This is my first post as a new member.

My question is: what is the correct pronunciation of Designo?

Thanks,

C-Ya

P.S. I just purchased a 2001 CL 500 over the phone and will take delivery over Labor Day weekend. I've never even driven one yet, I just knew I wanted it!

 

wow never even drove one! What are the specs of the one you are getting? I personally love the CL and thinks it drives great. Now about designo.... I have heard it said two ways. Design-O and Desin-YO. I prefer Desin-YO.

 

Come on, guys, it's De-Sig-No!

 

di-zeee-nyo

 

AlBoston,

I too have never driven one either. I just knew that I wanted one.

Here's a funny story:

I have owned my business for many years (real estate developer & semi-retired Attorney), and over the years, unless I have to dress up for court or an important business meeting, I have been dressing quite casually. Usually a T-Shirt, shorts, and sandals is my daily attire. Anyways, I am wearing my usual attire when I decide to stop by my local Mercedes-Benz dealer to check out the SL & CL's. After being in the actual showroom for at least 20 minutes, the first salesman to walk up to me tells me that I am not allowed to sit in the cars. I might be casual, but I am clean-cut and well-educated with more of a preppy look than that of a bum. Anyways, I was real excited about the CL series and wanted to take a test drive, but the dealer wanted a credit check before I could take a test drive. Not wanting to hurt my credit score with an inquiry or the degredation of such a request I said NO! So I never have gotten to drive a CL yet. However, I am looking forward to going back to the dealership once I take delivery of my new car next week so the same moron can now show me how to work some of the nifty gadgets.

Here is the moral of the story as I see it:

My richest friends hardly look like they have 2 nickels to rub together, while some of my struggling friends look like lottery winners. Car dealers need to remember this. I am casual because I am not out to impress anyone but my wife and daughter. I also can't wait to thank the salesman for forcing me to buy over the internet......he unwitingly saved me thousands!

C-Ya

P.S. I still am not sure as to the correct pronounciation of DESIGNO?

 

I have a similar story regarding my first Mercedes. In 1975 I was 22 y/o, just out of the Army and attending Univ of Calif at Santa Cruz. I used to drive past the MB dealer frequently, and on a lark, stopped in. I was in my usual student attire then, shorts and a t-shirt, along with a beard and long hair. The salesman was very polite, took a lot of time to talk to me about the cars, and even took me on a test drive! I left with a brand new English Red 240D.
I later asked him why he was so nice to me then, and he said that he learned early on in Santa Cruz that you couldn't tell the bums from the rich guys by their appearance.

 

in my language the correct pronunciation goes: diizajno, converting to english phonetics - deezayno(o) ... yeees, it would be something like that

 

d-zine-o

 

i think a lot of people can relate to that situation. where as a sales person would judge a person on what they look like and how they act. if only they can match the way you are with the car that is perfect for you. when i went to buy my benz, i was walking around the lot in the rain with the sales guy with his own umbrella (not sharing) and on the cellphone.

 

Its actually

DE-ZI-NO This is how they pronounced it at my dealer and at the C-Spot Drive Party...

 

I'm very curious which dealer you were dealing with in Phoenix. I had pretty much the same experience. I wanted a C32. MB Chandler found an '03 that was a "demo" with 2500 miles on it, and tried to sell it to me for sticker. They then proceeded to use the excuse "because of my age" they wouldn't let me drive it, and they were going to need an excessive down payment, as well as an astronomical monthly payment.

I ended up getting an '04 from a dealer in Florida with 12 miles on it for invoice + shipping. The cap reduction was 6k less, and the payment was $400 less a month.

 

funny... you'll like this.. i decided to visit house of imports when looking for my sl. i parked in the back and started walking to were they had a few sl's by the canopy in the front. i think they had 3 or 4 sl500's and one sl55 w/ some miles on it. i was in my usual honolulu shirt, short with the birckenstocks. i started pacing around the one 500 with the sport package when the salesman showed up and said are you interested in the sl. i replied yes and then asked him what they wanted for the 500 with the sport package. he replied that it had 6k miles and they wanted 105k. then i pointed to the 55 and i said how about this one. he said $145k. i told him i thought that was a lot. he replied that the car was meant for only a "special" type of client and that the people that who bought it seperated themselves as in men from boys. i said really... just out of curiousity what do you drive? he replied "an ml sir". i said then if "boys" are driving sl500s that must make you a wienner. he stood just stunned. the look on his face as i walked off and got into the s55 and drove away was pretty priceless as well.
i eventually got the 55 at another dealer but the point of the story is this... and for you dealers out there take some notes... i was a silent partner on a marina down in florida and the operations guy we had running it nailed our strategy right on the head with his vision for developing business. his motto was a guy could pull into a slip step off and go to the tiki hut for lunch. from the minute he steped off to when he left the marina everything could have been perfect. except that his burger was not cooked well. that lousy burger just cost us thousands of dollars in service contracts, fueling sales for his boat, and maybe even a deal on a new boat.
the moral of the story is in order to achieve total customer satisfaction we changed the tiki chef several times !!

 

I would have to agree about the burger costing thousands of dollars. I'm on the list for both the S63 and CL63. More than what they're loosing by not getting those sales is what they loose everytime I drive within 500 feet of their service department on my way to another dealership that is 15 miles out of my way.

I have a good 50 car buying years ahead of me still, and I know one dealership that will probably never see me walk through their doors again.