Gojirra99

It's not even a production car we see there I think, they can put whatever combination in it for whatever reason, so can't judge by that ......

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

Nope, the higher level you go, the less standard equipment it comes with, is funny how that works. Everything is a la carte to drain your wallet and to make the base MSRP seems low. I guess the theory is, if you don't like the price, you can't afford it. If you want it cheap, go buy a Lexus

The valet key is optional on the $300k Bentley Mulsanne.

On a Ferrari, the windshield is almost optional

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Interesting.
It is an amazing pricing structure,indeed.
The option on a Bentley is even more shocking.

TangoRed

I think we'll see the corporate AMG steering wheel make it here for the AMG models.

I do agree, however Mercedes' marketers have made it a point to offer it as an option (instead of standard) on every model they sell- clearly they have a logic...would love to know what it is. I think it is dumb that its not standard.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

just like HID, it's also an option i think, at least that was the case back in 07/08

but at the same time, i think all the cars were ordered with these silly options included, unless someone actually goes in and custom order i suppose.

and you know that how?

first this is just a test car, can be testing a lot of things and you simply has no idea what's going on

second, as stated before, on mb with smart key setup, you can actually pop out the start button cover and insert the key to turn and start the car. from what i see, it's actually a practice used at dealerships every often (car wash, service, etc...) to insert the key regardless, to make sure none of the keys are accidentally taken out of the car or mixed up with other cars.

same case with bmw, at least until recent years, cars with smart key setup there is still a slot to insert the key. dealerships do the same all the time.

just fyi

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

My son in law had and '08 loaded P2 pkg and now he has an '11 loaded $125K list and both had push button start.I assumed all S Class models did.

I agree but I guess their system works.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

hardly. the left big screen is basically the regular guage 'cluster' and the right the information/nav/media screen.

right now doesn't look great when they're off, but i bet it's eye popping when turned on.

as for usability, of course that's an unknown. i hope mb moves to much greater voice activation. personally i think a car should be 'listening' all the time, and you just get its attention with a key word. on my phone i just say 'google' in search and can enter a query via voice.

mice, touch screens, buttons, they basically all suck in one way or another.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

my 07 had P1 and it had the start button already too.

i have a feeling that in europe, a lot of these cars (including s) are seen as cabs. maybe for those cars, they choose less options? just a wild guess

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

In my opinion, because of stiff competition from Lexus and now even Hyundai, the European lure customers into their showroom by their really low base MSRP. Customers are like hey the S-Class and 7-Series are only a few $thousands more, let's go check them out.

Once they are in the showroom, mesmerised by how much fancier looking of the European's offering, they are sucked in. They kept asking is this and that feature available, salesmans are like sure for just a few hundreds more...........you can have anything you want and a kitchen sink.

IF the base MSRP add up all the options that most people want, Lexus shopper won't even go look at the S-Class if it is $30k more.

TangoRed

Normally I'd agree with you but a standard S550 starts at $97k, which, last time I checked, was the most expensive in its class.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

Ok, so a S550 starts at roughly $18k more then a LS460L. My theory still apply, because when they are comparably equipped, the difference is more like $40k.

$18k more, let's go look at the Benz, maybe we can stretch a little.

$40k more, forget it, is so out of our price range, we don't even have to go see it, we will never buy one.

The goal is to get people in the door. If they really can't afford all the nice options, maybe they would buy the base car with no options just to drive a nicer looking car. A car is sold.

spwolf

well it looks incredibly cheap to me. I dont see why do we have to justify it. Are Lexus dealers losing their customer keys? It is a lot easier to simply put them in cup holder and thats the end of it. You wont be able to scratch customer's dash with key either.

In 2014, on car costing $100k, it seems rather cheap to make customer pay for things that $25k cars have these days.

I dont think we should hold different manufacturers to different standards, there is really no reason for anyone to want to justify this. I doubt this is done for weight or performance reasons, so only other reason is $$$.

mmarshall

No doubt the high labor/production costs that German carmakers are often stuck with is part of it, but even over and above that, there is a reason why the S-Class is not chump-change. It has some of the best engineering in its class, especially in chassis-dynamics and safety-features.

TangoRed

Agreed. I was just debating whether an $18k starting price difference when compared to a LS460L would spawn a "maybe we can stretch for the S-class" thought process.

blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

I sat in a brand new S65 last night, compare to my friend's 10' S550, the Designo interior on the S65 makes world of difference. It's all about options in Euro flagships.