fine again, the shop did an excellent job. My point in all of this is a Mercedes is like every other car, some have problems but on a Mercedes you can expect to pay top dollar to have them fixed, and yes the oil changes are expensive. I wouldn't buy a used one without an extended warranty. I have them on both the Crossfire and the C240.

 

One of the major reasons I bought the XF was because it was based on the R170 platform and had the SLK320 engine + 6MT.

The engine was released in 1998 and produced for 9 years, used in 10 different Mercedes models and not one bad thing was said about it.

The R170 platform had been in production since 1997, making that an entire decade before I bought my 2007. I figure all the major issues had been worked out since then, and not only that, but there would be a pretty huge source of spares for all the critical bits available for a LONG time.

BTW - if the Crossfire wasn't available at the time, or if it was made in the USA or based on Chrysler manufacturing, I would have bought a Honda S2000 honestly