LostHerbz

Ive Seen a few E-class Yellow Cabs In New York City. From the inside none of them appear to be stripped down E class Models, however i may be mistaken. The taxi E classes are all painted in bright yellow, the color normally associated with Medallion Cabs.

E55 KEV

LostHerbz, I doubt if those cabs were purchased new off the showroom for cab duty? Remember, the W210 chassis has been around since 1995 and the 1996 models were available in diesel engines, the E300. You can purchase a 1996 E-Class for less than $20k.

Accord

In Isreal, most Taxi's, Police Cars, etc. are all Mercedes-Benz W210 E-Classes.

jff2k

Low-end E-Classes have alu rims (only in winter time there are steel wheels, because of snow chains...), and there is luxury in these cars (well, of course more plastic than in high-end models). A big reason for European Taxi drivers for choosing Mercedes-Benz cars is the high reliability of these cars! We still have W124, W202 taxis, next to W210/W203 whatever taxis (+ Audi, VW... ). Well, and a taxi doesn't need to have a 5L V8 engine with 300 HP

Here some pics of the German Mercedes-Benz page:





Mercedes-Benz has got packages for every model and every use, police, firefighters, rescue vehicles, taxis, driving school - in low and high end variants - eg for E 220 and up to E 500!

DtS

Thanks for straighten this out jff2k! And thanks for the pics!

E55 KEV

jff2k, Maybe now the low-end W211 have alloy wheels but the early model W210 E230 has OEM steel wheels with plastic hubscaps. There is a early model, could be 1996- 1999, Euro imported right hand drive E230 driving around Alexandria Va of which I speak.

Cool pics!

Aus

Seing these "industrialised" mercs makes me want to cry!!.
Here in Australia a current model E240 classic lists for US$50'500 and a 4cyl E200k classic lists for US$44750. Both these models have NO leather seats, NO alloy wheels, Not even a light on the sun visor mirror.
I'm assuming that when our earnings are converted into US dollars we would tend to earn less than the americans for the same jobs, so buying ANY mercedes is a real luxury here.
Seeing them being used as work horses makes me want to cry!

Are they concidered a luxury in Gemany??

merc

In Germany a new E- or S-Classes is luxury too, but we don´t have to pay tax for a luxury car.


And here once again the prices in Germany:

Mercedes-Benz E-Class W211 in Classic (basic Equipment)

E 240 -- 36'888 Euro = 34'654.1 US Dollar
E 320 -- 43'500 Euro = 40'865.6 US Dollar
E 500 -- 56'492 Euro = 53'070.8 US Dollar (Elegance, no Classic for E 500)
E 220 CDI -- 35'264 Euro = 33'128.4 US Dollar
E 270 CDI -- 37'584 Euro = 35'307.9 US Dollar

jff2k

Yes, they are! Mercedes-Benz is embodiment of the economic miracle of the 1950s in Germany. And the name Mercedes-Benz is still the most valuable name.

But Mercedes-Benz changed, starting in 1983 with offering a low-end Mercedes, the smallest Benz ever made (post WW II), the 190E/D W201, than in 1997 the A-Class W168 - again the smallest Benz! Mercedes is now a manufacturer of cars for all mankind and is trying to sell more and more cars! For young families (A-Class, Vaneo, ...). So the cars have to get cheaper, and a result of that is, the quality is going downhill... Maybe Mercedes-Benz looses its brilliance, if Prof. Jürgen Hubbert does not react on the image loss of the past years, but he allready confesses failsures and is trying to correct them.

But there is still real luxury - with E-Class, S-Class, CL and SL.... Well, and also the price of these cars


@merc: we pay more taxes than Americans do! In Germany, we have Value Added Tax - that's tax for luxury....

karl k

Is the 16% German VAT included in those prices? Vat in Denmark and Sweden is 25% !!
http://www.vrc-vatrefund.com/html/vatchart.htm

Jeff2k quote:

"But there is still real luxury - with E-Class, S-Class, CL and SL.... Well, and also the price of these cars."

How do real AMGs rate?

jff2k

Yes, 16% VAT are included in these prices.

Well, AMG tuned cars rate higher than "normal" Mercedes cars of course - and BRABUS is a very desired tuner.

KnightRider

There are C and E class taxis in Spain, all with diesel engines. However I've seen several 320 CDIs, which isn't a base model in Europe whichever way you look at it, and therefore is priced accordingly.
When I worked at BMW dealership I was told that Mercedes gives discounts for taxi customers - it's their policy, whereas BMW doesn't and that's why you don't see many BMW taxis, but many Mercedes. Well, that's apart from other 5 series vs E class reasons.
Also I disagree strongly with high end model Ford against base model Mercedes argument. I am talking about engineering. The fundamental underpinnings of E class are the same in E 200 with hubcaps as in E 500 Avantgarde. I am talking about basic suspension/steering/brake system/safety systems design. Brake discs size may vary slightly to compensate for heavier engines and such, but in principle the car is the same. Currently it is among the best in the world, if not the best, whilst Taurus is a Taurus, even if you cover it all in leather and wood. That's why I'd avoid at all costs "bargain" cars, like Korean ones, all loaded with extras as standard, having 3.0 V6 and costing peanuts. All the amenities/creature comforts installed are there to hide pre pre previous Japanese cars chassis and all things related to it.
Under any circumstances I'd prefer base model E class (these days with satisfactory standard equipment btw) to any Ford or almost any other car for that matter.
So what do you think?

jff2k

That's completely correct!

DtS

Yes! 25%!!! Isn't that horrible Poor me

KnightRider: I couldn't agree more!

karl k

Does the 25 % VAT apply to Volvo as well?

What reputation does Volvo have at home vs. MBZ?

KnightRider

In Spain there is a VAT of 16% and then a luxury tax of 12%. I think it is paid on all cars with an engine bigger than 1.9 l or something. So in total compulsory taxes add up to 28%, which makes selling the car after a short period of ownership (1-2 years) quite a financial disaster, it automatically loses 28% of what you paid and then normal depreciation.
I've been driven once in a new (back then), absolutely fully loaded with options 960. It was 7-8 years ago. Before that it was 760. I was so impressed! In some german magazine, I think Auto Motor und Sport in a comparison test, they called it once a Swedish Mercedes. I think things changed since then, but I liked 7 and 9 series Volvos back when they were new. S80 looks ok though.

E55 KEV

KnightRider,

I used to like Volvo. I owned a 740Turbo with RWD. I stopped liking Volvo cars when they went FWD.