Mercedes Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles which has long grounded and established its name as one of the well-known brands in the automotive industry. With this distinction, there is no doubt that Mercedes Benz awes and leaves people raving about owning one.

What makes one want to buy and own a Mercedes Benz anyway?

For many years now, Mercedes Benz has put forward a number of innovations in the car industry. It first developed the “Safety cell” construction in 1951 which was considered as one of the most important breakthroughs in automobile safety. Mercedes Benz was also the one who introduced the Anti-lock brakes (ABS), traction control and airbags to the market. These are but just some of the few types of safety equipment which were first developed, tested and implemented by Mercedes Benz—all in the name of automobile and passenger safety.

Mercedes has also made its mark in Advertising and Marketing. It has long been getting promotion in top rating Hollywood movies depicting glamour, prestige and elegance to the elite. It has also a renowned reputation in the motor sports industry namely: Formula Three, DTM and Formula One – where the company part owns Team McLaren. This affiliation has brought about success including the championships of famed drivers Mika Hakkinen and Lewis Hamilton.

So which is Mercedes Benz’ claim to fame? Is it the solidity and reliability of the car or the stature and esteem of having an automobile with a star on the hood? One way or another, it will still boil down to these two key distinctions – Quality and Prestige. Truth remains that Mercedes Benz has long built its reputation for the quality and durability it offers to the market, and its prominent and classy status to the elite. These are reasons that make one want to buy and own a Mercedes Benz. Test drive one today at a Mercedes Dealer in San Antonio, Dallas or Houston.

An integral consideration when purchasing a new Mercedes from the Dealership is the Service and Parts Department.
The parts and service departments have become a more integral part of the entire dealership.

More and more dealerships realize ability of a dealer to service a vehicle has a bearing on the repeat purchase.
Dealers definitely pay alot of attention to Customer Satisfaction and Service Satisfaction Indexes.
That’s why consumers get so many calls from their dealers about service.

It is one of the few areas for car dealers that have shown consistent growth and increasing profitability over the past three decades.

Service and parts revenue comes from two sources:  warranty work and customer-pay.
For warranty work, the factory pays for parts and the standard labor rate.
When a customer brings a car in for warranty work it gives the dealership a chance to interface with the customer in a different way than they did on the sales floor, thereby establishing a deeper relationship which might lead to other repair opportunities and future automobile sales.

So always be sure to factor in the reputation of the dealership’s parts and service centers when it comes to choosing a Mercedes dealership.

Mercedes plans to add a new hybrid model each year from 2009 onward.

Mercedes-Benz plans on increasing hybrid sales to 20% of its total by 2015.
The goal reflects the current state of environmental requirements and customer demand, while positioning the brand to continue beyond the eventual end of the combustion engine.

The demise of the combustion engine is still a few years away but it won’t be a sudden event.
Mercedes is approaching this in a series of gradual steps,
Starting with current models.
Then to combustion/electric hybrids .
Then to diesel-hybrids, (such as the GLK BlueTEC)
Eventually adding the electric drivetrain models.
The plan is to increase the power, performance and range of the electric components in order to be able to replace the combustion side entirely.

Mercedes-Benz is planning to be the first major car manufacturer to market a lithium-ion battery-powered hybrid (the S400 Hybrid followed by the ML450 Hybrid in 2009) which will mark one of the beginning steps in the improvement of the electric portion of the hybrid drivetrain.

Talking to several different Mercedes dealerships about lease quotes could result different payments amount on vehicles with the exact same sales price.
How does a dealership calculates a lease payment?

MSRP is not a factor. Remember the “S” in MSRP means “suggested”.
So if you were buying the car, the sale price is usually below the MSRP.

Check out the real world Mercedes prices out here for comparison.

Lease payment is based off the Cap value (sale price).
The dealer can make a commission on your financing.
Each leasor may set differnent Cap values, interest rate (”money factor rate” ), residual values, and fees.
Other features could vary, ie miles allowed, cost per mile overage, other fees, etc.
Also the sales tax may also vary by county.

The word coupe  is derived from the French verb couper, to cut.
In the 1800’s a coupé was a closed four-wheel horse-drawn carriage with a single seat inside for two persons. The front, rear-facing passenger seats had eliminated or cut (coupé) from the two seat, four person version of the carriage.
The driver was positioned on a box outside.
Typically, a coupé had a fixed glass window in the front of the body, with a dashboard to protect it from dirt and other road items.

As was the case with the 19th cetury carriage, a landau roof is a coupé with a folding top.In the 1950s opening-roof convertible automobiles were sometimes called convertible coupés, but since the 1960s the term coupé has been applied almost exclusively to fixed-roof models.

Coupés generally have two doors, however there have been three and four-door coupés and five-door hatchback coupés.
Modern coupés often have frameless doors, with the window glass sealing directly against a weather-strip on the main body.which distinguishes a coupé is from a two-door sedan by the lack of a “B” pillar to support the roof.

The Society of Automotive Engineers distinguishes a coupé from a sedan primarily by having a rear interior volume of less than 33 cubic feet  / 0.93 cubic meters.

Mercedes coupes are offered int the 3 “C” classes

CLK-Class
CLS-Class
CL-Class

Here are the 8 Mercedes Coupe Body styles that Mercedes offers

• CLK350
• CLK550
• CLS550
• CLS63
• CL550
• CL63 AMG
• CL600
• CL65 AMG

Click the image near the top of the page to get current prices for these Mercedes coupes.