EKlasseMercedes

ok now that you're in the thread...hold your horses and read before you respond haha

today i was talking to an acquaintance and the topic of cars came up. i have a w212 and he just picked up a fully loaded ford focus.

For the record, i would choose a bone stock/base MBZ over a fully loaded ford focus anyday, but the topic of features came up.

his ford focus (at 25k) has blind spot assist, phone to car mapping/address sending, parking assist, heads up display, xenon headlamps, etc. and my P1 has none of those. in fact, besides quality, the basic features on both cars were the same (voice recognition navigation, steering wheel controls, power adjust seats, heated seats, heated steering, etc. )

does that make anyone else angry or do you just justify it by saying mbz had better build quality/engine power/yadda yadda...i dont know it kinda makes me think...if a 25k car vs my 55k car has really cool options...why doesn't mine?

obviously i could buy a car with all of that included but im just talking price points and manufacturer here..25k fully loaded vs. 55k base and (lets say if you were explaining this to a teenage girl minus price- which sounds better?)

just wanted to open up a topic about this and see what you other owners think of this...im not asking a question or ranting, just opening up a topic for discussion.

like i said, i would take my mbz over a ford focus any day.

sorry this whole thing is disjointed but i feel like you get the jist of it. thoughts?

[don't even get me started about the new toyota camry with PADDLE SHIFTERS ]

leapingpoint

i spent quite some time reading in the chinese auto forums (well, because i'm located in china unfortunately), and i often read people who just picked up brand new W212's (or V212's, the stretched china-version E-class) complaining about their cars. almost always, it's because they don't read their manuals, or they have never had mercedes before (who could blame them, 20 years ago, 90% of transportation vehicles on the road were bicycles) so they have no idea how to use some of the features that most of us have been familiar for decades.

the thing that gets me the most is, they usually complain by saying mercedes isn't as good as the honda accord or VW jetta (in asia it's called bora) they had before...........

yeah, before i would explain the features that they don't understand, and the whole mercedes design concept.... now i just click on the back button on my browser and move on.

K-A

I've driven a new Focus, and it's a great car. Apparently Ford benchmarked M-B in terms of build quality, and you can tell (close, but no cigar).

People focus on frills and gadgets in cars so much. There's still a CAR that all that stuff is attached to. A chassis, a safety cage, mechanicals, assembly, etc. We aren't buying Options.... we're buying a CORE car, THEN options go on top of it.

If you were to look up how much it costs to manufacture, design, R&D, assemble, etc. a Ford Focus, then a Mercedes E-Class, you'll see a large gap in pricing.... this is your $15K VS $50K entry price. Options are Options, they simply go on top of the car, hence why the gap stays large when that happens as well.

IMO, a $25K Focus is grossly overpriced, and I truly like that little car, but $60K for an E-Class is a bargain, considering what you get from it compared to Luxury Cars that cost even double. It just depends on how you perceive things and what you want out of a car.

Sometimes I wonder what you guys think you're buying when you buy an M-B. You really think that they are priced due to the statistical Options they have? You're paying Premium Prices on a premium car, you can't have your cake and eat it too, always. A Ford/Honda/Toyota will ALWAYS have more stuff for cheaper, because there isn't a premium put onto the car initially. If you don't want P1 and its limitations, then fork over the cash to get P2 so you wouldn't complain about it. An E-Class is priced how it is for a reason (and its profit margins aren't very high), therefore with all those frills it IS a $60+K car, you can't expect that just because you spend "$50K" you deserve all those options. The car is priced initially as its core.

BM2BZ

if people don't care too much about safety, they can get a ford or whatever w/similar features but lesser in price. however, we all only live once, i'd rather spend more on something that can protect me or my love ones.

leapingpoint

Well said, K-A!

thekurgan

Agree, the Focus is a bit overpriced, but it is a good car in its class (manual, not the auto). Ask any Italian if they'd rather drive a fiat or a focus, the answer will be the focus (gasolio o benzina )

K-A

Thanks! (I try ).

The Focus is a great car, but we all gotta remember, cars aren't just generic and then determined by pricing as to how many Options/HP/gimmicks/tech/etc. it has. If M-B priced the E-Class at Focus levels, and even stripped the radio, power windows, back seats, and everything else out, they'd take a huge loss on every model, i.e: The E-Class costs MUCH more to build/R&D/design than the Focus, regardless of whatever dazzles the Focus has on it.

BenzV12

I recently drove a Ford Focus . I liked it and better car than its rivals . Interior plastic quaility is not deserving the price tag that you need to pay to buy that car
It's a pricey car however its made its name thru and they get better and better one model after the other

W212 is according to me and my service staff told me it was one of the most rock solid cars ever made by MB

I like the way the doors open and close and nothing compares this sound quality . May be a little detail but devils is in the details you know that lol

Raymond Lee

If you think Ford Focus is better, good for you. You will save lot of money. I think I will stay with E350 BlueTec for quite some times to come.

BenzMan369

On this morning's news, they showed a high-speed virtual head-on collision between a 1990's-something Mercedes and a full sized Ford police car. The Benz appeared to be a smaller model - perhaps a 190 or something like that? For those who may not know, a full size Ford Crown Vic with the Interceptor V8 police package, and probably some heavy special
equipment in the trunk, weighs a hell of a lot more than that old Merc.

I was stunned by the results of the crash. The Merc had collapsed roughly back to the area of the windshield. The passenger compartment was intact. The driver was, as they say, treated and released. The patrol car was flat out demolished, although some of the damage was due to rescue having to pry the officer out. He is lucky to be alive and is being treated for multiple trauma, most of it very serious.

No, it's not safe to make sweeping assumptions about relative safety based upon this one incident, given there are so many variables involved in accident reconstruction.

But one thing is for sure, after seeing something like this: rightly or wrongly, I feel just a little more secure getting into my "over-priced" car every day. For those of you driving the full size sedan, even more so.

hyperion667

MB ftw

EKlasseMercedes

good answers. and i agree with them all.

like i said, i would choose the same as you. my point i guess was 'what would you say to someone who presented that argument to you'

in my head i knew what i wanted to explain but kinda hard to put it into words. thanks K-A and everyone else for input.

MBZ ftw for sure.

K-A

I've realized, that people like that ("chip on shoulders"), who will "put down" the guy in the nicer car because "I got something for less that's technically the same, or better, etc.", it's best to not even take them into consideration. It's a character flaw. Why would you bash someone's expensive car? Just like you'd be a d!ck to bash someone's cheaper car when you're in your expensive car. I've heard stories on the 5-Series boards where a guy in a new Optima told a guy in a 535i M-Sport (after the guy in the BMW COMPLIMENTED the guy in the Kia "Nice Car"): "Yeah! BMW exterior with Audi interior, of course!" LOL. It's like a Napoleon Complex.

At the end of the day, you've got the Benz, he's got the Focus, for whatever it's worth (and it's probably worth quite a bit to you if you're in the Benz). A fraction of your car costs more to build than his entire car, and those tech-gadgets are cheap in the big picture.

When people bring that stuff up to me, I tell them I don't buy my car for statistics, I buy it because it's a one of a kind: A Mercedes-Benz Sedan.

BenzV12

A freind of mine said :

Mercedes and others ..... It's the pinnacle of the automotive engineering

In defense of Focus, it is 1st ever car in it's class that offers self parking or whatever it is lol

This thread sounds me like "my gf is nicer than yours " lol

BM2BZ

exactly ! plus back in the old day, ford = fix or repair daily. no, i ain't that old. i've heard it from one of my older friends .

mnje350

I think Ford makes fine cars. I think comparing a Ford focus to a w212 is a little like comparing a well made bass fishing boat to a speed boat. They serve different markets and different needs of the buyer.

hofb99

All very valid points from all that contributed. Couldn't have said it better, K-A (exactly what I was thinking...you tend to put a lot of thought in ensuring sensibility, prudence and accuracy in your posts. Reminds me of how I use to post on other forums when I was younger and even more avid about performance cars--sedans especially). Bottom line, EKlasseMercedes, YOU paid $55K for your car and your friend only paid $25K. Say what he will (I like to call it "hater-ism"), that in itself ends the argument/debate (if there even was one). End of discussion. Goes w/o saying that EVERYONE IN THE WORLD knows what the M-B brand stands for: PRESTIGE and benchmark automotive engineering and PRESTIGE and R&D and PRESTIGE and countless patents & safety "firsts" and so on and so on and so on...and did I mention "PRESTIGE"?!! I'm sure you get the picture! I mean, come on, when someone says "I own a Benz", you automatically take social/professional status and affluence for granted, once again, given what M-B stands for. PERIOD. In reflection, it's no wonder now why everyone was "congratulating" me on purchasing the E! It's not just a purchase; it's an accomplishment! So be proud of what you've accomplished in your life to be able to afford such "greatness" and hope that your friend can one day achieve the same...because he's your friend. Okay, off my soapbox!

boschk

How a mbz FEELS to the driver is far better than the list of trinkets found on many cars. Anyone that drives a Ford vs. MBZ back to back can feel the difference. And, let's face it, a focus has NO prestige, something MBZ has oodles of. I know, none of us bought an MBZ b/c of that.

I don't need blind spot assistance, I have eyes and a mirrors. I don't need parking assist, I can park just fine thank you.

Nothing wrong with a focus, but feature to feature set doesn't tell the whole story.

oggie

You know I could not imaging that I would thank myself each morning for buying the car when I get into my Ford Focus..but I do with my Benz.

listerone

My nephew's got a Focus which I've ridden in a few times and driven a few times.It's not a bad little car at all but it's not better than *my* Mercedes,at least.But then,I doubt that Ford *designed* it with the intention of being better.I think it would be more fitting to compare a Lincoln to a Mercedes.

CEB

Better depends on priorities.

If you want lots of (sometimes badly thought out - think the previous version of Sync) gizmos in an appliance car to get you from point A to point But, then the Focus is the perfect car.

The MB, otoh, is more refined, uses better quality materials and uses some bleeding edge technology that isn't readily obvious.

The Ford is safe little car and most any modern car would outcrash (if that were a word) a Crown Victoria - a 1970's design used as cop cars and taxis because of their simplicity and cheap parts.

Every modern car will keep the passenger cell intact. The airbags will protect the occupants well, but the more refined safety oriented cars will do it just a bit better - all that costs money.

instantfob

FORD partnership with Microsoft has paid off over the years. I pick up something from the executive aisle at National Car Rental, whenever I fancy a domestic toy car venture.

Check this guy's blog on this rental car review.

http://carrentingreviews.com/

BenzMan369

I AM that old! It was true, to a certain extent. Although, Chevy and Dodge-Plymouth owners were only too happy to exaggerate the statistics a bit.

From your new "older friend."

davidbijan

Why are you wasting a thread discussing a FORD Focus. Man you guys are getting bored

steelgrey

I would say Mercedes Benz when only the best will do. Think I read that somewhere...oh ya it's on the sleve of my sweatshirt.