Poached tech — Mercedes Benz
THE story of the Mercedes Benz is the story of class, comfort, style and sophistication of epic proportions. It is a story of luxury, prestige, royalty and priceless technology. It has become the icon of success all over the world. That three pointed star — from the A class to the S class represents technology that is always ahead of time. Like they say “the best or nothing” — and the best comes at a price!
One cannot question the reliability of a Mercedes Benz without getting one answer. Mercedes Benz has proven reliable over the years and has introduced groundbreaking technologies that have now been adopted by all other manufacturers. In 1975 the firsts S class W116 was the first passenger car to have ABS ( anti- lock braking system) as a standard feature. It was exclusive then but today all cars are required to have ABS for safety reasons. Up to today Mercedes Benz has kept its tradition of providing vehicles that are reliable and safe. They are not unbreakable but for what they are worth, they sure are walking the talk.
A lot of time has been invested in the technology you find in Mercedes Benz vehicles. The gadgetry is expensive and complicated thus the need for specialised service, which is expensive. S class models and others like the GL have that Airmatic suspension. It’s great when it’s working well but each one of the shock absorbers costs anything in excess of $ 800 overseas should they malfunction and the air compressor itself costs a few thousands of dollars more. More problems appear as the cars get older and seeming as if we always get them used, they always give problems when they land on African soil.
Mercedes Benz appeals to both the young and the old. The bigger, classier and more expensive sedans and SUVs like the S class and G class appeal to older people who can afford them. They offer such refinement that if you do not study the manual you will probably never know what your Benz is capable of. Mercedes Benz Styling has always been classy from the A class all the way to the S class. You will seldom fault any model because I believe time is taken to justify that price tag. The A class however, is not the best looker and hasn’t fared very well on the reliability index with some transmission problems.
With Mercedes Benz, you can get either a manual or automatic on the lower classes. It is the fashion with luxury cars to seldom have a manual transmission. Most of the high end mercs mostly come with automatic transmissions while some like the C- class also have manual transmissions. These cars are not known to have any peculiar problems apart from the normal wear and tear. The A class however, seems to give many people headaches. It’s a small car manufactured on light budgets and more people have listed a lot of bad reviews and bad experiences with this car.
All Mercedes Benz vehicles are either Rearwheel drive or 4WD with the exception of the A and B class which are Front Wheel Drive. B class is not so popular here so we won’t dwell that much on it. The Four Wheel Drive system on the Mercedes Benz SUVs is known as the 4matic system. Essentially it is an All- wheel drive intelligent system that delivers power to each wheel independently as required by the road conditions. Clever isn’t it? Yes, it’s first world stuff.
After all is said and done, one would ask if it’s a good buy or a goodbye. Mercedes Benz will always be a good buy to the buyer that can afford it. The problem with grey imports is that they are cheap to buy overseas when they reach their book value but they are not cheap to maintain. Someone once asked whether it would be wise to buy a Bentley for 15 000 because it’s cheap? The answer was its not cheap even though it seems cheap. It may be cheap to buy but can and will cost you more to maintain. It’s the same with Mercedes Benz. Cheap to buy used but it’s 323 money for every service. Good buy as it may, how good is it for you to buy a car when you will not be able to maintain it? If you can’t afford it new, you probably can’t afford it used. You may afford to buy it but not to maintain it and keep it forever. Till next time — Buy wisely. Feedback Email: lovert10@ gmail. com Facebook: @ Automart Zimbabwe