Greetings from the land of manual diesel wagons, Oppo!

"KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs" (kusabisensei) 09/09/2013 at 15:13 • Filed to: Rentalopnik, Holidaylopnik

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Vive La France! Vive La Tall Wagon! Vive La B-Klasse Mercedes!

Avis gave me a B180 CDI instead of the Citroen C4 they originally suspected. This will lead to an Oppo review at the end of the two week vacation in Europe.

Note, unlike the B180 here, the one I got is black.

Klaus Schmoll > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 09/09/2013 at 15:14

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Sorry for raining on your parade, but a B-class is not a wagon, it's a hatchback.

HammerheadFistpunch > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 09/09/2013 at 15:15

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Is this photo trickery or is that rear tire really that skinny? its like a 95/65R16

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 09/09/2013 at 15:15

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On the plus side, it does not require a croissant and mustache wax to start. On the down side, you must talk it out of bombing London.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Klaus Schmoll 09/09/2013 at 15:18

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Two things:

1) Close enough for government work.

2) I didn't bring an umbrella...why you got to be so mean to the umbrellaless?

:)

dogisbadob > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 09/09/2013 at 15:19

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We don't get the B-class at all :(

At least Canada gets it though, but no diesel. I'd love to bring down a B200 turbo 6-speed.

I'm actually surprised Mercedes doesn't sell it down here. It would do so well with people looking for prestige on the cheap. I love 4-cylinder luxury cars.

HammerheadFistpunch > Klaus Schmoll 09/09/2013 at 15:19

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according to what metric? Lets be specific in our parade raining. it seems to follow the torch guide to being a wagon .

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KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > HammerheadFistpunch 09/09/2013 at 15:20

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I'm going to go with photo trickery.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/09/2013 at 15:20

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False.

The downside is that you must talk it out of driving to Warsaw.

Because it has a German satnav.

HammerheadFistpunch > dogisbadob 09/09/2013 at 15:22

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untrue, we will get a very limited run of EV b-class mercs this year.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > dogisbadob 09/09/2013 at 15:22

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Honestly, a B180 CDI 6 speed would make a great commuter car. The problem is one of that MBUSA doesn't think cloth seats work well with the brand image.

Dat Turbo Torque.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > HammerheadFistpunch 09/09/2013 at 15:25

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So even after an 8 hour flight, multiple glasses of champagne, beer, and spirits, *and* 3.5 hours on the French autoroutes, I *still* manage to achieve fridge brilliance.

Go me!

Klaus Schmoll > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 09/09/2013 at 15:25

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Anyway, beware of stimulated rhinos, they have a thing for these hatchback/mini-minivan thingys!

HammerheadFistpunch > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 09/09/2013 at 15:25

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I think the conversion rates and chicken tax rules (that's right, its not just for trucks) would preclude this from being profitable here.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 09/09/2013 at 15:26

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dogisbadob > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 09/09/2013 at 15:28

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Can't you order a cloth Benz already though? And they can always just use vinyl seats anyway like they already do. Yup that's right, most Mercedes come with vinyl seats not leather!

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Klaus Schmoll 09/09/2013 at 15:28

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As long as there aren't any in Germany or Belgium, I think we'll be fine.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > dogisbadob 09/09/2013 at 15:29

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My E300 Turbodiesel has MB-Tex seating...

dogisbadob > HammerheadFistpunch 09/09/2013 at 15:29

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That doesn't count.

They need to offer an unlimited run of non-electric B-classes in every state.

duurtlang > HammerheadFistpunch 09/09/2013 at 15:32

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As a European I agree with Klaus. I can smugly differentiate between a wagon and a hatch when I see them, and this is a hatch.

Not completely foolproof rule of thumb when looking at contemporary cars:

Short rear overhang + shelve: hatchback

Relatively long rear overhang + item similar to a horizontal roll down curtain: wagon.

HammerheadFistpunch > dogisbadob 09/09/2013 at 15:32

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would be sweet, but costly to sell and to their image. The b-class is just on the fringe of being accepted as luxury in Europe, I can't imagine how it would be perceived here.

HammerheadFistpunch > duurtlang 09/09/2013 at 15:34

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look I'm not disagreeing with you, but Torchinsky might be.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > HammerheadFistpunch 09/09/2013 at 15:39

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It depends on production capacity at Vance.

Less SUVs! More American B-Classes!

HammerheadFistpunch > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 09/09/2013 at 15:41

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If they could tool it up for cheap...it could circumvent the chicken tax by being built there, no problem...but would they?

Klaus Schmoll > HammerheadFistpunch 09/09/2013 at 15:44

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As much as it pains me to say, Torch's guide isn't the be all and end all to that discussion. According to his rules, SUVs and Minivans are wagons too.

Let's use common sense here. The B-class is a contender to the likes of the Golf plus and other hatch/minivan crossbreeds.

It's higher than a normal car and therfore offers a very high and upright seating position. It's cargo area is also quite short compared to a, well, why not use a real wagon here, a car that the company making it sells as a wagon, the golf wagon.

HammerheadFistpunch > Klaus Schmoll 09/09/2013 at 15:47

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but it is a metric, and the two thing you pointed out actually show the logic behind it perfectly. The top is a hatch (no cargo window) the bottom is a wagon. And yes, SUV's are wagons, in the same way that orange can be a color and a fruit. Its not called the grand wagoneer for its health. In other countries suv's are very much still called wagons. Defender 110 wagon, land cruiser 70 wagon, etc etc.

Slave2anMG > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 09/09/2013 at 17:32

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Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > HammerheadFistpunch 09/09/2013 at 19:45

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Here you will see: Best. Dodge of the chicken tax. Ever.