Ok so i spent the afternoon getting supplies for my upcoming oil change, I was able to get the necessary filter but was having a hell of a time getting the 0w-40 oil, so I pulled into Ewing Autohaus(Mercedes dealer) in north Dallas, I spent about 15 minutes chatting with the guy in parts, got the oil, and went back to my car, after getting to my car there were at least eight people(sales associates) standing and just going apeshit over my crossfire, there had to be another ten standing looking from inside the showroom, it was so bad that they had to move so I could get in, it was by far the best reaction that I have ever seen towards my car especially occuring at at Mercedes dealership. If only Daimler knew what they lost when they sold this car as a damn Chrysler. JR

p.s.-but im glad they did!

 

Great reaction, but don't forget they were only interested Sales people.

Try and approach the Mercedes Service dept to have them work on your car...They'll treat you like you have the plague...LOL...

 

It's interesting because lately I've noticed my car getting alot more attention than it had before. Not that it was getting attention, but now it's alot more. I just put new rims on, nothing special really, andthe new tires 235's and 275's give it a much more agressive look and I suspect it has something to do with those two additions that is accounting for the attention.

 

I could not agree with you more!!. Last year i went to the MB dealer in Barrie, and the service guy as soon as i mentioned crossfire, turned into a major idiot. He was not interested at all in any of the parts i was interested in buying. So out the door i went. And i dont even want to get started about the mb part hours. 9-5 monday to friday.... Last timed i checked even a kia dealer was open on saturdays for parts, and after typical working hours. Heck if i bought a $250K SLS and wanted a tire valve cover after work, or even on a saturday. no luck for me unacceptable.

I just went through this whole debacle last week trying to get some G05 coolant.

 

I had my Eibach springs installed my a MB master mechanic (found him on Craigslist). He asked me to take the car to the dealer on a Saturday. I guess the dealer lets their technicians work on their own projects and use their facilities on Saturdays. When I returned to pick up my car, there were a bunch of technicians and sales guys looking at my car. The guy working on my car was giving them a tour of my car. They didn't realize it was an SLK320 inside.

 

ALL of this indicates how rare these cars are. 9 SRT6 for sale in the US on Auto trader today. The US has a population of 300 million.

 

Great story about the dealer, I have seen several people at our dealership eye the car, but if I am around they act like they are not interested in a lowly Chrysler, but when I turn my back, they are stealing every glance they can

Its the rims. With all the mods on my car, it usually draws a look or two, but now with the wheels and brakes, people are damn near getting in accidents trying to see what kind of car it is (100% debadged).

When I put the chrome 20s on the black coupe, same thing

 

I've only been to one MB dealer with the crossfire and it didn't go over all that well. The service adviser didn't want anything to do with the car and there were no crowds outside of the dealership oogling over the interesting looking vehicle in their parking lot.

On a side note, I think I might be the only person in the world to be happy the warranty on their car is up so that I no longer feel obligated to deal with the a-holes at the local chrysler dealer. If Daimler Chrysler was smart they would have developed an arrangement in which crossfire customers were officially able to get their cars serviced at either MB or chrysler dealers. I can understand why they didn't from a business and logistics perspective, but in practice it just makes the ownership experience of this car miserable in many cases.

 

On a related note, this is why I'm starting to refer to my XF as a "Karmann Crossfire". I rather give credit to the people who actually built the car rather than 2 companies that don't care at all about it.

I know some of you will disagree with that train of thought, but I just rather not give Chrysler credit where credit isn't really due. And I'm tired of telling people, "Under the skin, it's all Mercedes components."

Plus calling it a "Karmann" just makes it seem all that more exotic to people that don't know the company exists.

 

I don't necessarily disagree with you on the concept you are going for. But then again, Karmann doesn't really care about the car either. I think I've kind of gotten over the whole "the crossfire is really a MB" thing. I tell people I have a crossfire and end it there. I think the car kind of speaks for itself. And you know, telling people that the crossfire is really a MB, suggests that you're embarrassed to own a Chrysler. What do Viper owners tell people! I suppose owners of the upcoming Viper will start start telling people they really own a Ferrari for Chrysler money!

In any event, the problem with this car at the current time, isn't so much that you can't get parts, but more than you can't get the car serviced. Most chrysler dealers don't know how these cars are put together, so every service that's more complicated than a brake job is a science experiment. And over at mercedes, the people who should know the workings of our cars intimately aren't usually able to work on our cars in an official capacity.

I think owning a crossfire must be like owning an Opel when GM was selling them in the US next to what, Buick and Oldsmobile? When Opel left town, you were left with a german car to be serviced by people used to american cars. Sound familiar?

 

And people wonder why my car is debadged

 

Same here, I don't feel like it should have any badges on it. It's a concept that slipped into production with a bunch of recycled parts. A great starting point in my opinion, but I couldn't see myself maintaining it to stock standards, it was meant to be much more.

 

Bingo there. I agree completely.

Not to suggest parity, but the Mustang started as a recycled Ford of mostly Falcon parts.

roadster with a stick

 

Badges or no badges, Mercedes parts notwithstanding, they are still a Daimler Chrysler product.

 

Badges? I don't need no stinkin badges...

 

It's a Karmann body over an SLK320, no matter what anyone thinks. But I love mine. Even if my oldest daughter calls it a "M-B wannabe". Most people who strike up a conversation don't realize it's a M-B underneath and as far as I am concerned, M-B makes solid, reliable cars. The ones who don't talk -- just wave or shout "nice car" - don't care what is underneath the skin. They, like me, adore the lines of the car.

 

It's a Karmann made Chrysler body over a SLK320 more like it. Karmann sub-contracted to make other cars as well and they do not get called Karmann bodied Mercedes, VW's, Fords etc.
They did some development, but that was part of the contract.
Sub-contractors generally get little recognition and do not expect it.

 

I understand your point of view, as well as 180's. I don't necessarily disagree with it either, but I prefer to give credit to people that put physical effort into putting my car together.

And this will probably make me some enemies, but yeah, I kind of am embarrassed to own a "Chrysler" product. In fact, the Crossfire was the only car I would have ever considered buying from them, and that's because they didn't build it in their factories and they didn't use their own parts. I appreciate the money they put into the styling, which is pretty good (and subsequently then used on most of the other DC products afterwards), but I don't feel they had enough involvement to really call it "theirs", and I'm more than happy about that.

There are exceptions of course. I would own a Viper or maybe a Wrangler, but I doubt I would spend my money on either. If given one, yes, but with my own money, I would look at my other options.

Again, that probably earned me a lot of hate. To each his own. When it all comes down to it, we're all here for the Xfire and the enjoyable machine that it is.

 

I can see why you wouldn't want to own a chrysler product as the brand rarely has made anything I have ever found to be that compelling. And truth be told, chrysler was likely between a rock a hard place with the crossfire. They didn't have a platform that would really work for the car and their V6 engines were questionable at that point in time, IMO. I have to say that I have taken notice of Chrysler branded cars recently. I had a soft spot for the original 300c, but never liked them quite enough to ever want to own one. But the new one! Wow, sign me up! And I'm not much a sedan guy and as my user name may suggest I'm not a huge domestic car fan.

But times are changing and Chrysler Corp is making some really nice products. As well as Ford and GM. But the amazing thing about the crossfire is that is brings together both domestic and foreign guys.

 

Telling people the Crossfire is really a Mercedes, is simply telling people the truth when they ask you what's under the hood. Why try to make anything more out of it than what it is? I bought my car in spite of the fact it was mechanically a Mercedes.

What do Viper owners tell people?....Nothing, because they already know all about it.

Since I worked at a Buick Dealer in 1967/68/& 69 I can tell you the Mechanics (that's what they were called back then) knew the cars quite well. Maybe because they were a lot more simple back then. But I do remember one very rainy Spring (in 1968) when they were getting dozens and dozens of Opels being towed in because they wouldn't start. They not only got em running, they stayed running until Opel finally got their wet weather electrical systems shipped over to replace the original parts.

As for the car being built by Karmann, I usually keep that to myself. Most people (over 40) immediatly think Karmann Ghia, and really aren't that impressed with it being built in an old VW factory.