monty

Hi fellow mates,

wife cannot wait to get a new car, and over the last week been looking at Chrysler Voyager (Town & Country). trying to convince her to wait maybe a year for the new R class but I think it is a loosing battle. She test drove the car yesterday and loves it ie the Voyager.

Here are a few things I liked about the car which the R class does not have

1. Sliding side doors, great these days where I am always scarred kids swinging car doors open will hit my car
2. Stow and Go features allowing the back to be totally flat

She changes car every 3 years regardless, and hopefully by then the bugs will have been worked out of the R class,

Does any one her have any exprience with the Chrysler car or can someone show me links about this car forum if it exist !

Nevada Jack

The back of the R Class can be made totally flat by folding all the seats down. If you opt for the rear center console, that can be removed to allow the second row seats to fold dowm.

I don't know anything about the Voyager (Town and Country) but you could check the Chrysler site and see if they have a forum of some kind.

I am hoping the R Class will not have "bugs" to be worked out since the quality issue has been given such a high profile recently. I do know that when you replace the Voyager with an R Class you will notice the difference...:-)

BrabusS55AMG

Don't buy a Chrysler Voyager, they have poor reliability like almost all mainstream Chrysler products (Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge). If you wife wants a minivan I would look at the new Windstar or a Sienna over that IMO.

MB Fanatic

Recent Chrysler offerings have been great, reliabale, and they look good. BTW the thread starter is from Australia. I don't think they get the Windstar or Sienna there.

Krycheck

I would never EVER pick a Windstar over a Chrysler mini-van ever. Sienna or Odessy(sp?) maybe. I used to work in used-car recon. The Windstar was a comebacker if we ever had one.

monty

Your absolutely right, I would have chosen either the Toyota Sierra or Honda Odysses (USA Version, we Get European version). But Down Under nothing comes close to the Voyager.

We park our cars in the garage all the time, the sliding doors are especially appealing. Maybe the R class 2nd version will go that way, all other people movers seems to have gone that way

Nevada Jack

The R Class will never see sliding doors. The concept is not as a "people mover" but as a luxury sedan/wagon with the some of the features of a SUV/minivan. Put sliding doors on the R and orders would disappear. The original design had the so called "suicide doors" which I would have liked to have seen. But I think the threat of injury and law suits will prevent that from getting to market.

Personally I see a strong overlap between the E Class wagon and the R Class. I think the E Class wagon could be dropped from the line if the R Class sales are strong. I was a MB wagon owner for years and just recently cancelled an order for a 2006 wagon in favor of waiting for the R. The R has all the features of the E wagon and more and at a slightly lesser buy in.

Paxfobiscum

Erm.. ahem.. What is the basis of this opinion?

And what does "dropped from the line" mean? If you are inferring total complete production halt then it will NOT happen in our lifetime. If you go to Paris, Berlin, Rome, Geneva, you will see that many taxis are actually E-class MB wagons. They have proven reliability and practicality as a functional taxi in Europe. I cannot imagine how eradication of the E wagon will happen. If there is a model that is threathened by the new R-class, it is the M-class, which is why the new M will not offer third row seats anymore so as not to duplicate the features of the the R.

Don't get me wrong, I like the R and have sat and studied one in very close details for long hours while interviewing MB representatives about it (It's my job) and there are two things they say will not change. 1) The E-class wagon seats 7, while the R-class "wagon" seats 6 (in any configuration). 2) The E-class wagon will be made in Stuttgart, while the R-class "wagon" will be made in Alabama. Although Hans did say that MB will now make sure that the Alabama facilities will try its best to have Stuttgart level production standards.

Nevada Jack

From my perspective it seemed a logical conclusion...but with your background and input I would guess it will be around a while...:-) I love the MB wagons and have had 4 of them, almost a 5th. But I just felt the R had more to offer me. In the US the wagon is kind of a nitche car and sales are always small compared to other models. Put a diesel in the wagon (and the R) and both will sell well anywhere.

Paxfobiscum

Actually, I plan to get an R too maybe in about two or three years, which hopefully is when the bugs have been straightened out. Not that there will be bugs in the 05 models, but one never knows. The first three years of the M had major problems and the MB reps I spoke with admitted that outright. That is why they also said that the Stuttgart standards have been put on the Alabama plant. Hopefully, we will see the effects of the better standards.

Took a bunch of pictures of the R and almost did drive one, but did not. In case you do not know there are better features to it than other MB cars. Hans said it that the would take any type of phone now and not just MB phones. It will also accept the ipod and any type of DVD for its DVD player. The rear trunk has an automatic button that will close the lid for you. The transmission shifter is a little funky for me as I like the normal center type. Their new tranny shifter will be a stalk coming out of the steering wheel column. Maybe it is a new trend? I do not know but they certainly believe it will be more convenient. The R will have s "sport" option with more features than the regular models such as an 18" wheel. Drivers will have two suspension options for rough roads or for sport driving. At 75 mph or higher the car will lower itself by about .75 of an inch to make it more stable. That will be standard features for all Rs. I also believe they mentioned the possibility of selling the diesel version in the US - eventually. More importantly, the base MSRP will be cheaper than the E-wagon. I don't know if that is good or bad but take it for what it is worth.

It will definitely come out by fall of this year. I have a ton of pictures so let me know if you want me to email them to you.

Nevada Jack

I have spec'd the car per the list of options and packages that were listed in an DC article on German Car Fans (The R Class in Depth.) Pricing is exected toward the end of May with an allocation which means I will get a date and of course the pricing. I anticipate something in the $63-65,000 range for a well loaded R350.

I also found a MB Sales document for dealers off a Canadian site and posted it for download in pdf. This has specific information and more detailed on the options and packages.

If you want to download it go to the mac site in my signature and click on the download album. You can also preview some pictures and I have another album on the same site with R Class pictures. The other sites have R Class pic's also. That mac url is bad. Here is the proper one:

http://homepage.mac.com/nevadajacksmac

Thanks for the insight and if the pictures you have are not the published ones, then I would like to take a look at them. PM me and we can exchange emails.