How many have repeat / second purchased R Class?
03-02-2013, 09:36 PM
#1
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How many have repeat / second purchased R Class?
I'm about to close a deal on Monday on a beautiful white 2009 Diesel. Best thing about the car? Someone ticked every box on the option sheet, only leaving out the Rear Seat Entertainment. Compared to my 2006, this one has Leather, Infrared Glass, Upgraded A/C with vents in the third row, 7th passenger seat, Xenons, Nav, satellite radio, Pano, Foldable mirrors, Airmatic, Ipod cables in the glovebox, heated front and rear seats, earphone plugs for the middle row, parktronic, subwoofer. 90,000 kilometers. I think it's pre-wired with bluetooth but am not sure as it doesn't seem to have anything in the center glove box like other older Mercedes with bluetooth.
03-03-2013, 12:32 AM
#2
MBWorld Fanatic!
09+ have bluetooth standard built right into the headunit. You can also have more than one phone paired to the headunit!
Did this one have Distronic? For the US it was a hidden special order option.
I'm sure you'll enjoy all of the extra toys this one has. All of those features are quite nice.
Did this one have Distronic? For the US it was a hidden special order option.
I'm sure you'll enjoy all of the extra toys this one has. All of those features are quite nice.
03-03-2013, 11:56 AM
#3
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R500 + SLK55 AMG
That sounds like a great car. All the toys and a diesel for range and efficiency. And it's white. Of course I'm biased on the color, mine's white too.
I was actually surprised when I was looking for an R how many were light on content. Seems most people or dealers ordering for stock didn't load up these premium family haulers with options at all. That doesn't make much sense to me. Take my 07 R500 for example. In 07 there wasn't a lot of standard content especially when compared to the competition from say, Japan. But there was a huge list of packages and individual options.
It reminds me of the GM/Ford approach to selling light trucks where the options are pages long and every one is basically "custom". Which is in direct contrast to the Japanese approach of having a lot of base content and then 2 - 3 trim levels at most sold in packages.
Anyway, I was surprised how hard it was to find an R Class loaded up with a nice level of content when I was shopping for one near year end. And I've left my autotrader.com search running since I bought mine over two months ago. No loaded R's have shown up in the used market on that database. I suppose it was price sensitivity. My sticker price was nearly $65K (US) and I suppose you could have pushed that to $70K (US) with the entertainment package and distronic cruise control.
As for repeat buyers, I'm a three time sucker.....sort of. We bought a fully loaded 06 Chrysler Pacifica Limited in fall of 05. Then we bought a second one fully loaded in mid 06 because we liked the car so much and they worked great for us. Then, my wife downsized to an Infiniti G35x sedan in late 08. That left us with one family hauler. Fast forward to late 2012. The remaining Pacifica was getting up there in miles and the 3.5L engine + 4 speed automatic was a weak point in the car. So, I went looking for an 07-08 with low miles and the upgraded 6 speed auto + 4.0L engine. The idea was to find a car we could hold onto for another 10 years. Couldn't find one with low miles and all the options.
Hmmm, what to do? Then it dawned on me! Mercedes spawned one of these things too. So, I did a little research and found out that the R Class held its value worse than the Pacifica. I did a little more research and found that I could get a V8 or diesel and the car was equipped with a 7 speed auto with shift paddles. That took care of my drive train gripes with the Pacifica. The next question was finding one. Amazingly I found one close by almost immediately. I went to see it and bought it on the spot. We love it!
So, when I say I'm a 3 time sucker, it's not the exact same car mechanically I'm talking about but the concept.
The R Class is even better than the Pacifica albeit with less standard equipment. Access to the 3rd row is great in the Mercedes. The drive train is much better. And the panoramic roof helps 2nd and 3rd row passengers with the claustrophobic cave feeling. I'd rate the handling about the same. The overall size is about identical. Weight is also nearly identical. I like the looks of both for what they are but I'll give Mercedes the nod here. Both versions have capable on-pavement AWD systems. The Pacifica has better collision safety scores. Both have great forward visibility. The Mercedes has a blind spot to the side which the Pacifica manages to avoid with larger mirrors.
I'm not sure why this Mercedes 3X2 crossover concept didn't sell for Chrysler and Mercedes. It works great for our family of four. It's the classic Jack of all trades and master of none. A good compromise overall. The only reason it may not be a good fit IMHO is if you really intend to go off road (<1% of buyers) or if you need serious towing capacity (<5% of buyers).
I was actually surprised when I was looking for an R how many were light on content. Seems most people or dealers ordering for stock didn't load up these premium family haulers with options at all. That doesn't make much sense to me. Take my 07 R500 for example. In 07 there wasn't a lot of standard content especially when compared to the competition from say, Japan. But there was a huge list of packages and individual options.
It reminds me of the GM/Ford approach to selling light trucks where the options are pages long and every one is basically "custom". Which is in direct contrast to the Japanese approach of having a lot of base content and then 2 - 3 trim levels at most sold in packages.
Anyway, I was surprised how hard it was to find an R Class loaded up with a nice level of content when I was shopping for one near year end. And I've left my autotrader.com search running since I bought mine over two months ago. No loaded R's have shown up in the used market on that database. I suppose it was price sensitivity. My sticker price was nearly $65K (US) and I suppose you could have pushed that to $70K (US) with the entertainment package and distronic cruise control.
As for repeat buyers, I'm a three time sucker.....sort of. We bought a fully loaded 06 Chrysler Pacifica Limited in fall of 05. Then we bought a second one fully loaded in mid 06 because we liked the car so much and they worked great for us. Then, my wife downsized to an Infiniti G35x sedan in late 08. That left us with one family hauler. Fast forward to late 2012. The remaining Pacifica was getting up there in miles and the 3.5L engine + 4 speed automatic was a weak point in the car. So, I went looking for an 07-08 with low miles and the upgraded 6 speed auto + 4.0L engine. The idea was to find a car we could hold onto for another 10 years. Couldn't find one with low miles and all the options.
Hmmm, what to do? Then it dawned on me! Mercedes spawned one of these things too. So, I did a little research and found out that the R Class held its value worse than the Pacifica. I did a little more research and found that I could get a V8 or diesel and the car was equipped with a 7 speed auto with shift paddles. That took care of my drive train gripes with the Pacifica. The next question was finding one. Amazingly I found one close by almost immediately. I went to see it and bought it on the spot. We love it!
So, when I say I'm a 3 time sucker, it's not the exact same car mechanically I'm talking about but the concept.
- Three rows of 2 across seating
- Able to carry 6 adults in real comfort
- Able to carry a family of 4 on vacations including skiing in winter
- Able to carry a cargo box if needed
- All wheel drive
- Car-like ride height with car-like handling
- With premium level equipment
- Styling that is not the 2-box SUV I see a couple thousand times every day
- Decent cargo capacity for the occasional Home Depot run.
- Better fuel economy than a full size SUV
The R Class is even better than the Pacifica albeit with less standard equipment. Access to the 3rd row is great in the Mercedes. The drive train is much better. And the panoramic roof helps 2nd and 3rd row passengers with the claustrophobic cave feeling. I'd rate the handling about the same. The overall size is about identical. Weight is also nearly identical. I like the looks of both for what they are but I'll give Mercedes the nod here. Both versions have capable on-pavement AWD systems. The Pacifica has better collision safety scores. Both have great forward visibility. The Mercedes has a blind spot to the side which the Pacifica manages to avoid with larger mirrors.
I'm not sure why this Mercedes 3X2 crossover concept didn't sell for Chrysler and Mercedes. It works great for our family of four. It's the classic Jack of all trades and master of none. A good compromise overall. The only reason it may not be a good fit IMHO is if you really intend to go off road (<1% of buyers) or if you need serious towing capacity (<5% of buyers).
03-03-2013, 01:35 PM
#4
MBWorld Fanatic!
I wouldn't say jack of all trades master of one. As you pointed out earlier, I think it's the ultimate road trip vehicle/ people hauler with all of its creature comforts and space.
I think it really didn't sell because of two things:
1. The American market loves SUVs- the R was more van/ wagon shaped and the US has a very irrational hatred towards wagons
2. There wasn't a lot of marketing pushed on the vehicle- it seemed like MB was pushing the ML and GL more at that time
3. Subjectively speaking, the car looks weird- when you have a design that's love/ hate you're going to run into problems
I think it really didn't sell because of two things:
1. The American market loves SUVs- the R was more van/ wagon shaped and the US has a very irrational hatred towards wagons
2. There wasn't a lot of marketing pushed on the vehicle- it seemed like MB was pushing the ML and GL more at that time
3. Subjectively speaking, the car looks weird- when you have a design that's love/ hate you're going to run into problems
03-03-2013, 06:28 PM
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R500 + SLK55 AMG
Yeah, I'll give it that 1st place. I don't know of any other car, SUV, or crossover I'd rather take on a long trip in any weather. A loaded R Class trumps anything else I've ever been in.
03-05-2013, 11:19 PM
#6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Just had to say I agree with all the comments above. That's one hell of an R63 you have by the way. I gave up finding one; but I came across a guy selling one about 4 years ago - Barolo Red, no miles, with every option and Distronic for about 75K that he'd ordered new. Couldn't swing it.
We decided to pass on the White R only after researching its lack of service history, its mouse-built cache of dog food kibbles by the outer firewall, and gravel road use - which may not be very friendly in the long run. Sigh....I'll find one some day - maybe a newly styled one.
I couldn't agree more with it being the perfect flexi-vehicle for any use. And no it had no Distronic.
We decided to pass on the White R only after researching its lack of service history, its mouse-built cache of dog food kibbles by the outer firewall, and gravel road use - which may not be very friendly in the long run. Sigh....I'll find one some day - maybe a newly styled one.
I couldn't agree more with it being the perfect flexi-vehicle for any use. And no it had no Distronic.
Last edited by rosswell; 03-05-2013 at 11:22 PM.
