EXCLUSIVE: Incentives on the new Mercedes GL450 already?

MB sells an "image", NOT reliability. They haven't made a reliable car for several years and I’m not sure if having some models made in America has anything to do with it. They're nice cars, for sure, but keep in mind that you’ll get to know your mechanic by his first name. But then, it's always nice to make new friends.

I think that MB's rapid growth in the SUV sector is good for customers - they have production and they need buyers, hence the discounts and other incentives. Give it six months after European launches on the SUVs and I suspect things will settle down, as global demand for the R and GL grow.

Also can you imagine a worse time to introduce a set of new thirty SUVs than with oil at over $70 per barrel?

In comparison remember there are already deals of up to $3,000-$6,000 off MSRP for Lexus's allegedly "super-hot" RX400h. So similar numbers or even more off a $60,000 vehicle from MB shouldn't be a surprise.

Also in comparison, have you seen the new and resale prices of Chrysler Pacificas and Jeep Grand Cherokees - on a percentage basis these are more breathtaking than the deals on the MB R Class.

Sorry folks for the typo - in the note above I meant "thirsty" not "thirty".

The pic/angle makes the vehicle look like a Toyota Highlander, hehe.

WOW your Lexus did 10k miles without any problems. That is one hell of a car.

To me the true measure of reliability is how long the car will last.

My family has own/owned about 15 MBs in the last 10-15 years. I can honestly say that they have all been flawless with the exception of my sister in laws first year C class (2001).
Even though she had a bunch of electrical gremlins it was all sorted out under warranty. It's funny that they even considered the Lemon law, but the car turned out to be a champ. Today it has about 85k miles and it runs like a new car.

I'll admit that these cars don't have the bulletproof feel of the old MBs (pre Lexus era), but most of the problems that we hear about are minor problems. With MB having so many new models and super anal customers I'm actually surprised that the number of problems is not higher.

Even with the minor first year production problems they will OUTLAST ANYTHING ON THE ROAD.

Ben:

It sounds like your family has great luck - why you guys should be buying lotto tickets like crazy.

Most studies, even those in Europe, show MB quality / reliability has been on steady decline since the late 1990s. Perhaps many of your extended family's cars were model years from the last century? Lexus executives have starting noting that an eight year old Lexus is as reliable as a three year old Mercedes.

It's funny you should bring up lottery tickets because I have brought it up in one of my previous posts. There is either something very wrong with the way JD Powers collects their data or we are very very lucky.
IMO most of these problems are very minor electrical glitches and have nothing to do with bulletproof engines/transmissions, superior engineering and ageless designs. It doesn't help when you have customers that demand absoulte perfection.

Here is the list of cars so you make your own conclusion:

88 560 SEL 180k mi (SOLD)
88 300CE 285k mi (SOLD)
90 300E 90k mi (SOLD)
90 500SL 145k mi
91 500SL (SOLD)
91 300E (SOLD)
94 C280 (SOLD)
94 S420
95 C280 (SOLD)
98 E320
01 C320
02 S500
02 G500
03 CL55
04 S500

Future cars:
New S, ML or GL hopefully with Bluetec diesel, and E with Bluetec

I can't comment on any 8 year old Lexus. However, I have a friend that junked a 92 300SC @ 140k mi (3 years ago).

Last time I saw an ES250 was 5 years ago in Florida. It was a rust bucket with all the doors/trunk misaligned and smoke coming out of tailpipe.

I was driving my flawless 90 500SL that looks and drives like a brand new car. I kept thinking if I hit that ES head on with my tank, it will collapse like a soda can.

I believe you, but honestly 67k miles is just braking in for MB. Look at my 300CE with almost 300k mi when I sold it. The car had original engine/trans. I actually regret ever selling it. Oh well, I still have my SL (145k mi).

LOL...actually you need to drive them pretty hard. Cars that are babied have problems with carbon build up.

However, I think the maintenance intervals are a marketing gimmick. I would never drive 12-15k mi with one oil change. I never let it exceed 7k. Also you can forget about the lifetime transmissions. If you want the transmission to last change the fluid at least every 30-50k mi.

Believe it or not my MBs have been the cheapest to maintain.

I had a 94 Accord that blew the transmission at 40k mi and 94 Camry with the same problem at 50k.

If you don't believe me here are two facts. The Accord doesn't use trans filters in their cars. The genius Honda engineers expect you to just drain and fill. The transmission failed about a mile from my house, but the reverse still worked. I drove in reverse all the way to my house.

The Camry has these cheap hose clips for the transmission cooling. One of the hoses popped off and all the fluid came out (burned transmission). The Camry was a V6 and I spent a fortune to rebuild the trans. The trans is very difficult to remove from the V6.

The best part is that all of this happened shortly after warranty. It's as if they had a self-destruct timer.

It's funny how many people brag about the reliability of these cheap Japanese cars. I have one question. Where are all of these reliable cars? Do you realize how many millions of Camrys/Accords sold to date? Where are they? If these cars were so reliable our streets would be flooded with old cars.