Sudden Attraction to Hunters

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Has MB's marketing and advertizing actually worked?
Having owned two different MBs, my experience is that their marketing far exceeds their construction practices. About the best which could be said is that we paid extra for their fancy advertizing.

Having owned both a Hunter and a MB, my experience is that the Mercedes had far more design and construction faults but then that advertizing does cost a pretty penny..

Then why did you buy the second Benz?

Once again, if you want to argue that you are just as likely to get a lemon if you buy a Mercedes than if you buy a Chevy Malibu, go ahead, but you will then have zero credibility with me.

[eyschulman]

consumer union has been pointing out that MB quality has been off for years and that honda-toyota and datsun along with subaru are the way to go if you want reliability and quality-I even traded my BMW 5 in for a infinity and they are both good but infinity in my opinion and CU is better-So what Im saying is advertiseing is advertiseing-if you really want to know about a product you have to ignor adds and sales people and do some research. By the way the Germans are expert at selling snob appeal

[Bash]

Originally Posted by eyschulman

By the way the Germans are expert at selling snob appeal

Absolutely. And made-in-America boats have as difficult a time appealing to boat snobs as made-in-America cars have appealing to car snobs. And don't even get me started on beer snobs.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Then why did you buy the second Benz?

Once again, if you want to argue that you are just as likely to get a lemon if you buy a Mercedes than if you buy a Chevy Malibu, go ahead, but you will then have zero credibility with me.

I didn't! I inherited it. Kind of like the boat in Captain Ron although the boat didn't have a defective high pressure oil pump blow, a head gasket seal failure, wheel bearing failures, etc... Mercedes doesn't include that in their slick commercials. Where is their credibility?

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

I didn't! I inherited it. Kind of like the boat in Captain Ron although the boat didn't have a defective high pressure oil pump blow, a head gasket seal failure, wheel bearing failures, etc... Mercedes doesn't include that in their slick commercials. Where is their credibility?

They also don't include that they will have your car (physically) more than you do. My wife's 2002 4 Matic Wagon was the worst nightmare of a vehicle we ever owned. Mercedes had the car for a total of six solid months of our 12 month ownership and still NEVER did fix the problem. The dealer claims Mercedes spent over 30k trying to resolve the drive-line issue but never could. If you own a MB make damn sure it is in warranty.... My mothers neighbor is currently in a legal battle with MB over MB claiming it is not a lemon and the state and my neighbor saying it fits the lemon clause. Not fun stuff. I am still at a loss as to which car company is worst Audi or MB..? They have lots to like..except reliability...

Now driving Honda and Toyota products (insert Hunter / Catalina) except for the M3 convertible, which is a POS too, but it only gets 3k miles per year so I put up with the piss-poor German reliability. Spent over 4k to drive the M3 3400 miles last year. The Honda is near 140k and has had a head light and a rear seat latch break, that's it. The Honda, while very reliable, is VERY boring to drive though. The German's still win there..

[eyschulman]

Try an infinity G37X You may give up your M3 -4W drive fast fun and comfortable

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by eyschulman

Try an infinity G37X You may give up your M3 -4W drive fast fun and comfortable

Maybe when they get a rag top version..

[UWOA]

Talk about a hijacked thread .....

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by UWOA

Talk about a hijacked thread .....

OK, to get back on topic by merging the cars with boats.....

YouTube - Top Gear - Car-Boat Challenge - BBC

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Bash

Absolutely. And made-in-America boats have as difficult a time appealing to boat snobs as made-in-America cars have appealing to car snobs. And don't even get me started on beer snobs.

Excuse me? Aren't Hinckley, Morris, Shannon, Pacific Seacraft and Valiant (just to name four) still building boats in America?

Or you can have Perry, Paine or Hood design something for you and then have French & Webb build it.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Excuse me? Aren't Hinckley, Morris, Shannon, Pacific Seacraft and Valiant (just to name four) still building boats in America?

that's five!

[Curmudgeon]

Yes, I tried to edit but it was too late lol.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Excuse me? Aren't Hinckley, Morris, Shannon, Pacific Seacraft and Valiant (just to name four) still building boats in America?

Or you can have Perry, Paine or Hood design something for you and then have French & Webb build it.

Or Lyman-Morse or Hodgdon or Rockport Marine or Brooklin Boat Yard.........many others.. and that's just Maine..

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

Or Lyman-Morse or Hodgdon or Rockport Marine or Brooklin Boat Yard.........many others.. and that's just Maine..

I guess I was thinking of the number of American sailboat manufacturers who were unable to earn appropriate caché, and suffered as a result. Cal, Coronado, Pearson, Morgan, Columbia.....

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Bash

I guess I was thinking of the number of American sailboat manufacturers who were unable to earn appropriate caché, and suffered as a result. Cal, Coronado, Pearson, Morgan, Columbia.....

I'm sure there is a story behind the demise of each of those companies that had little to do with caché. In the case of Coronado, Frank Butler sold the business to Columbia and then went on to found Catalina. In the case of Pearson, Grumman sold the business to a private investor who was undercapitalized and four years later Pearson got wiped out by the recession in 1990. I don't know about the others.

There's a saying: even when times are bad, the rich have money. That's one reason why Hinckley and Morris survived. The other is that they remained family owned and run (not sold to outside investors) and build great boats.