For a number of years, both Audi and BMW have been nibbling away at the quality mantle worn by Mercedes for many years. One needs to ignore the poor reputation that some Mercedes models acquired in the early and late '90's, and for the last few years word has been out of the improvements that have been effected by Mercedes both interior wise and in the quality control achieved.
My story relates to a 2001 Mercedes 220CD (Diesel), now with about 45k.s on the clock, and an Audi A4 Station Wagon, with at least 150k.'s showing. The Audi is about twelve months older. Both cars have been garaged all their life within twenty metres of each other in a small Austrian country village situated some 45 kilometres north of Salzburg and both owned by members of the same family.There is a third car involved, namely a 1.9 litre Citroen Diesel of about 2001 vintage which I drove extensively during my stay in Austria in 2005. This Citroen is also owned by the same family.
The suggestion came up just recently that both the Citroen (free of rust !) and the Mercedes (both owned by two sisters) be jointly traded on one new car - make not known. I suggested to my sister-in-law (owner of the Citroen) that she purchase the Mercedes from her sister and just have the one car between them (still) as the Mercedes has hardly been used - judging by the mileage.
It turns out that the Mercedes has some significant rust issues. I understand that at least one door has already been replaced (not repaired !), and that some floor areas are now badly affected by rust. Apparently, labor costs as far as rust repairs are concerned, are huge in Austria.
The Audi, on the other hand, has absolutely no rust whatsoever, and is still in perfect mechanical condition. This to me indicates that the cars from Ingolstadt (Audi) have had their act together for some years now. It is no denying that some of today's Audi offerings are top-notch and also quite exciting in their specifications-just take the S4 and S5 variants as an example. On the other hand, Mercedes seems to rely on South African built C-Classes and Chinese built E-Classes (I think but stand to be corrected) and it is only AMG built models that enjoy a healthy performance reputation, with tuning firms like Brabus, Kleeman, Carlsson having a field day offering all kinds of performance modifications.
On the other hand, all Audi performance orientated products are built in-house, and there appears to be a total absence of after market tuning firms. I would be very much interested in comments from fellow members. Regards, Styria
My story relates to a 2001 Mercedes 220CD (Diesel), now with about 45k.s on the clock, and an Audi A4 Station Wagon, with at least 150k.'s showing. The Audi is about twelve months older. Both cars have been garaged all their life within twenty metres of each other in a small Austrian country village situated some 45 kilometres north of Salzburg and both owned by members of the same family.There is a third car involved, namely a 1.9 litre Citroen Diesel of about 2001 vintage which I drove extensively during my stay in Austria in 2005. This Citroen is also owned by the same family.
The suggestion came up just recently that both the Citroen (free of rust !) and the Mercedes (both owned by two sisters) be jointly traded on one new car - make not known. I suggested to my sister-in-law (owner of the Citroen) that she purchase the Mercedes from her sister and just have the one car between them (still) as the Mercedes has hardly been used - judging by the mileage.
It turns out that the Mercedes has some significant rust issues. I understand that at least one door has already been replaced (not repaired !), and that some floor areas are now badly affected by rust. Apparently, labor costs as far as rust repairs are concerned, are huge in Austria.
The Audi, on the other hand, has absolutely no rust whatsoever, and is still in perfect mechanical condition. This to me indicates that the cars from Ingolstadt (Audi) have had their act together for some years now. It is no denying that some of today's Audi offerings are top-notch and also quite exciting in their specifications-just take the S4 and S5 variants as an example. On the other hand, Mercedes seems to rely on South African built C-Classes and Chinese built E-Classes (I think but stand to be corrected) and it is only AMG built models that enjoy a healthy performance reputation, with tuning firms like Brabus, Kleeman, Carlsson having a field day offering all kinds of performance modifications.
On the other hand, all Audi performance orientated products are built in-house, and there appears to be a total absence of after market tuning firms. I would be very much interested in comments from fellow members. Regards, Styria
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