El Cid

May Motor Trend had article indicating Daimler AG lost about $1.3 Billion on the Maybach. How much have they lost on SmartForTwo? No wonder service costs so much for the rest of us.
Read interesting Car Talk article on BlueTec and the urea requirements. Apparently Click and Clack are not fans of M-B diesels - or at least the cost of servicing them.

K-A

Daimler/M-B is TERRIBLE at handling other brands aside from Mercedes-Benz. Everything they touch other than their core brand goes to poop.

It's the Car Gods. They want M-B to remain sacred, they don't want Daimler screwing it up by diluting it within other brands.

listerone

Can't speak for the Maybach but my experience in several visits to Europe in the last few years is that Smart is pretty popular there...although it's far from popular here,obviously.So perhaps Smart,speaking on a worldwide basis,isn't really a flop.I guess only their accountants can say for sure.


In 35K miles of driving DEF equipped cars I can guarantee that it is,at most,a *very* minor inconvenience/expense.Of course I suppose it's possible that these sytems,as they age,become problematic.So far that hasn't happened to *me*.

ImInPA

With almost 33k miles on my 2011 E350 Bluetec, I would echo the low cost of the DEF system. I generally top mine off before I wash it, so about once a month I add a little bit out of a 2.5 gallon jug. Not a single engine issue to date. Very pleased with the power and economy from the 3.0L six. I do notice that city driving uses more AdBlue than highway driving. All in all it has been an insignificant cost to me and would not let it be a detractor. The sheer power that the engine produces at highway speed for passing is simply amazing.

hyperion667

another reason to go indy.....
I'll never forget my SA saying "now don't let him(indy guy) sreal you away from us"
and of course I said, "oh, no way", but then I learned.......it doesn't take long to learn.....

friggin' dealers.........