don't stop buying them your SUV subsidised my hatchback....
imterested....and your vehicle is?
|
I will keep my 4x4 thank you very much. Every time I drive a "normal" car I am happy to return to my 4x4.
I like the elevated driving position, I get a much better view of traffic around me, which is good for safety and enables me to react to things sooner.
I like the fact that the elevated driving position keeps me out of the spray in wet conditions, so I have a clearer view of traffic and the road.
I like the comfortable, upright driving position. I have a bad back and poor knees (too many years working as an electrician) and while I can get uncomfortable in many cars after half an hour, I can sit in my 4x4 all day without a twinge. (but in the interests of fairness, the seats in my daughter's A160 are also very good... but you really feel the potholes)
I like the height of the vehicle, I can get in and out without hurting my (bad) back or my knees.
I like the space inside, I can drive without digging my elbow into a front seat passenger.
I like the rear legroom, I can carry four adults beside myself, and carry them in comfort.
I like the extra ground clearance, I no longer worry about scraping my exhaust on speed humps.
I like the boot space, I can get in all the suitcases I need for a family holiday without needing a roof box.
I like the crash safety that goes with a large vehicle, I don't wish to test it, but I would rather be in my ML350 than in a C3 if the worst was to happen.
I like the smooth effortless power of my 3.8 litre petrol engine coupled to a decent auto box.
I can live with the fuel economy, I drive gently and get 25-26 mpg which is pretty good for a 3.8 litre petrol engine, and my annual mileage is only around 7000 anyway.
I can live with the handling, I do not wish to tear around corners at high speed and I feel that it is not too much to sacrifice for all the other benefits. Anyway, my favourite vehicle before getting my first 4x4 was a Ford Transit.
I can live with the fact that some car park spaces are too small, I will just park a fit further from the supermarket door if I need to.
I can live with the extra Road Tax. I spent £30,000 buying the car... £300 road tax won't make me sell it.
I am ashamed to admit I even like the prestige of the large vehicle and the Mercedes badge, and I can always save money by buying my clothes cheaply from Matalan and not bothering with massively expensive designer trainers.
|
"Anyway, my favourite vehicle before getting my first 4x4 was a Ford Transit"
!
Not a good advertisement for your taste in vehicles!
Never mind at least a Transit - unlike most 4x4s - is practical.
:-))
I'll get my coat:-)
madf
|
Same elevated driving position.
Same comfortable upright seating position.
Same "can drive all day.... I regularly drove Liverpool to Southampton and back in the same day, and arrived home without being tired... so different from the Astra / Escort vans I also drove.
Taste in vehicles... well my 1st was a Hillman Imp... see "nightmare car garage"... but I would vote for the old Maestro Van (when it did not break down) as being far, far more comfortable than the Escort van
My taste in vehicles has obviously improved....
.... clue in the screen name.... MB3.... on my third MB....
|
> I will just park a fit further from the supermarket door if I need to.
what happened to the bad back and knees? The tarmac in Tescos have miraculous healing properties?
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
"what happened to the bad back and knees? The tarmac in Tescos have miraculous healing properties?"
LMAO !
If I'm stood upright, walking is fine. It's kneeling and bending that gets to them.
;-)
|
|
|
|
There is little or no prestige associated with large vehicles or low end Merdedes, if that's bursting your bubble then c'est la vie. The only people such things have cachet with probably tow their home around on the back of it most of the time.
The only Mercedes 4x4's with any cachet or credibility are the G-Wagens IMO. The rest are a bit 'scrap metal dealer' or 'traveller caravan park' as far as I can see. Maybe the top end R class as well but it's a bit 'nouveau riche' for my liking.
The rest of your reasoning is perfectly sound though.
|
".........little or no prestige ..............."
..... darn! I'll never be able to show my face at the Lodge again !
:-o
".......... a bit 'caravan park' ..........."
.... you should go on "What's my Line?"
www.caravanparkmanager.co.uk
|
|
A perfect match then! Don't let anyone tell you the Mclass isn't for you.
|
|
|
|
I like the elevated driving position I get a much better view of traffic around me which is good for safety and enables me to react to things sooner.>>
Doesn't do much for the view for the normal people in normal cars though when you pull up next to them at a roundabout, does it?
|
I was thinking of seeing over hedges, walls, and over the car in front of me.....
|
|
thought you had a ml350 not a messcherschmidt
|
|
Same factory, different decade. :-)
|
|
|
|
Fine, but that is purely selfish, so you shouldn't be surprised if the people who can't see past you get a little irked.
Might as well sit on a booster cushion in a theatre.
Might I suggest some sort of cunning periscope device, or a camera attached to a pole? Would inconvenience others less...
|
If you read the previous post, I am not talking about seeing past other drivers or preventing them seeing past me. As we are all moving vehicles, our view is constantly changing, anyway. And I keep a look out in my (massive) mirrors for the Biker who wants to go past. Plus, if I keep my road positioning correct, anyone behind me can see past by pulling towards the crown of the road......
I would never sit on a booster cushion in the theatre, neither would I wear a top hat in the theatre.
That periscope sounds fun though..........
|
|
|
MB3,
Good for you, you are driving something you like, for reasons which are good to you. You are also paying for the privilege(sp?) of doing so. I hope you continue to do so for a long time.
I like my Xantia because of the ride comfort. I don't need a 2 litre petrol car this size, but I want one, its not illegal so I'll darned well have one.
I have never had a problem seeing round or through this size of vehicle, its called driving to the prevailing conditions.
|
I have never had a problem seeing round or through this size of vehicle its
called driving to the prevailing conditions.>>
When I am in the left hand lane, stopped at a roundabout and looking at traffic approaching on the roundabout from my right - and then a large SUV pulls up in the lane to my right, I cannot see through it. It might as well be an artic truck! BTW - not sure what this has got to do with 'prevailing conditions' - are you telling me I should stop at home when there's a surfeit of traffic?
mjm - if you have no problem in seeing through an SUV, then you must recommend your optician to me - they have equipped you with x-ray vision.
|
The old saying went "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"
So, now you know what to swap your "ageing Mondeo" for
:-)
|
The old saying went "If you can't beat 'em join 'em" So now you know what to swap your "ageing Mondeo" for :-)
Yes, but if we all drive 4x4s then we will all be in the same blind boat.
And that means we would have to start buying trucks, like ... er ... Chris Eubank !!!!!
|
So now you know what to swap your "ageing Mondeo" for>> :-)
I know, I know ..... and don't think that I haven't considered it. The job would certainly justify it (I survey power lines cross-country) and I could afford one -but it's the social stigma that I couldn't deal with. And anyway, I wear my underpants when I'm driving so I don't quite fit into WdB's description of a 4x4 driver ;-)
|
|
Most of the suvs I see have clear windows in the back and aclear windscreen in the front. From a reasonable (safe) distance behind them it is possible to see through them.
The roundabout/junction visibility problem applies to lorries/vans/suvs/large cars etc. It is a fact of life. The prevailing conditions are that your visibility is severely reduced by another vehicle. You drive accordingly, that's life.
|
|
|
When I am in the left hand lane stopped at a roundabout and looking at traffic approaching on the roundabout from my right - and then a large SUV pulls up in the lane to my right I cannot see through it. It might as well be an artic truck!
For pedestrians it's even worse. Where there are a lot of SUVs parked together it can become very difficult to cross the road, especially for children. The posher parts of West London are like this. There are lots of reasons why these vehicles are antisocial in certain settings and the more there are of them the worse it gets. I wouldn't ban them, just prevent them from being used in places where they inconvenience or endanger others to an unnecessary degree, like HGVs. This would make them impractical for most people. Perhaps they could be restricted to areas of low population density, and/or not allowed inside 20mph zones at school run time.
|
|
|
|
|
>Might as well sit on a booster cushion in a theatre.
LOL. Don't give 'em ideas, though - I'm (naturally) one of those people you wouldn't want to sit behind in the theatre and I rather like it that way!
What is with 4WD drivers who can see you're waiting to turn left but who want to turn right themselves? Do they wait while you complete your quick and easy manoeuvre before attempting their more difficult one? No, they pull up next to you - putting two wheels over the centre line if they can - and block your view, so you have to wait for them to lumber out of the way before you can make your turn. Although I'm sure none of the 4x4 owners here would be so boorish.
|
Definitely not boorish, Will.
And where I live, most junctions only have one approach lane, anyway.
|
>if you have no problem in seeing through an SUV, then you must recommend your optician to me - they have equipped you with x-ray vision.
You can also confirm my theory that 4x4 occupants need the high sides because they're nude from the waist down. Think about that next time you're stuck behind one.
}:---)
(Sorry - it's been a long week.)
|
ROTFLMAO
That's why the leather seats are heated.
:-)
|
"I was thinking of seeing over hedges, walls, and over the car in front of me....."
It is cler that 4x4 drivers suffer from hazards that us mre mortals do not encounter on our travels.
Maybe sheep jump out of the fields from behind walls and threaten their safety.. or the car in front of the car in front reverses backwards at 100mph.
So I feel they do need the extra height for added safety to avoid hitting these dheep or being able to reverse out of a traffic jam when the aforementioned car in front of the car in front etc...
Meanwhile I fell safe in a non 4x4 cos I KNOW I will not be able to see the sheep jumping.. or at least I've never seen them up to now.
Now I wonder if I got a 4x4 would I experience these peculiarities unique to 4x4 drivers?
:_)))))
madf
|
"It is clear that 4x4 drivers suffer from hazards that us mere mortals do not encounter on our travels."
Like oxygen starvation due to the higher altitude perhaps...........
;-)
|
|
And getting stuck in muddy fields...
|
|
And then being secretly upset because they can't get out, with their low profile road tyres and 1wd, and have to hire the farmers real 4wd with proper tyres for the job......
|
26mpg from an ML350, it'll barely do that idling on the back of a breakdown truck. the worse I've ever had is 26.9 and that was thraping the car on Xmas morning over 190 miles. And I mean thraping it. An M Class would be in single figures had it tried to keep up.
The safety of 4x4 it all, well I can't say it 'cos it will get moderated our, but bulls do it. 'tis better not to crash for starters. "arh but my big butch 4x4 is safer when I crash into your small car". Nice cheers, what if the thing you crash into has SCANIA written across the grill? Or looks like a big 300 year old oak tree?
I don't like the high seat. If I was meant to be that high I'd have been born with longer legs. When you get paid to drive a real of roader, with a big engine, wheels on 38 inch rims and 32 forward gears an SUV is a bit, well, you know, a bit lame really.
|
"26mpg from an ML350, it'll barely do that idling on the back of a breakdown truck"
I guess that gallons must be bigger round my way. I know they're smaller in the US......
"my big butch 4x4 is safer when I crash into your small car"
No. I'm a careful driver. My NCB is the proof of that. Last claim was in 1979, a couple of months after I passed my test. And no, I don't wear a flat cap or smoke a pipe. Just put it down to good driver training.
When some fool crashes into me, if its got SCANIA written on it, I've at least got a chance.
I'll not go into the incident 2 days ago, involving an HGV crossing a Dual Carriageway without giving way... suffice it to say that I know my ABS works... and the guy in the BMW passing me has changed his underpants by now. It was as close as that. If I had been in a small car, and 10 feet further along the road, the HGV would have gone straight over me.
Then again, if that had happened, I wouldn't be here arguing with you.....
|
|
I do enjoy dragging these city slickers out of mud/snow/water. I am waiting for my first Range Rover Sport.
|
i'm with MB3.... he lives in one of the world's foremost democracies........he's chosen something that fits his own criteria and enjoys it........good for him
if i fancied one, i'd have one, no problem
if anyone else thinks otherwise, good for them, that's what a democracy is all about...as is me ignoring it
|
|
|
|
|
|
I was held up for about 5 minutes by a large SUV at a junction to a main road near Taplow the other day. Thing was turning right, me left, but I couldn't see the oncoming traffic due its obese size. If I'd known the damn thing was coming I would not have given it room to get in next to me, as none of the drivers on the main road cared to let it out.
|
|
|
|
I am ashamed to admit I even like the prestige of ......... the Mercedes badge
But they're common as muck! If you'd said Rolls-Royce or Bentley etc then there would have been some justification for your pride.
--
L\'escargot.
|
When Bentley bring out a 4x4 ............. naah.
Not for me.
I'm lousy at football.
|
|
|
>> I am ashamed to admit I even like the prestige of ......... >> the Mercedes badge But they're common as muck! If you'd said Rolls-Royce or Bentley etc then there would have been some justification for your pride. -- L\'escargot.
Fairly common they may be, but they're nowhere near as common as Fords, Vauxhalls etc. Whatever anybody says, there is a distinct air of prestige enveloping a lot of Mercs (ok, A-class exculded maybe!) that isn't present with other brands, every time I get in my dad's CLK I think the same and it seems there's a sense of occasion about it. A truly stunning car.
All IMO of course.
Blue
|
Whatever anybody says there is a distinct air of prestige enveloping a lot of Mercs (ok A-class exculded maybe!) that isn't present with other brands
They're mass produced, the same as most other cars. I accept that they cost a little more than some cars but that doesn't make them prestigious. If you want to display your social standing and status you need a yacht at the very least.
--
L\'escargot.
|
But how do you get to and from the yacht?
Does my Merc have more status just because of the "Windermere Marina Village" Car Park badges in the windscreen?
|
Does my Merc have more status just because of the "Windermere Marina Village" Car Park badges in the windscreen?
I may be wrong but I think we're talking about the kind of yacht that has a 40ft Chris-craft on the deck, not the Chris-craft itself.
|
When I define the car as being prestigous, it's not about cost, it's about interior ambience, and the Merc has a prestigous feeling about it's interior ambience. It's just better than other mainstream makes. I can't explain how, it just is. (again, obviously IMO) Obviously the car costs a little more than a Mondeo (think the list on my dad's was £40K, not that he paid that!) but I think they're worth the extra if it isn't too much of a stretch.
Blue
|
The interior 'ambience' of most recent Mercs I've sat in didn't give me a 'prestigous feeling'.
The quality is coming back to some extent but they still feel far worse than say an Audi and their interior design is appalling.
The old W123,124 were the last of the really well engineered Mercs IMO.
|
The interior 'ambience' of most recent Mercs I've sat in didn't give me a 'prestigous feeling'. The quality is coming back to some extent but they still feel far worse than say an Audi and their interior design is appalling. The old W123 124 were the last of the really well engineered Mercs IMO.
You ain't sat in one like my dad's then, I know I would say this with it belonging to a close relative, but when I saw it for the first time I was struck with how beautiful it was, it is my aspiration to own it as soon as I can scrape together the money to buy it off him, at current rates of saving that should be in about 12 years! Thank god for depreciation! :-)
Oh and just to clarify, I'm not talking about engineering quality, I've got no idea how well engineered the CLK is, and frankly, I don't much care, all I know is that nothing has gone wrong with it and I like it ;-)
Blue
|
The interior 'ambience' of most recent Mercs I've sat in didn't give me a 'prestigous feeling'. The quality is coming back to some extent but they still feel far worse than say an Audi and their interior design is appalling.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I disagree.
Audis, to me, are still no more than jumped up VWs, in the same way that Lexuses are no more than jumped up Toyotas.
|
|
But how do you get to and from the yacht?
In your chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce or Bentley etc.
Does my Merc have ......... status .........
A fair proportion of vehicles bearing a Mercedes badge are either taxis or trucks.
--
L\'escargot.
|
A fair proportion of vehicles bearing a Mercedes badge are either taxis or trucks.
And let's not forget those lovely yellow school buses they do.
|
I bought my MB almost by chance ? after years of driving company Cavaliers, Mondeos & 406s, I wanted a diesel auto ?lifestyle? estate, and could have quite easily had an Audi or BMW version. I stumbled across the C270Cdi I?ve got now.
Little things like double door seals make a significant difference. And basic design issues ? I had 2 406?s estates that were horrendous in the wet as the side windows got so mucky you couldn?t see through them. That simply doesn?t happen in the C Class estate.
I think that the status thing is something that affects a certain generation of people. My old Dad (who would doff his cap at his masters) nearly burst when I turned up outside his house in a Mercedes. If I ever want to finish him off, I?ll hire a Bentley for the day.
|
After owning a diesel Honda Accord for 3 years I have traded it in one of the last of the old model Honda CRV's (Petrol Auto) mainly because I got a great discount and it fits the purpose for me and my family at the moment.
This weekend I traveled from the south up to the Midlands then back home via the cotswolds so a mix of motorway, congestion, town and A road driving The CRV now has 300 miles on the clock and achieved 35.3 MPG! When I did the same trip in the Accord Diesel I got 42MPG.
Not too much of a gas guzzler then
|
"The CRV now has 300 miles on the clock and achieved 35.3 MPG! When I did the same trip in the Accord Diesel I got 42MPG.
Not too much of a gas guzzler then"
In my eyes a 20% fuel saving is worthwhile.
madf
|
|
£7000 will buy a lot of fuel though :)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
