Comments on: Mercedes Turns In-House Tuner AMG Into New Brand

By: SunnyvaleCA

SunnyvaleCA — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:08:59 +0000

Hi William442, I’ve been a 1998 C43 owner for 5 1/2 years. It was a pretty good deal as a used vehicle, although, honestly I’ll never buy an automatic-transmission car again: not even counting the $6k transmission rebuild at 60k miles (a lot of early C43’s ate the transmissions), I had the sometimes-rough shift into second gear, the low stall speed of the torque converter ruining the 0 to 10 MPH times, the bad fuel mileage, the unpredictable shifting, and–finally–the boredom and loss of control. Thanks for letting me let tell you how I really feel! :-)

WhatDoIKnow1, you’re right: the vast majority of AMG owners don’t care too much about the finer points of driving. However, that’s the same way with *EVERY* make. I called the local BMW dealer about a 335i sedan stick test drive a few months ago… “we’ll get back to you” was the answer. A week later I got a call back: out of the 20 335i sedans, they finally had a stick! Sad. The C43 is the old w202 body style and is, therefore, the last of an era; the C43 is vastly different from the other w202 vehicles.

By: driving course

driving course — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:32:02 +0000

Looks like a bit of PR management…
Distancing MB from the uber polluting AMG will allow the parent company to look greener when you look across it’s product line in 12 months time.

By: whatdoiknow1

whatdoiknow1 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:39:37 +0000

AMG used to actually be something special when it was a seperate company along the lines of Ruf and Alpina until the mid 1990s I believe. Today AMG is a JOKE! An AMG Benz is no longer a “real” high-end speciality tuner vehicle anymore, it is nothing more than a silly package; some larger rims, a tacky body kit, and the corporate MB H.P. Engine. Today MB/AMG simply stuffs that same over-sized engine into every car with the AMG badge on it.
Like a whore with no shame MB actually had the nerve to sell an AMG Mini-Van, and two AMG SUVs!

Yeap, AMG is for wannabes today that do not know any better!

By: william442

william442 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:18:05 +0000

My daily driver has been a 1999 C43 for almost nine years.The car is addictive. If I ever have to replace it, I will find the money even if I have to stop eating.

By: DearS

DearS — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 06:10:45 +0000

I wonder if the individuals that spend $100k on art make $350k a year on average. It reminds me about how much progress I’ve made. Not in holding my net worth at $350k in the (black?) market. At enjoying or at least recognizing that my $1k car is better (in many ways) than a Rolls or Bentley or Maybach. I have progressed to being able to enjoy my (true) wealth more than ever. A Maybach is nice, but I do not necessarily want to drive it daily more than cars hundreds of times less (dollars, black market). Currency is not paper, its a currency in enjoy whats in front of us more of the time.

By: Thinx

Thinx — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:51:54 +0000

This makes more sense than the Maybach bungle. AMG has already proven it has a market and has enough differentiation from the plain Benz brand.

IMO, their timing with the Maybach was pretty good – but they really screwed up by not moving the styling sufficiently upmarket from the MBZ. The price sure went way up, and the sybaritic mods were an order of magnitude better, but it didn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts. They needed the same “space” between MBz and Maybach as the one between BMW and RR.

This seems to be less of an issue with the current AMG range, and unless they start charging silly McLaren money for a car that looks like a tweaked CL, it could do well.

By: Michael Karesh

Michael Karesh — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:04:39 +0000

You want both AMG and designo on those jeans for $800? Not happening. These guys don’t get out of bed for less than a grand.

By: huy

huy — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:33:31 +0000

This might be a good idea. This scenario has occurred many times over…

Rich guy walks into MB dealership and wants the most expensive car thinking it’s the best. He drives off in a CL65 AMG, then comes back the next day to complain about the “harsh” ride.

MB is known for Luxury. MB customers want luxury and are accustomed to MB luxury. AMG just throws them for a loop because they think its even more luxurious because it is more expensive.

AMG customer /= MB Customer

By: SherbornSean

SherbornSean — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:45:49 +0000

How long before $800 AMG designo jeans?

By: Michael Karesh

Michael Karesh — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:38:49 +0000

cRaCK hEaD aLLeY:

Then you’ll want a certain AMG-branded magnet. Pricing hasn’t yet been released for this aftermarekt accessory, but probably five figures. It’s AMG, after all.

I once came across a discussion at mbworld.org where people were arguing that one of the AMG performance packages–$7,000 for a raised speed limiter and different wheels (in the same size as stock–is a good value. Apparently the wheels alone are a couple grand each when ordered separately through the parts department. So $7,000 for four of them–with the raised speed limiter tossed in–is a steal. Right?

I’m sure it takes a lot of work to raise the speed limiter from 155 to 186…

By: cRaCk hEaD aLLeY

cRaCk hEaD aLLeY — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:33:20 +0000

An unreliable AMG is not a problem on a household income of $348,854 Do these cars attract woman with shaved vazhïn?

By: Sajeev Mehta

Sajeev Mehta — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:31:38 +0000

First Maybach, now this?

MB dealers need better customer service (and more reliable iron from the Mothership) before playing this game again.