[ZeroLimit]

Have you ever had someone mistaken your ML to some other car?

I have a friend who is looking for Toyota LandCruiser. We saw an ad in the paper that a used car dealer is selling one. So we went there, parked my car paralel right in front of the showroom. We were looking at the car, asking some questions, etc.. it's a diesel LC, than the boss said "the fuel consumption on this LC is great, better than your Xtrail". I was like, what Xtrail? then he looks at my car and said.. "oh, is it a Kia?".. I said it's a Mercedes, then he leaned to see the car's emblem.. he was standing just about 5-6 feet away from my car!
Uhhmm ok.. he is running a used car dealership, but he doesn't know M-class? Granted it's not a popular car here, but it means he can't recognize an Xtrail either.. which is very popular here.

 

[maneesh]

A friend of mine, after sitting in the ML for about a 1/2 hour asked me if it was a Ford Explorer? I guess the "Mercedes Benz" on the MCS and the 3 Pointed star on the steering wheel and shift knob missed his eye...
Anyway, his comment really pissed me off. I told him, "this is a benz buddy". His reply was that he did not know that benz made SUV's. I said to myself, "no wonder this guy goes to movies alone."

 

[AC_ML]

Yes, Kia has a small SUV model that looks very similar to the ML's.. It's almost like a mini-ML.. With my wife, we used to pass by a Kia dealer by the freeway, and they had the mini-MLs showing on their lot, and they all looked like ML's from far and even when you are close to them..

Somebody mentioned that some of the best ML design engineers went to work for Kia..? That will explain some of the similarity..

And maybe some of the Kia quality/part control people went to work to Mercedes Benz.. That will explain many things..

AC

 

[TimsML430]

Good one, AC!

 

[ZeroLimit]

Yes, Kia has a small SUV model that looks very similar to the ML's.. It's almost like a mini-ML.. With my wife, we used to pass by a Kia dealer by the freeway, and they had the mini-MLs showing on their lot, and they all looked like ML's from far and even when you are close to them..

Somebody mentioned that some of the best ML design engineers went to work for Kia..? That will explain some of the similarity..

And maybe some of the Kia quality/part control people went to work to Mercedes Benz.. That will explain many things..

AC

Hahaha.. well actually i think (I'm not sure) DaimlerChrysler used to have shares in Hyundai? (I dunno if they still do), and Kia is actually owned by Hyundai.. so there
and yeah, Kia Sorento might looks like ML in some ways, but it still has the distinctive differences between Sorento and ML.. (Actually, Mercedes design has been copied by many, S-class W220 was the first car that has side turning indicators integrated with the exterior mirrors. Now? Toyota is following.. Nissan is following.. Volkswagen is following.. )

This is the Sorento..

and he actually mistaken my car with this car at first... which doesnt look like ML at all..

 

[uptown]

just for the fun of it.. Could anyone photoshop the Kia sign and change it to a mercedes emblem? Maaan.. we all driving suit up Sorentos!

 

[bigcatny]

I'm sure people driving sorrento's don't mind it when people ask if their car is a mercedes and I'm sure the Kia designers considered that when they copied the ML

 

[cmitch]

Maybe the car dealer had an X-trail in his entrail.

 

[laxman0324]

Kia Sedona. Same headlights, and a lot of the same looking panels in my opinion. Late model, not the redesigned version.

 

[ZeroLimit]

just for the fun of it.. Could anyone photoshop the Kia sign and change it to a mercedes emblem? Maaan.. we all driving suit up Sorentos!

Uhmmm.. here it is.. this would be.. a.. uhmm.. Mercedes Sorento?

 

[uptown]

lol

 

[JimB]

Wow

Is that a new GL ....LOL

 

[revolt1112]

if that was the new MLK it wouldn't surprise me

 

[ttaleric]

This thread is about as useful as ... well you guys know. A Kia.

 

[Kajtek1]

No offense. My neighbor bought Kia SUV (Santa Fee ?) for less, than 20 grands and no additional charge for 10-years power-train warranty.
Hard to beat that with average ML.

 

[tsanjose]

it could just be that they dont know their cars...

 

[ZeroLimit]

No offense. My neighbor bought Kia SUV (Santa Fee ?) for less, than 20 grands and no additional charge for 10-years power-train warranty.
Hard to beat that with average ML.

Santa Fe is Hyundai.. Well.. Kia is owned by Hyundai, so practically same company.
Hyundai's (Kia too?) warranty in North America is unbeatable.. I guess because they are trying to get people to know and try their brand instead of going for Honda/Toyota/GM. Not the case in the other countries where Hyundai is already recognized, like they only give 2 years warranty here.

Personally, I think Hyundai cars is not bad, it's comparable to their Japanese competitors, especially the new models. The after sales service here is nothing but crap though.
We bought a Hyundai Trajet (MPV that is not sold in the US market - i wonder why?) back in 2000, it was just launched then. During the first 3 months of ownership, we have rattling sound on the left hand side dashboard. Bringing the vehicle to the dealer didn't resolve the problem. When the boss of the dealer around, my dad complained about it, and guess what he said? He said, "well, you bought a Korean car, problem is expected".. wow, thats shocking.. he is selling Korean cars and he also said problems on korean cars are expected..
After zillion times of dealer visit, finally the whole dashboard is taken out.. turns out there is a bolt lying around inside the dash somewhere.. and the dealer blamed the alarm guy that installed Clifford alarm in the car, but they said they never touch that side of the dash. Well, who knows on this one.
There are few more problems in our car.. the car's rear suspension is noisy, sometimes making a grinding noise etc.. it was a common problem for this particular car, and was not resolved until we sold the car a year after that.
Road vibration is really apparent, they blamed the Michelin tires.. so i dunno, never tried to change the tires.
Another problem, the car always leaning to the right side, especially on high speed. We checked the tire preassure, we tried to do a spooring, balancing. Nothing works, and dealer can't figure it out why its doing that.
We sold the car in 2001, not because of the problems though, its just too many bullshit from the dealer's service dept, and the arrogant boss didnt help either.. when problems comes up, he simply said "it's Korean, it's expected"

The car is ok, but I would assume the after sales service could be better. At least here, not sure about in North America. I heard the MB guys there are arrogant too, but in here, they're very friendly.