Tesla Versus Mercedes
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2019 C300 Coupe
Tesla Versus Mercedes
I was recently seriously considering getting a Tesla Model 3 after having driven a Mercedes since 1997. The people at the Tesla Motors Club forum were great help to me. I reached a decision yesterday, and authored a post on that forum this morning to explain why I chose a Mercedes. Here it is:
"As some of you know, I have been annoying everyone on the forum for about two weeks asking for opinions about Tesla. I have received a lot of great advice and I thank you all for taking time out of your day to help me.
I have driven 7 different Mercedes since 1997, and was thinking about getting a Tesla.
Yesterday, I picked up my Mercedes from service, and my salesman (who has now sold me 8 cars) asked to speak with me. I went into talk to him about Teslas and Mercedes. To his credit, he said nothing but good things about Tesla, other than he thought their lease program was pretty dopey.
I had always driven a C 300 sedan. I always wanted a 2 door C 300 Coupe. I could never get one because Mercedes does not generally deal on them. In a post on a Mercedes forum, someone said that those cars generally lease for about $150 a month more than the sedan.
When we started talking about price, the salesman asked the magic question, “If I can get you a good price, will you buy a car today?” I told him OK. He came back with this offer: Pay the same amount ($615 a month), put down $1000 more than last time (a total of $2,400 down), and pay for the last service (about $225), and we have a deal. So we had a deal. Frasnkly, I can’t believe I got the car at that price. I honestly believe it was the threat of getting a Tesla that got it for me.
I’d thought I’d give you all my reasoning, and try to break down why I got the Mercedes.
1. Customer loyalty: Tesla wins. I know 4 people who have Teslas. Everyone of them says the same thing: “It’s the best car I have ever driven.” Three of them previously owned Mercedes. The partner of the fourth drives a Mercedes, and is getting a Tesla next. One of them had their delivery delayed 8 weeks because, according to a person she spoke with, Tesla hadn’t gotten around to making the red version of her car. Despite the bad service and lame excuse, that person will never drive another brand of car. I am starting to thing there is a sex robot somewhere in the car, or maybe a keg of beer. Or maybe they were brainwashed in Fremont. I don’t know.
2. Cost of Operation: Tesla wins. The cost of fuel would save me about $111.17 a month. But that savings drops to $93.33 if you factor in other costs I would incur, like installing a charger at home, lease return, mileage overage on the Mercedes, etc.
3. Saving the Planet: Tesla wins, and it’s not close. It didn’t come up in my threads, but in the past two weeks, I looked at the Kona EV. But my son drives a Kona, and I thought it was a little weird or us to drive the same car. I looked at the Jaguar too, but it was way, way out of my price range. Nonetheless, my three-year plan is to finish this lease and then go electric. (Other EVs were not big enough to hold my golf clubs, so they were eliminated.)
4. Drivability: Tie. Here’s my analysis: A Tesla drives better at under 50, but if you are on a freeway doing over 50, you probably want the Mercedes. If you are driving at 70 or more, you definitely want the Mercedes.
5. Exterior: Mercedes. The C300 Coupe is a work of art. It looks like a refined muscle car from the 1970s. Now, I grew up in an ethnic neighborhood in Boston. Old guys drove Caddies or Lincolns. Young guys drove muscle cars. (Watch the cars in Good Fellas and you’ll see what I mean.) If you drove a Beetle, you’d certainly be mocked, and maybe get a beating. My dad drove a Mustang, and the C300 Coupe kind of looks a little like that. In contrast, the Tesla was cool when I first saw it. But now that I have seen several hundred of them, they are kind of common. In West Los Angeles, they are more common than boob jobs, and that’s saying something.
6. Interior: Mercedes. I know a lot of people complain about the buttons, knobs and switches on the Mercedes. They make it seemed like they were dropped into the cabin of the space shuttle in Florida, and were asked to take a few laps around the equator, and to land that bad boy in California. But if you can afford that car, you probably have the IQ to figure out the buttons in under a month. And I like the luxury. Personally, I don’t like the starkness of the Model 3’s interior. Also, I look at a computer screen almost every waking moment of my life. I don’t like a computer screen on my car. I also don’t like not being able to drive a car, or having to reboot it, if my computer crashes. I worry about computers taking over the world. I’ll be stuck in a Model 3 with the doors locked, and saying, “Open the pod door Hal.”
7. Seats: Mercedes. I always say the seat is the most important part of my car. The C300 wins this by a lot. It has one little adjustment in its seat that’s great: the part of the seat that hits your thigh can be adjusted forward or back, so your legs rest more comfortably. Love this feature.
8. Cabin noise: Mercedes. Not even close.
9. Reliability: Mercedes. If you are leasing a Mercedes, chances are pretty low you will have a major problem in the first 45,000 miles. Tesla is going through growing pains right now. I expect it will grow out of them in 3 years, and that will be the time to buy.
10. Build quality: Mercedes. Not even close. And my car was assembled in Stuttgart, which is the Vatican of Mercedes plants.
11. Service: Mercedes. Not even close. I have had the same salesman since 1997. I have had the same service rep for about 15 years. If I have a problem with anything, I can get it resolved quickly. And they have a Keurig machine and really swell leather chairs with a big screen if you have to wait around. And free popcorn and apples. Sweet.
12. Lease plan: Mercedes. Who the hell has a lease program with no residual? Only Tesla. (Query: no one buys their car off lease, so why not have a residual Mr. Musk?)
13. Accessibility to charging stations: There are so many Teslas on the road in now, that I have noticed they are now hogging all the charging stations at work. I know people at work who drive plug in hybrids with limited EV capacity, and they used to have free reign of them. Now that the Model 3s have taken over, getting a charge at work is difficult. (And their cars do not have the electric range of a Tesla, so they are kind of pissed off at this recent development.) Hopefully, in 3 years, there will be more charging stations.
Anyway, that’s it. Thanks sincerely for all your help.
Love and kisses,
Petrocelli"
"As some of you know, I have been annoying everyone on the forum for about two weeks asking for opinions about Tesla. I have received a lot of great advice and I thank you all for taking time out of your day to help me.
I have driven 7 different Mercedes since 1997, and was thinking about getting a Tesla.
Yesterday, I picked up my Mercedes from service, and my salesman (who has now sold me 8 cars) asked to speak with me. I went into talk to him about Teslas and Mercedes. To his credit, he said nothing but good things about Tesla, other than he thought their lease program was pretty dopey.
I had always driven a C 300 sedan. I always wanted a 2 door C 300 Coupe. I could never get one because Mercedes does not generally deal on them. In a post on a Mercedes forum, someone said that those cars generally lease for about $150 a month more than the sedan.
When we started talking about price, the salesman asked the magic question, “If I can get you a good price, will you buy a car today?” I told him OK. He came back with this offer: Pay the same amount ($615 a month), put down $1000 more than last time (a total of $2,400 down), and pay for the last service (about $225), and we have a deal. So we had a deal. Frasnkly, I can’t believe I got the car at that price. I honestly believe it was the threat of getting a Tesla that got it for me.
I’d thought I’d give you all my reasoning, and try to break down why I got the Mercedes.
1. Customer loyalty: Tesla wins. I know 4 people who have Teslas. Everyone of them says the same thing: “It’s the best car I have ever driven.” Three of them previously owned Mercedes. The partner of the fourth drives a Mercedes, and is getting a Tesla next. One of them had their delivery delayed 8 weeks because, according to a person she spoke with, Tesla hadn’t gotten around to making the red version of her car. Despite the bad service and lame excuse, that person will never drive another brand of car. I am starting to thing there is a sex robot somewhere in the car, or maybe a keg of beer. Or maybe they were brainwashed in Fremont. I don’t know.
2. Cost of Operation: Tesla wins. The cost of fuel would save me about $111.17 a month. But that savings drops to $93.33 if you factor in other costs I would incur, like installing a charger at home, lease return, mileage overage on the Mercedes, etc.
3. Saving the Planet: Tesla wins, and it’s not close. It didn’t come up in my threads, but in the past two weeks, I looked at the Kona EV. But my son drives a Kona, and I thought it was a little weird or us to drive the same car. I looked at the Jaguar too, but it was way, way out of my price range. Nonetheless, my three-year plan is to finish this lease and then go electric. (Other EVs were not big enough to hold my golf clubs, so they were eliminated.)
4. Drivability: Tie. Here’s my analysis: A Tesla drives better at under 50, but if you are on a freeway doing over 50, you probably want the Mercedes. If you are driving at 70 or more, you definitely want the Mercedes.
5. Exterior: Mercedes. The C300 Coupe is a work of art. It looks like a refined muscle car from the 1970s. Now, I grew up in an ethnic neighborhood in Boston. Old guys drove Caddies or Lincolns. Young guys drove muscle cars. (Watch the cars in Good Fellas and you’ll see what I mean.) If you drove a Beetle, you’d certainly be mocked, and maybe get a beating. My dad drove a Mustang, and the C300 Coupe kind of looks a little like that. In contrast, the Tesla was cool when I first saw it. But now that I have seen several hundred of them, they are kind of common. In West Los Angeles, they are more common than boob jobs, and that’s saying something.
6. Interior: Mercedes. I know a lot of people complain about the buttons, knobs and switches on the Mercedes. They make it seemed like they were dropped into the cabin of the space shuttle in Florida, and were asked to take a few laps around the equator, and to land that bad boy in California. But if you can afford that car, you probably have the IQ to figure out the buttons in under a month. And I like the luxury. Personally, I don’t like the starkness of the Model 3’s interior. Also, I look at a computer screen almost every waking moment of my life. I don’t like a computer screen on my car. I also don’t like not being able to drive a car, or having to reboot it, if my computer crashes. I worry about computers taking over the world. I’ll be stuck in a Model 3 with the doors locked, and saying, “Open the pod door Hal.”
7. Seats: Mercedes. I always say the seat is the most important part of my car. The C300 wins this by a lot. It has one little adjustment in its seat that’s great: the part of the seat that hits your thigh can be adjusted forward or back, so your legs rest more comfortably. Love this feature.
8. Cabin noise: Mercedes. Not even close.
9. Reliability: Mercedes. If you are leasing a Mercedes, chances are pretty low you will have a major problem in the first 45,000 miles. Tesla is going through growing pains right now. I expect it will grow out of them in 3 years, and that will be the time to buy.
10. Build quality: Mercedes. Not even close. And my car was assembled in Stuttgart, which is the Vatican of Mercedes plants.
11. Service: Mercedes. Not even close. I have had the same salesman since 1997. I have had the same service rep for about 15 years. If I have a problem with anything, I can get it resolved quickly. And they have a Keurig machine and really swell leather chairs with a big screen if you have to wait around. And free popcorn and apples. Sweet.
12. Lease plan: Mercedes. Who the hell has a lease program with no residual? Only Tesla. (Query: no one buys their car off lease, so why not have a residual Mr. Musk?)
13. Accessibility to charging stations: There are so many Teslas on the road in now, that I have noticed they are now hogging all the charging stations at work. I know people at work who drive plug in hybrids with limited EV capacity, and they used to have free reign of them. Now that the Model 3s have taken over, getting a charge at work is difficult. (And their cars do not have the electric range of a Tesla, so they are kind of pissed off at this recent development.) Hopefully, in 3 years, there will be more charging stations.
Anyway, that’s it. Thanks sincerely for all your help.
Love and kisses,
Petrocelli"
