I think the reason we don't have any of the good diesels here yet it because we have been slow to convert to the new clean low sulfer fuel these engines need.

Dan

Take a look at the Phaeton. VW can't give them away and they are really nice cars. Its a case study on brand recognition. When most people think VW they think of the little tiny cheap VW bug from the 1970's. VW has done a lot to try and shake that image and you see it in their cars. Their target market is the college kid crowd that buy Jettas and the new bug. You can even see their desperation in their "lowest ego emissions" commercial for the Passat.

Mercedes is smart enough to avoid this kind of identity problem. If you notice the Mercedes Van's are Chrysler/Freightliner badged as the Sprinter even though the design, engine and body are all Mercedes.

When you have the brand recognition that strong you don't mess around with it by selling cars that don't measure up to your reputation. The only reason why the C class has not gone away completely is because the BMW 3 series is such a hot seller.

I don't think thats entirely true. If you look at the C-class history you'll surely find the w201 - an excellent example of Mercedes engineering and craftsmanship. The only problem is that the 190e sold (in the 80s and 90s) for the same price as the new C-class today - without adjusting for inflation. If Mercedes could engineer the car - then decide the price, as they did back then - the c-class would be a better car.

About mpg - obviously on the used car market fuel economy is important. Otherwise you would not find MB diesels selling for thousands more than their gasser counter parts.

yeah, i was thinking of the fuel mileage thing as a used car. but unfortunately as used car buyers we cant tell the new car buyers what to buy.

tom w

Perhaps on certain cars. Its not the case on 126's though.

If your looking for fuel economy there are a lot of other cars that do better than Mercedes Diesels. Even my huge w-140 gasser gets 24mpg.

Yes. For those who like hot engine coolant dumped on their feet while driving Im sure its a great example of MB engineering.