I have to vent on the R Class. I love it, but I hate it. Any somebody needs to “listen” to me….

Attn: MB - there is no market for an executive hauler.

The R SHOULD be a stylish substitute for upper middle class soccer moms who want out of their boring middle class odyssey/sienna or their luxo-SUV that lacks useable space, handling and safety. why MB was afraid to concede that the R is probably best described as a luxury minivan makes one wonder. minivan is no longer a bad word (more on this later) even among families with $250k+ and higher annual incomes. Before the R, we pined for a $45-50k minivan - ACURA take the odyssey upscale? Lexus take the Sienna? Unless I am missing something, major metro markets in particular have a lot of dual income (or substantial single income) professional families in their 30s/40s who are swallowing up $35k odysseys/sienna's without even blinking and/or $30-50k SUVs every 2 to 3 years. These folks are ripe for an R class that makes as much sense than a typical minivan and makes more sense than a full size luxo SUV - and these people are willing to pay a premium for it.

Now, I have looked at and driven the R on several occasions. and yes i will buy an R500 as soon as it makes "sense." First observation - not getting rear seat DVD in the R from day one was the biggest blunder I have seen from a major automaker in recent history – might as well have the R suffering from catastrophic tire blowouts… Can MB learn nothing from Chrysler???. Drive down I95 on the east coast and one out of four vehicles has DVD for the kids -forget income demographics. If a 4 yr old chrysler town and country minivan can have it, dont tell me my $60k MB has delayed availability and that it will cost $3k for a system that probably isn’t great and probably isn’t that flexible (MB prove me wrong……). Doors. Find me a family with a late model odyssey/sienna that doesnt treat remote opening doors (and tailgate) as a feature ranking up there with ABS brakes – yes I m almost serious. MB compounds the problem with some of the biggest doors i have even seen – barn doors not good. I agree that staying away from sliding was the right thing to do to avoid styling miscues, but couldnt they figure a way to open and maybe even shut them remotely??? certainly they could open by remote....Next up: space/storage. they dropped the ball more than a bit by not coming up with as much space behind the 3rd row as an odyssey. the space is almost nonexistent and folding the 3rd row really doesnt create a lot of space since the whole "floor deck" is high with the seats folded. really crappy MB. biggest disappointment in my mind and one that cant be fixed. oh well, we'll add our thule to the top for long trips with the family...Finally, the whole perceived value issue. MB has some cool options. no doubt. but they are expensive. and so not everyone wants them. sure i love self leveling xenons, and dropped $1200 for them in my porsche but i dont know that i 'd spring for them in the R.... and besides if they truly marketed this as an executive hauler or what was that one marketing campaign i saw - oh yeah, something like showing a vineyard owner hauling around migrant labor by day and then heading out with their 4 rich friends for dinner in napa at night. who in god's name came up with that one! - then they should have loaded on the options and tacked on a higher price as people with $250k incomes would accept and expect. But they didnt....it must be because they secretly didnt want to scare away some "entry level" minivan type buyers looking at the 350....so now they please noone! they arent really luring the core minivan buyers b/c it lacks practicality. and execs and vineyard owners dont want to own what amounts to a minivan. so who is left??? the people who are willing to give up all that is great about the odyssey/sienna for style, cache, performance, handling, safety so as to be outside the ever growing minivan set. I ll be honest, and you can call me a snob, but i dont like my wife driving the same minivan that typical middle class moms are driving. i want a better vehicle. and there are alot of people who feel the same way. it is the reason i have many friends in their 30s/40s who suffer the impractical nature of ALL luxo SUVs when it comes to small children and the way they drive so they can avoid driving a pedestrian minivan. brand it by lexus or acura and they would buy it....minivan is only a dirty word because it screams middle class....why is it that when Ford sold the crap out of the explorer and Jeep with Cherokee, everybody jumped on board and started marketing SUVs. seeing a growing market that kept getting more competitive the foreign automakers took them upscale and guess what? people kept buying them. sienna/odyssey sales are flat. they are dropping the ball by not reinventing themselves in the luxo segment. seriously what would it cost to rebadge/repower/makeover an ody for acura?? or a sienna for lexus? well they havent done it and MB is already 90% there and they did it from scratch! now MB just needs to perfect it and market it to the right group BEFORE the Japanese marks realize they could market luxo mark minivans cheaply and easily. MB PLEASE STOP stop trying to define a new category.....crossover luxo-sport tourer/people mover is not a freakin' category!!

Ok, so my rant is over….At the end of the day, i will buy an R500 - within say 6-12mos. will it be as practical as our odyssey? no. but my kids will be old enough to open their own doors and will be walking 100% of the time and not have to be carried. Will the R have enough space/storage to haul 2 adults, 2 toddlers and 2 golden retrievers to the shore or mountains every weekend? no, so we'll have to kill the lines of the R (yes it is attractive from almost every angle IMO) and throw the thule on and live with wind noise. will we be happier with the styling, performance, handling over our Ody? you bet! Will we be compromising on a significant number of features that our ody has that the R will not? Yes, but we will always criticize MB for making us compromise. The rational part of me says we will compromise because of styling, performance and luxury. But the consumer in me knows that we will compromise in part because we are yuppies and we just don’t want the same minivan that middle class America drives. It is partly the same reason we have 3 cars, a boat, an HD plasma, Wolf stove, and 100 other overpriced consumables.

If only automakers would be smart enough to ask ME what i want in a vehicle.....certainly i know best. as a lawyer, i m nearly certain that i know everything.... MB are you listening? Acura/Honda? Toyota/Lexus? I do not know who is in your focus groups, but clearly either they don’t know what they want or you aren’t listening. So email/call me and ask my opinion.

 

What do you think MB should respond to or listen to? You haven't offered any suggestions, only complaints. You should go buy a new Sienna or Odyssey, since you seem to think they are perfect. I love my R class. The things you don't like, I do like. I like the fact that it's an un-van. I don't see the dvd as a requirement, and didn't get it, and yes, it's available NOW. It was installed on the one I test drove. It's expensive, but given that you can watch two different discs in the back seats while the front system is on the radio, I think it's good value for its price.

If there's a suggestion for improvement on this vehicle, it's to price it more realistically, and offer a towing package. They are already adjusting the price by at least $5k, so they are listening to the market. And, considering the Saab I bought for $21k included xenon lamps, it should be standard on the R, not an option.

S.

 

ok, asking MB to "listen" to me was clearly offered with more than a bit of sarcasm on my part. what i dont understand is what group or groups of current or prospective owners did they talk to. 'cause it seems like they pissed everybody off except you. you must be the dream customer if you like minimal storage, large clunky doors and only yearn for the availability of a $300 tow package. oh and yes xenons. i am convinced that american automakers market their cars to people who just want lower prices and entry level vehicles with a couple of bells and whistles like cheap xenons (pls dont compare the fixed xenons of saab to the active xenons on MB - we are talking night and day here....). my suggestions are clearly more challenging than your suggestion to lower the price. i actually want them to produce a better vehicle that is more versatile and enjoyable. you are arguing in the area of the entry level vehicle - give em some free options and keep the price low. Luxury cars are in a whole different league - they are being marketed to people with discretionary income who are by nature more demanding and more difficult to please. imagine that the buyer of a $60k car wants and expects more than the guy buying a ford escort or even an entry level saab.

the R is not and should not be marketed down to buyers in the sub 40k range. the R should be able to easily lure E class wagon and ML class owners over and should even be considered by S class owners who need space. luring rich minivan owners is not so easy. style and performance alone cannot carry the day. the R also needs to make as much sense as the best minivans out there. and right now it does not. i will keep the ody as the 3rd car for the kids and dog until the R gets better. my MB dealer still doesnt have DVD on the lot, so i havent seen it.....

un-vanlike?? with the exception of sliding doors, IT IS A MINIVAN. stop kidding yourself.

as for them listening to the market by lowering the price.....sigh......they are responding b\c they have to and dealers are screaming. no automaker comes to market with a new model and wants to let the market control the price. they dont say, let's try for $50k and if it doesnt sell, we ll drop to $45k.

 

I have owned MB cars (new and vintage) since the 1970's and I personally like the R350/500. I suppose it does fall into most people's concept of "mini-van", but it is worth noting that it is built on the exact same platform as MB latest testosterone laden effort.. the GL450. The GL looks like a great vehicle but it also looks like every other Sport-Ute on the planet. A Nissan comes to mind... The R350/500 offers very unique styling, in my opinion, and it is certainly not "mini" when one considers the platform. Actually it is rather large....

 

OK some like it and some don't. We sell a bunch of them here in New England. The 4matic makes the difference here. I have had an R320CDI as a demostrator for about a month now. Wife loves it, plenty of room for what we do and how can you beat nearly 400ft/lbs of torque with AWD.

Just my $0.02

 

What is the 0 to 60 on the CDI? I haven't been able to find the specs. Do you get the advertised mpg?

thanks

 

sclancy,
I'm a 40yr old JD/MBA student and I want an R 500 too. You Hiring?

 

I agree, the R-Class is to Mercedeswhatthe Pacifica is to Chrysler: A marginally well disguised minivan. But I have to ask;what does being a lawyer have to do with, as you say, knowing everything including what an entire worlwide automotive consumer market would want? Whats bigger, an R-Class or your Ego?

 

Your're right. You should get a Chrysler Mini Van. Love our R320 CDI. Great power, smooth ride. Great alternative to Mclass.

 

ok, let me start off by letting everyone know that myclosing words toMB and other automakers to "call" me was saracasm.....perhaps it didnt come through the post as clearly as it was in my head as i was typing. but i was kidding...just because i am something of a car enthusiast, does not make me a car expert. however, i still really have to wonder what MB marketingwas thinking when they did this car and who did they focus group?? or did they skip that step??

anyway, back to what I "know." We leased an R500 in October 2006. after a few hours emailing and calling the largest dealers in the country over a week (thanks to the info on the edmunds MB forum!) we found a good salesguy in Calif who had a lot of stock at the time and was anxious to move cars off the lot. we found an R500 with 90% of the options we wanted (no RSE, no leather....) and with zero money down other than 1st month and $795 acq fee, locked in at $508 a month for only 27 months, 12k per year. that was on a $62,700 Msrp. atthe time, it was one of the best deals "reported" on the edmunds leasing board. less than 2 months later, we did the identical deal for a nearly identical r500 for a family member. same salesman did the same deal in about 10mins.....a testament to wi simonson! while i havent followed the 2007 deals, it seems that people are paying over $500 a month for 27-36 month leases on well optioned 350s so i m still pretty sure we got in at the right time.....

so several thousand miles and 8 months later.....the car is solid. nice highway manners. not to wallowy despite its size. great acceleration. minimal wind noise. definitely feels smaller and lighter than it is. 4 seats very comfortable with good leg room and great head room. sunroof and body creak a bit and rear suspension clunks on big bumps/potholes, but overall very solid. one minor warranty issue on the airbag wiring. otherwisee no issues. gas mileage is freaking horrible. city is around 12-14. highway has not gone over16-17 even on 4 hours trips.....i had a chevy tahoe that got these #s!

replaced the headlights with sylvania bulbs shortly after purchase. better but far from great. black mb tex interior shows scuffs/dust like crazy. especially rear of seats and door panels from my toddler's shoes....i really wanted leather........

the space between the rear seats is too darn skinny for my golden retrievers to pass - the armrests are too wide.....fortunately the floor space with 2d row fully slid back is quite big and easily accomodates the dogs. which is good since the 3rd seat has to be folded to have enough storage space for luggage. the space behind the 3rd seat is good for light grocery hauling.....not much more.....

before i forget, the headrests are the most comfortable i have ever rested my head on.....

ok, we still have a last generation loaded honda ody next to the R. every day/every trip, there is a choice to be made.....so which one wins??? the ody has sliding doors, 12" overhead video, xm, great storage, better gas mileage and easy access for dogs to move from 3rd row to floor in front of second row. The R has power, handling, safety, style, sirius, sunroof.....so, long trips, the ody wins every time. no question. on short trips with or without kids, the R wins generally.

the verdict: we love the R for what it does well. but we wish it did more. it could be the perfect replacement "minivan/wagon/luxo suv" if itcould do a few things better - rear cup holders in door or on rear of front center console, thinner or removeable rear armrests to allow better pass through for people/dogs, deeper well behind 3rd row for more storage, parktronic standard, better stock headlights, smaller rear doors (could they slide and be remote or at least pop open by remote) and better as mileage (i would have bought the CDI if it was out.....).