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-   -   I have a '99 E320 (http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=120973)

zafarhayatkhan 04-29-2005 01:16 PM
"DCX QUARTERLY EARNINGS FALL 30%. Daimler-
Chrysler AG says its net earnings in the first quarter
declined 30% to $374 million this year, dragged down by
a $1.2 billion operating loss for its Mercedes Car Group."


Toyota's net profit grew to $2.9 Billion for the quarter.

GM's automotive operations lost $1.3 Billion.

Hatterasguy 04-29-2005 02:06 PM
Inted you are seeing exactly what I have seen. Lexus takes the Germans technoligy and improves on it to make it reliable. They also let MB come out with something first.

It is a very good stratigy and is proving to be very profitable.

However I would never buy a Lexus because where is the fun?

I was checking out a new LS430 the other day and it felt very much like a W140.

Infiniti on the other hand has some cool stuff out their. I will probably get one someday. Their 3.5L V6 is a very impressive engine.

Southern 04-29-2005 08:24 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by inetd
The war dept. would shoot me if she read this as it's her car, but IMHO Lexus does not have near the build quality of a Merc. Not even close. For ex, if Merc used a 1/2" something-or-another, Lexus would copy it and make it a 1/4" something-or-another. The whole car is like that - thinner, cheaper (is that the right adjective?), just minimal. Everything is minimal.

The "I had to fix my Merc so now I'm mad at the world" crowd quickly dumps Mercs (to our delight), and jumps over to a Lexus so they can neglect that one too. I'm approached weekly by an ex-Merc owner with all sorts of stories of why they switched to Lexus. Like how they had to replace air pumps or something on their Merc, cussed out the dealer and traded it on a Lexus. One guy boasted he lost $15k on the trade in value of his Merc because he had to replace both the rotors AND the pads during a brake job, which he deemed inexcusable. With a Lexus he claimed, he only had to do pads. Infuriated, he made the trade. He was actually quite angry that I was successfully driving a Merc, especially when I reminded him he just did a $15,000.00 brake job. Boy was he pissed.

But you're right - I do NOT like to drive the Lexus, and now the wife always wants the Merc too. Just a few drives and she was converted. Calls it the "power sled"...

I meet the same type of people that you do except I tell them that the parts for my E320 rear brake job (rotors & pads) cost me only $150 since I am able to do the labor myself. They get upset since they usually spend at least $1,000 for service on their cars. I have been offered to service their cars but I decline telling them that I can't afford the liability.

W140 S600 04-30-2005 11:43 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by inetd
How true. Modern Japanese compacts are supposedly much safer than a 6 year old 6000lb 140 if you read the test results.
What they meant to say is that the japanese compacts are much safer.....for the other driver you hit... ;)

deanyel 04-30-2005 01:20 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by zafarhayatkhan
"DCX QUARTERLY EARNINGS FALL 30%. Daimler-
Chrysler AG says its net earnings in the first quarter
declined 30% to $374 million this year, dragged down by
a $1.2 billion operating loss for its Mercedes Car Group."


Toyota's net profit grew to $2.9 Billion for the quarter.

GM's automotive operations lost $1.3 Billion.
You've reminded me of an interesting article in Automotive News a couple of weeks ago. It seems that the value of GM stock has gone down so far that the total value of the company is approximately equal to Toyota's annual profit - both about $16 billion as I recall. In other words Toyota makes enough money in 12 months to buy all of GM. The article also pointed out that Harley Davidson's market capitalzation (total value) is greater than GM's - with a very small fraction as much in sales. This is amazing stuff - which would normally mean that GM would be a takeover candidate - except that I don't think there's anyone who wants them.

Hatterasguy 04-30-2005 06:00 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by deanyel
. This is amazing stuff - which would normally mean that GM would be a takeover candidate - except that I don't think there's anyone who wants them.
Automakers in China want to get into this market. :D

zafarhayatkhan 05-02-2005 02:35 PM
MB has to spend more money in R & D to develop quailty products and avoid problems like the spring perch failure.

Toyota spends a lot of money in development and it shows in the products.

"GM will spend $8 billion on new products this year, up from $7 billion last year. That sounds like a lot, but Toyota by comparison spent $15.3 billion last year, according to BusinessWeek."

Even BMW considers Lexus to be the benchmark.

"Reithofer says Lexus was BMW's quality benchmark, not vehicles from German rivals Mercedes-Benz AG or Audi AG.

BMW's ambition is to overtake Lexus in the J.D. Power and Associates vehicle dependability study in the United States, he says.

In last year's survey, Lexus was the highest-ranked brand for the 10th straight year. BMW, the best-ranked European brand, took the fifth spot."

In many ways, GM and MB are similar, they have the resources and long automotive history, but are failing to produce technically superior vehicles.

suginami 05-02-2005 09:11 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by deanyel
You've reminded me of an interesting article in Automotive News a couple of weeks ago. It seems that the value of GM stock has gone down so far that the total value of the company is approximately equal to Toyota's annual profit - both about $16 billion as I recall.
I was just reading today in the paper that GM's single largest cost is supporting the healthcare benefits of their retirees and their families. Something like $1,500 of the cost of a car is healthcare, outweighing any other cost, including the cost of the steel used to make the car.

Also interesting is that the value of GM stock is now lower than that of Harley Davidson. Simply amazing.

nhdoc 05-03-2005 02:09 PM
Staying on-subject
 
I find the design flaw which causes the perch failure to be excusable...after all, these cars are now up to 9 years old and it is hard to foresee every possible failure mode in every component.

What I find absolutely INEXCUSABLE is the foot dragging on performing a recall on what must be a priority-one safety related failure. Mark my words, MB will HAVE TO RECALL THESE EVENTUALLY when enough people who experience failures complain to NHTSA, so, why not just do it now and get it over with?

I'll tell you why...they know every month they put it off another few hundred cars will hit the crushers or junkyards for one reason or another and then there will be that many fewer left for them to foot the repair bills to fix. But how many people will be injured or killed until they are forced to own up to this???

Also, to say they will only pay for repairs for the original owners is ludicrous - how can there be any moral distinction between an "original" owner and "current" owner when it comes to a safety issue. I can see it if you are talking about cosmetics or convenience issues like dashboard cracks or window regulators (both of which they deny knowing of systematic failures) but when the passenger's lives are at stake how can they say they will only cover "original owners".

lee polowczuk 05-03-2005 02:27 PM
I wonder how many 1989 Lexus' are on the road.... first year built....as a 90 model.

I wonder what shape they are in?

I wonder how they ride>

I wonder how difficult they are to maintain after 15 years?

just wondering.

blackmercedes 05-03-2005 03:03 PM
Mercedes covered the R107 subframe problems for years and years beyond the warranty period. They replaced many 3.5L six slug diesel engines way beyond the warranty. And so on...

Those days are gone. Now they try to weasel out of paying out a dime.

Is it our fault? We expect them to compete on price. I don't think so. Acura is covering all those bad five speed automatics, on a car that is the price leader in the segment.

Hatterasguy 05-03-2005 03:06 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by lee polowczuk
I wonder how many 1989 Lexus' are on the road.... first year built....as a 90 model.

I wonder what shape they are in?

I wonder how they ride>

I wonder how difficult they are to maintain after 15 years?

just wondering.
1. I see a few the ES250's were a joke and junk. Most older LS400's I see are pretty tired.

2. Some that were taken care of are still in nice shape. However the same can be said for any car.

3. If they are sorted pretty well, I think the suspension is cost prohibitive to rebuild

4. From me research they are great until the break. LS400's can bit just as hard as a MB in poor shape.


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