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MikeT

Time for a new family car.

405 posts in this topic

The same thing annoyed me about the smart. I ended up getting the Star Blue Metallic for free, since they screwed up our Stream Green order. There's no way i was going to pay $900 for paint, unless it has ground-up sapphires in it.

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I've seen VERY few B-class Mercedes on the road---they're not exactly in demand.

This comment got me intrigued, because ....yeah you don't see that many around here, maybe 20 smarts for every B-Class.So I did some calculating with the assistance of our good friends at Wallenius-Wilhelmsen and came to the conclusion that exactly 5655 B-Classes have been imported into Canada as of now, and they started arriving nearly a year after the smart did.So they are probably selling around 2500 a year, which is not quite up to smart fortwo levels but is pretty decent nonetheless. Last year, a little more than 3000 smarts were sold in Canada.Where are they all then? I guess somewhere else in Canada is B-Class country, because there are at least 5000 of them on the road. With the more competitive 2008 pricing, I would hope to see over 10,000 of them on the road by the end of 2008, which would be at a par with smart.

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I was parked along side a red one at the local mall back in May. I would of taken a picture but found it to be kind of intrusive on my part.

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We'll be at TPM Victoria early this afternoon to place our factory order for a B 200. At this time - a few hours remain for us to decide to alter the spec - it will be horizon (light) blue metallic, with light grey interior, 5 speed manual, panorama sunroof, heated seats, factory alarm with motion sensor, ipod kit and all the other stuff that comes with the car.It will be fun to track it as it makes its way across the ocean!It's funny, in a way I feel like Charlie Brown in the pumpkin patch....waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear.....I was holding out as long as possible in the hope that Peugeot would return to Canada before we needed a new family car. Obviously they didn't, and the truth is, even if they had, I probably wouldn't have wanted any of their current family car range anyway. Well, possibly a 307 SW....

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Congratulations. At least the incubation period will be brief compared to what you endured for the smart. Will they allow you a loaner until it's arrival?

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:doublethumb: Well done, Mike! That's my favorite colour. GM used that same shade in the 70's. Glad to see it's back. Half the decision of buying a new car is the worry about what the servicing will be like. With TPM, you're already going into familiar territory and you know their reputation for perfection. Good decision on the 'B' class and remaining loyal to European cars. It'll compliment your Smart. :yahoo:

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Thanks guys! Well the deed is done and - as you can see in my signature - I have the PO number (remember those?). It should be built in the 2nd decade of September and delivered either in late October or early November.

Summary:

    Horizon Blue Metallic

    [*]Alpaca Grey cloth interior with black dash

    [*]sunroof

    [*]alarm package

    [*]heated seats

    [*]ipod integration kit (steering wheel/dashboard control+display of tracks)

    [*]rear side window blinds

    [*]removable roof bars for bike/ski racks etc

      Plus all the other goodies the car comes with. Should be fin!

      Until the smart, I had never bought a new car. And now, we buy another one in under three years. I feel so icky ;):biglaugh:

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I think deezle asked if I could do a comparison of what this same car would cost in Europe. I just configured one on the Mercedes-Benz.de site. The interesting thing is how much of the standard equipment here is optional there.Anyway, the total cost in Europe, as configured with all our options and CDN standard equipment, is 27,400 Euros before taxes. That is $39,730. Ours is costing several thousand $ less than that before tax, about $7K to be exact.Too bad we don't get the same deal on smarts, eh? ;)

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Ours is costing several thousand $ less than that before tax, about $7K to be exact.

Maybe they're pricing them to ease their guilt over not offering us the diesel B.Speaking of pricing, I saw some ads offering the last of the '07's for up to $8000 off.

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I was told that the deal is 7-8% off the 2007 retail price, on vehicles in stock only....so yeah that's OK if you want a car with CVT, in grey metallic! Where did you see the $8 K of thing? That's much greater than 7%, at least on a B-class it would be. Or was the "up to" referring to the fact that this is a multi-model sale (i.e. the $8 K off is for a loaded S-Class)?

Edit: we were in Nanaimo today and the few remaining 2006 smarts had a sticker on the window indicating that they too were subject to the clearout (again, probably 7-8%, I bet, across the range).

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I'm probably mistaken---it must have been 7-8% rather than 7-8 thousand (newspaper ad).

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7-8 grand off a B would have been a steal, even with the CVT auto and deadly dull grey metallic paint!

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It should be built in the 2nd decade of September and delivered either in late October or early November.

Congrats, but man... that's a long lead time! ;)

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This is what our car will look like - both exterior and interior colour, and sunroof. The only main difference is front side markers in the bumper and no CDI badge on the rear :(

post-5-1187634306_thumb.jpg

post-1-1187634306.jpg

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Very nice!If you could PM me with the final price (if you don't want to post it in public) i'd really appreciate it... we love the B and are seriously thinking about one for our next car. Wish we could get the CDI, though. :(

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Not only Strikelines...I think it would be sweet if he took a 2.5" holesaw and threw in some LED side markers to match his Stream Green! ;)Eddie

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BOO YEAH! The sidemarkers seem to be less of an afterthought on the B than they were on the smart.

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Not that this will change your mind, but here is a review on TTAC:

Review

Did you look at the Volvo C30? Similar, yet different.

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I think the B-Class, like the smart, is a vehicle where people either "get it" or they don't. I read that TTAC review yesterday, and clearly they don't get it.

The B-Class really is more of a tall wagon/microvan than a sports hatch. It's a car for people who want to drive around with other adults and their stuff without having to drive a hulking SUV or a marshmallow-on-wheels minivan. This makes it a different beast than either a GTI/A3 or a MINI. (The forthcoming MINI Clubman notwithstanding.) The interior of the B is huge compared to either the GTI or the MINI, with a back seat that can actually accommodate adults when the front seat occupants are over 6 feet tall. The GTI is still a squeeze, even with four doors, and the MINI's back seat really is more like a parcel shelf. Not suitable for adults.

I sat in a Volvo C30 at the auto show this year, and was very surprised and a little disappointed that it's quite a bit smaller than i imagined. I thought they would be aiming at the Golf/GTI/A3 segment, but it's more MINI-size. The back seat and hatch are not suitable for anyone wanting to drive with four adults in the car or haul any amount of stuff. It's really quite small.

I think Mike made a great choice with the B. I'm a big fan of it and really wish they would bring over the CDI. I love the high seating position and great sightlines. I thought the materials were entirely appropriate for the vehicle's intended audience and usage. It's not meant to be a "luxury" car. With the light interior and the panoramic sunroof, the interior is bright and airy. There's a huge amount of cargo space available behind the rear seats, and when the seats are folded down, it's absolutely cavernous, with cargo tie-downs everywhere and some clever options for carrying bikes, etc.

It's definitely a vehicle for people who "think different" about their transportation needs.

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