Glyn M Ruck

Louie D

BTW I joined the trim team Ordered on Friday came Monday morning installed Monday eve. That Jerry is a cool cat..

Frank Rizzo

It was not even available in 2009 in the US except the CKL63 I have every option except the power trunk closer (that really makes me mad). I wish I had the sunshade as well.

I have to say Bi-X and Keyless go are the two must haves for me.

Glyn M Ruck

Oh! wierd. I know it was not available on most W203 MY's in the US which was strange to me. I live on a hillside with difficult access & would have knocked all the corners off my last 3 cars without Parktronic. I've only ever seen one 2009 in SA without Parktronic. We have been lucky here. No packages - just tick the options list & that's what you get.

Keyless Go is a great feature!

Yidney

Other than AMGs, it was a non-existant option in the US. I've never understood that on a car in this price range - but more weird to me is that they would decide the US market did not want it when it's available everywhere else. Does it cost MB something to leave it on the option list?

Glyn M Ruck

Must have been an MBUSA decision then. It's even available as on option on a basic A Class in ROW.

I think Benz has a dilemma in the US. They have to sell the cars at about half the price they are in ROW to be competitive. Same applies in a country like Saudi Arabia where even airbags are an option & even on a Porsche!

So they mass order with packages & lower spec to save money. They definitely trim things off of US cars. You notice it on little things like pad wear sensors on a W203. US cars were down to one on LHS front. My SA car was one on each wheel & leather etc standard but at a hell of a price.

Apart from complexity management I don't really understand it with options though. Options usually make a bucket of money for auto makers.

Rudeney

Parktronic was a slow adoption here in the USA. At first, it was just the S-class and SUV's that had it. I think it's now available on all models. I'm not sure why, but my guess is that most Americans thought of it as an "SUV" accessory and it makes the bumper look ugly with those round sensors.

Oh, and as for Jerry at ForMyMercedes - he's a great guy! Back when I had my ML, I ordered a set of chrome door handle accents from him. A few years down the road, I lost one. I sent him an email to ask about buying a single replacement, and a few days later, he sent one to me no charge.

Frank Rizzo

What is kinda weird is that there are lots of early CLK's that I see with both park tonic and the rear sunshade, then they both seemingly disappeared later in the model life.

I don't get it.

Glyn M Ruck

Some of it is certainly sticker price related & trimming of costs in the US. As an example as best I can ascertain the 2009 CLK 350 Coupe like mine was priced at approx $50,000 in the US - not quite sure of trim level. In South Africa my CLK new was a cool ZAR834,000 or $108,000.
The car is very nicely spec'ed with Nav, HK Logic 7, Leather, Parktronic, BiX etc. yadda, yadda. But no Linguatronic, Distronic, Keyless go or a sunroof (which I did not want).

SA pricing is in line with many European & Asian countries. So I envy you guys in the US. You get a really good deal.

Ryan C. Moody

Where can I find the wood grain overlay? Is there a website?

Yidney

Formymercedes.com