Commentary: Why you can't trust the mainstream auto writers anymore

Well put 001. I remember as a kid I was excited to see the cars on the road but something happened in the 90's where they bored me so much, nothing stirred my soul. I found you probably over 3 years ago as I Googled whether I should show the dealer upfront I had cash or to finance and you had the perfect answer of making the dealer think you're going to fiance to get best possible price because they get fees from lending bank but at the last moment put more money down or something to that effect. It's been a great 3 years here with all the other "publications" clearly smooching the ad dollars in their reviews. Continued success and I hope Autospies last forever!

001,

I think you have a great site, and really appreciate what you do. I won't forget the good old days, when you were getting started, when you were able to take the time to reply to an email I sent. Things, necessarily, change.

I don't really believe that autospies would get the quality of advertising it does from dealers, if you were brutally honest. For instance, the amount of revenue you get from Land Rover would probably fall to zero if you talked about the likelihood of the LR3 being as unreliable and eccentric as EVERY one of its ancestors. Do I regard you as a shill for Land Rover, BMW and anything Hendrick sells? Well yes, but never worried a bit about it until you pointed the finger at someone else.

So my vote is for you to enjoy the perks your site has earned you, and keep offering the subtle blend of news, pictures, and advertising that somehow tends to all get clumped together.

here we go again. Im not andrew but I have driven a 3 series coupe, and I will take my razor-sharp handling prelude over that any day. Getting tired of all the RWD worshipping.

its a grand cherokee with a MB grill and rediculous rear mount tire. glad that merger is working out.

One man's food is another man's poison.

I don't believe Agent 001 is right when he says MB will have a great 2005 and 2006.

So Agent 001, although I appreciate your candor, I'd like you to provide more information why MB will be having such a good time.

You have stated:

"We think MB will have a great 05 and 06 and are very high on their upcoming products."

My view is that MB will have a shockingly bad 05 and 06. I'll outline the reasons below. But as we go through 2005 if the facts show you are wrong (for example MB sales are weak in US and Europe, and the cars continue to be unreliable) will you come forward and shout loudly that you were wrong?

The reasons I think MB will have a weak 05 and 06 include:
(i.) Exchange rates - i believe MB has not done the same amount of currency hedging that companies like BMW, Porsche, Jaguar and others have done. The dollar is declining, and MB profits are down. MB will need to raise prices in the US or take losses on sales here.
(ii.) The value proposition for buying an MB car is deteriorating. Just read the Financial Times article on Thursday 17th of February which shows even in MB's strongest markets it is loosing market share (in this case the German Taxi Fleets) because of MB's shocking reliability issues which make a Volkswagen, Audi, Opel or BMW a better idea for German motorists
(iii.) The model range is proliferating, leading to confusion and too much overlap between models - will MB have enough advertizing dollars to help customers understand the range
(iv.) Chrysler's 300 and Dodge's Magnum make the MB E-Class unnecessary - just as the Toyota Avalon will draw sales from Lexus and makes the ES330 a foolish purchase
(v.) Other luxury/near luxury car manufacturers are bringing new products to market that will compete with MB's cars - and cars are where MB has its strenght - examples are Infiniti, Cadillac, Lexus and BMW all of whom have new car models, targeted for good volumes, coming out in 2005 and 2006
(vi.) MB dealers in the US are amongst the most arrogant and provide some of the worst service among luxury brands. If competitors have improving vehicles why deal with attitude at MB's dealer network?
(vii.) MB acknowledges it will have to spend over $500 million a year to improve quality - it is usually much easier to design quality and reliability into a vehicle at inception than to re-engineer. With so much effort focused on re-engineering at MB there are likely to be unintended consequences. Look for an increase in recalls of MB products in the short term and not a decline
(viii.) MB's CLS looks like a banana, and will probably take sales from MB's own product line rather than bring MB new sales
ix.) The SLK is so good, no one should be buying the SL500. Look for sales of the SL to decline prematurely - a particularly crushing blow given the profits MB makes on it
(x.) For the last five to ten years MB has treated its US owner base with contempt. When GM and Ford did this in the 1980s it took years and years to reverse the damage to their brands, - it took more than just a couple of new models.
(xi.) Anecdotally, i have noticed that in upscale communities of senior citizens, like selected high rise condos MB has a high share of the vehicles parked in the garages. However the vehicles visiting the condos are more likely to be BMW cars, Lexus cars and trucks, and GM Tahoes/Suburban/Escalades. I think this means that old folks who have bought half a dozen MBs in recent decades are willing to forgive MB for MB's poor recent vehicles but that younger folks who may have only tried MB for a vehicle or two have no reason to believe that MB products are good.

OK so above I have eleven reasons (that's "one higher" than ten) for why MB will not have a good 2005 and 2006. What are the counter arguments?

Thoughts?

They don't drive much! Case in point....a 75 year old friend who owns a 10 year old Continental and a 5 year old E class. ADDED TOGETHER, these 2 cars have less than 20k miles on them. So MB and the like can get away with terrible reliability because these type customers, who I guess represent a large part of the customer base, never test it much. Brands that are not content to rest on reputations built in the past have worked like crazy on their reliability and are now in the process of taking over the top of the market, probably for years to come.

Dave