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Wrong! RR and Bentley are cars for wealthy people who are not car savvy. They are much more expensive than MB, BMW, Lexus there for they must be better which is just what the manufacturers count on. Rich but uneducated car buyers.
Wealthy uncle bought a brand new RR from Manhattan RR. On the drive back to NJ the car quit on the GW bridge. GM transmission broke. So much for European quality.
The very wealthy have to buy the best so it is easy to dupe them on cars by charging the most.
Just like wealthy women and their handbags slap a designer name on them and charge ten times what they are worth.
A. For many years RR used GM 700R4 transmissions.
B. There are a few owners that just buy/lease it as a status symbol or one up the neighbors but there are many afficianados that truly enjoy a handcrafted automobile.
C. Pricey anything = exclusivity. Hard to put a value on something if there are only a few out there.
...a car is an engine, a shell, and wheels to get you where you're going. Once you pay for more than that....you're paying for the advertising it took you to influence your thoughts about the 'experience' you want to have -- the luxury you want to enjoy -- the experience you want to have -- while on you're way to wherever you're going....and therefore convince/persuade you to pay tens of thousands more for that experience.
A Kia gets you to the same place as a Benz...just like first class gets you on the runway the same time as the tighest seat in coach....but having only flown first class once in my life I can tell you...they are two completely different experiences...
Are they worth hundreds more in price? well, just like the difference between a kia and a benz, a bmw, lexus, cadillac.. and a porche... lamborghini, or mazzeratti.....or bently and rolls...THAT is in the mind and thought process of the person making that purchase decision.
I know, I know...... spoken like a person who's not that into cars, right?
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As an side for me, if money were no option...I'd get a BMW 318 i which I don't even know if they make anymore. THAT was my dream car. But since money IS an option I've bought Acura RSXs. And as I think more about retirement than impressing other people -- my NEXT car may be -- a Honda. I'm limited because I like sport coupe 3-door hatchbacks and no ones making those anymore.
And as for the OP question: I'd say no, not Mercedes. When I think "mainstream luxury" I think Lexus and Infiniti...but maybe that's because those are the commercials I see. When I think "exclusive luxury" I think Bentley or Rolls. "Performance luxury" I think lamborghini, mazzeratti, porsche. (although porche is not as rare to see, anymore)
Someone else touched on it...the lower end of the luxury market has be come ' more affordable' and therefore not as 'exclusive' it doesn't mean it's not still luxury -- just not exclusive ---- which is not the same thing. Mercedes has become more affordable...but I still don't see bentleys or rolls every day.
A Kia gets you to the same place as a Benz...just like first class gets you on the runway the same time as the tighest seat in coach....but having only flown first class once in my life I can tell you...they are two completely different experiences...
Are they worth hundreds more in price? well, just like the difference between a kia and a benz, a bmw, lexus, cadillac.. and a porche... lamborghini, or mazzeratti.....or bently and rolls...THAT is in the mind and thought process of the person making that purchase decision.
I know, I know...... spoken like a person who's not that into cars, right?
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As an side for me, if money were no option...I'd get a BMW 318 i which I don't even know if they make anymore. THAT was my dream car. But since money IS an option I've bought Acura RSXs. And as I think more about retirement than impressing other people -- my NEXT car may be -- a Honda. I'm limited because I like sport coupe 3-door hatchbacks and no ones making those anymore.
Maybe you are spelling like a person who's not that into cars (Maserati, Bentley, Porsche). BUT if you weren't into cars you would have bought a stripper civic instead of an Acura coupe!
Smallest BMW made today is a 128i, somewhat comparable to your 318i of years past but significantly faster!
How much is the 128i -- is it a four seater hatchback? (I know the back seats maybe tight -- but it's my car I never sit back there
The closer I get to retirement I just can't justify the money on luxury car. I just don't have it like that.$$ Thus, the Honda for me. I do like to 'style' don't get me wrong. Looked at the Hyundai Genesis but it's not a hatchback. (I don't even need a car now, and won't for years, but a friend humored me and we went looking recently.)
PS. And thanks for taking my post in the spirit in which it was meant
How much is the 128i -- is it a four seater hatchback? (I know the back seats maybe tight -- but it's my car I never sit back there
The closer I get to retirement I just can't justify the money on luxury car. I just don't have it like that.$$ Thus the Honda for me. I do like to 'style' don't get me wrong. looked at the Hyundai Genesis but it's not a hatchback. (I don't even need a car now, and won't for years, but a friend humored me and we went looking recently.)
128 can be had for low 30's, low 20's if you go used/recertified but it is not a hatch.
Thanks. I'm not going to keep on this sidebar topic much longer...just to say that I've owned hatchbacks for 20 years and will never go back to just a regular trunk. And the Honda CRX, what ever the small coupe with a hatch is -- would be the one (i think that's it) (or a Subaru if there's just NO coupe out there. Volvo has a sportier look to it, but no sporty coupe hatch.
I've also owned only Accura for 20 years, and NEVER thought I'd even consider a US car. But I'll be darn if I didn't rent a Dodge Caliber last year -- an I fell in love with the thing! Go figure Don't know if I'd ever BUY one, but I do like it.
But as you can see, none of these are luxury BMW money!
A base C class can be as little as $35,000, you could spend that on an Accord or Camery, or some Hyundai's - would you rather drive one of those or a Benz?
Do you mean are the luxury brands becoming less exclusive, or the province of the wealthy? It seems that way when you could by a lower end MB or BMW, but I think a lot of it is due to how expensive the more common brands have become.
Honda vs. Benz, I'll take the Benz.
However, I suspect an optioned-up VW CC or Passat, or Ford Fusion, or Nissan Maxima, etc, would probably be not far behind a basic trim Audi A4 or BMW 3 series.
Also as far as seeing many luxury cars, in the DC area, you can't throw up a brick without it hitting a BMW or Audi. I don't see many Mercedes, but BMWs and Audi's are a dime a dozen around this parts. I dont' think it's representative of the country though, I don't even see that many Euro-luxury cars as close as Baltimore.
As for whether or not the United Kingdom is part of Europe...well, it is a full-on member of the European Union with the only EU treaty that the UK has not signed being the one that formed the Eurozone. To say that Britain is not part of Europe these days is rather foolish. Up until post-WW2 the British certainly saw themselves as different and the French in particular certainly agreed with them. However, the Suez Crisis and the dismantling of the British Empire led to the UK's realization that it is reliant upon continental Europe. As for the passport, when you arrive in the UK you receive a European Union stamp that is good for all 27 member nations of the EU. You no longer receive an individual country stamp when in the European Union and it has been that way since at least the early 90's.
As for Mercedes, I don't think the brand is watered down, the entry-level cars provide a needed presence to begin to foster move-up buyers. What Mercedes no longer has is the monopoly on snob appeal and image of success that it used to. The S-series and even the newer E-series are all fantastic cars and ooze luxury, but they no longer standalone as the best luxury options. The other brands all have their own cache and image. So, I don't see it as much as Mercedes declining (though that has happened a little as well, in particular on their volume models), but everyone else getting better.
When I think of luxury cars these days, it becomes a question of the melding of "sport" and "luxury" and each brand does it a little differently. Basically, a Mercedes doesn't appeal to everyone just as any of the other luxury marques don't appeal to everyone. The biggest change since the 1980's is that there are now viable options in the luxury market and Mercedes is no longer synonymous with luxury.
One thing Mercedes impressed upon me was simplicity, even moreso than BMW. I loved the 8 button climate control, the goofy "lever" volume control that allowed you to keep your eyes where they belong, and the power seat controls resembling a seat. Naturally, this all faded away in the mid 90's, but I still have a strong loyalty to the brand.
I would love to have a C63!!!
Anyone looking forward to the new F type two seater Jag?
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