As we all know our beloved crossfires are more mercedes than they are chrysler. I know for myself, the crossfire is my first experience with mercedes engineering and this got me thinking about future purchases. I started to wonder if my experiences with the crossfire would make me more or less likely to purchase a mercedes-badged car in the future. I'm not sure I have come to an answer, but I wonder if other have.

Would you be more or less likely to purchase a mercedes-badged car/SUV based on your crossfire experience? Whatever your viewpoint, I'd love to hear your reasoning.

 

well, for one thing, they are all built like a tank. I like their engineering, but I don't like their price. I am leaning hard toward a Ford product this next time around. The new Mustang has got my interest right now. S/C'd, maybe a Roush. Just not sure. I may look for a XF coupe SRT6 as well. But, with all that, when I visit Eurocharged again, I may look at the MB's in the neighborhood. There are some really nice cars that come and go around their shop.

 

If the cost of repair parts is an example of what I could expect from Merc. you could count me out. I was quoted for pair of head light assemblies installed at $1315. Maybe Merc. might stand up for the crappy plastic lense but Chrysler sure won't. If I got a Merc. it would not be a used one.

 

Outta my price range to get a "real" Mercedes.
Guess I'll just have to make due with my Crossfires!

 

I'd love to have a SLK 55 AMG

 

our srt-6 mercedes have been a paradigm shift for me. i like the quality of the parts, the engineering is very good, and the cars are solid. my long-term plan is to drive the graphite metallic and sell it around 20-30k miles. having two has enabled me to a/b the cars and the black one is just slightly screwed together better from karmann (all cars of the same make/model have their subtle overall differences). from my experience, the crossfire has proved to be a higher maintenance/more bug prone car compared to my many toyotas. so...i'll probably get another toyota product next time around due to my familiarity/comfort level with them.

 

This has got to be the best built car I have ever had, built like a tank. The finish on the individual pieces are very good, it is hard to find a piece of metal that you could have a shave with as all the sharp edges appear to be removed.
The electronics do seem to be a weak point, are any of the other makes better, I am not sure.
My wifes friend has had an '88 Mercedes Benz 560 SL since new, summer driven and it costs an arm and a leg to have fixed and serviced. A very nice car to drive and look at.
Would I buy a Merc? If the price was right I would.
Edit
I have never owned a Japanese car and never will. I would not buy a car made in China either, a Mexican made car maybe. This crossfire is my first car not made in North America, I have tried to support North American auto makers, call me stupid but I like to keep the money this side of the oceans and North Americans working. The best cars I have had in terms of reliability were the '77 Caprice Classic, '93 Concord and the '94 LHS - the best. My current '07 300 is not up to these levels.

 

Interesting you framed the question the way you did. In my case, I bought the Xfire because of my experience with Mercedes. If this car was not a SLK under the skin I would not have bought it. I learned a lesson many years ago. Looks are only skin deep. If you treat a mercedes well, it will run for many, many miles. The quality of the engineering is really very good but let me be the first to add that Mercedes has some problems but they do stand behind their products. The quality of their service is superb and your car is well treated. I can't say the same about my experience with Chrysler. I would say the opposite is true when it comes to Chrysler. I would NEVER buy another Chrysler based on my experience with them and my Xfire.

PS I would not give up my Xfire.

 

I would have to agree completely. I am planning on keeping the Crossfire as long as I can. Every German car that I have been in are built like bank vaults. All Japanese cars seem too flimsy to me, even Lexus. Mercedes did slip on quality in the late '90's but they are coming back. I am even considering getting a '91-'93 Mercedes 300E 4matic for the winter, which is just a small version of a panzer tank.

I think I read it somewhere on this forum, and I think it is very fitting:
Cars are like people...there has never been one without some sort of problem, you just have to pick one with the problems you can live with.

 

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.

 

Buy a Chrysler 300 series, Charger, Challenger etc or even a Camaro and thousands of Canadians will thank you as well.
The Honda profits went to Japan, if you buy North American ( I do not count Honda, Toyota etc as NA) you may get some of your tax money back, buying those Japanese cars put the big three in deep doo doo to start with, my conscience is clear there.
Buying off shore makes us part of the problem not the cure.
Besides those Italian sports car are soooooo expensive.
PS Ohioians? I'm a Canadian your a Ohioan.

 

I agree, some of the best Honda's I've owned were built by AMERICANS,
right here in Ohio. Too bad they must work for free since the profits went to Japan. Automotive manufacturing has been a WORLD business for quite some time.
It's true, buying "off shore" never helped the Big Three. But the American Automotive Dynasty has nobody else to blame but themselves for not building what MANY Americans wanted, and that's why they're in the shape they're in today.IMO

 

I wish someone would end this whole thing of if you buy a car that isn't from a US based company, you are un-American, and flushing your American dollars into some other country's economy.

You are so far from the truth, its not even funny.

Consider the way the money flows:

I walked into a dealership, and decided to purchase a Nissan Altima.
I bought the car from the dealership, which is an American Company.
They arranged financing through an American company.
The dealer has to purchase the car I want from another dealer a couple states away because my dealer doesn't have what I want in their inventory, and that other dealer is an American Company.
Second Dealer had the car shipped from the Nissan Plant in Canton, Missouri to their dealer in Salt Lake City by a trucking company that is an American Company. Another American Shipping Company has to transport my Nissan Altima to Denver to my dealership.
The car was built in Missouri, by American Workers.
The car was designed for the American market by American designers.
The engine was built in Mexico, but the transmission was built in America.

So, the Nissan Altima supports a long string of Americans, from beginning to end.
When I take my car to a shop to be worked on, those are Americans working on it.

So little actual profit goes to Japan, that your arguments have enough holes that I can (very happily) drive my Nissan Altima right through it.

Plus, the best part is, I can buy Nissan stock, and its worth more than just about all of the American car companies stocks currently! :P

So I can make money off of these Japanese car companies, which is something I can't do with an American car company.

BC.

 

Hmmm, it depends entirely on what the future holds.

I used to buy cars based on what I could afford (cheap and used) and would last as long as possible. Finally, I've reached a point in life where my last two car purchases were based on what moves my soul - to a certain degree anyways. I still have a fairly tight budget (or else it would be "Hello, Konigsegg!" ) but my last two cars were totally a "this is what I WANT" being the whole reason for buying them.

I have to say that once I bought the Crossfire, I visited the Mercedes dealership for the first time in my life (and a couple more times afterward now). However, none of the current line up gives me that "I WANT" feeling. The roadsters are cool but I find the hood sculpt and gargantuan Mercedes symbol at the end just makes it look like a giant ***** to me. Now, I certainly have lots of praise for that particular appendage but I don't have the need to drive a car that looks like one!

As for the engineering...
I have owned American built, Japanese built, Mexican built and German built cars. The one that has given me far and away the most problems has been the German built car. Closely followed by the American built one. Not a single issue with the Japanese or Mexican built cars. Having said that...if I were to buy a car tomorrow to replace the Crossfire, it would be a Porsche boxster. It handles better then anything I've ever driven (including my beloved Crossfire), I love the looks, it's a convertible and it is within the acceptable price range. Mercedes would have to come up with something that moves me more than that to be in the running at this point. If I could afford more, then a Ferrari California would probably be it (although they won't let us test drive that one for some reason, lol ). Happy to take my chances with another finicky Italian - I already own Ducati's, I know the score!

Oh and one more thing...I have done more than my part to support Chrysler, it's time they support me for a damn change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Quote: I am even considering getting a '91-'93 Mercedes 300E 4matic for the winter, which is just a small version of a panzer tank.

May I suggest that you go to the Mercedes forum and do some research on these cars. I have a 350C 4Matic and would not trade it. In my experience, with good maintenance they are like new at 45 to 60000 miles on the clock.

I could not agree more with your quote. If you drive one you will notice a smooth, solid ride. It really does feel like a tank with excellent steering and power. Perhaps not high torgue (throw you back in your seat kind), short burst of power from the line but really a pleasure to drive.

In my mind, our beloved Xfire does not drive like a Mercedes SLK of the same era. There maybe something in the tires/suspension that makes a difference but if you drive one you will see the difference. OK some of you are saying that a Mercedes is an old person's car without style.

If you would like another option of German engineering, go drive a Porsche. I really love to drive mine. Unfortunately, we do not have roads like in Europe so you really can't drive high speed for miles and miles. When you drive like that you need a well engineered car.

Both can be expensive to repair but if you keep them for 10 plus years you will not find them excessive provided you do not beat them up. It seems like the idea of keeping a car that long is not in the American mindset.

American muscle cars and most other cars made for American roads are made to get off fast, reach high speeds in short distances. Think street racing or even track racing. There is a difference in philosophy and engineering between German and American cars in this regard. You may also want to think American vs. Russian fighter technology.

In regards to cost to repair and frustration with problems in our Xfires please remember our Xfires come out of 1990's technology and Mercedes was experiencing issues during this time frame. If you visit the Mercedes forum, you will see many of the issues we are experiencing today are the same ones they experienced with the same platform years ago. Why didn't they fix it? I suggest the need to get the Xfire to market fast and once there it was a dud so why spend more good money after bad. Mercedes already had a new generation of SLK and the Xfire was a Chrysler. People expected some problems with Chryslers and this car should have had less then was normal.

Funny to think of our 2004-2008 cars as really 10 to 15 years old technology.

 

I know the 4matic version of the 300E is the least reliable of the range, and is the "fly in the ointment" of the car. My parent's friend has a standard 300E that has close to 200,000 miles and he takes care of it. He says that it is the most reliable and comfortable car he has ever owned. He drives it back and forth between Arizona and North Carolina twice a year and it has never let him down.

The new Mercedes cars have so much technology on them, it is just a matter of time before something goes wrong. If only the Germans built a car (chassis, body, suspension, and interior) and let the Japanese do all the electronics (nav, radio, etc.), it would be perfect.

 

It was hard for me to vote. While this is my first MB experience, and a positive one so far, I don't know I can say "I cant wait to buy a MB". I think the option of selecting, "My XF experience will or might influence me in considering a future MB purchase" would be more popular, as the next option is "I don't know".

 

Bwahaha! Let's take it a step further...global car company FTW:

Italians: Interior and exterior design
Germans: Drive train and driving dynamics
Japanese: Electronics and wear items; and assembly (sorry, American workers but if you can consistently beat the quality, then you will get the job)
Americans: Dealer logistics and pricing

 

Mercedes are out of my range as well... my Crossfire makes me very happy and best of all IT IS PAID FOR!!!

PS... The avatar is me at the firing range!!!!! LOL

 

I don;t know about Mercedes. I love my Crossfire but after it I plan to look for a used BMW. I will be keeping my Crossfire for years, but after that maybe a used BMW 335i or older e46 M3. I am not a hugh fan of the style of most Mercedes, not including the Crossfire.