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IntelliChoice Value Rating
The chart above shows the purchase price versus ownership cost for each car from a specific vehicle class. The cars with better than average ownership cost/purchase price correlations are the best values, and these best value cars are represented by the dots below the curve. (i.e. the cars that have a lower ownership cost compared to its purchase price.) Those cars, which are worse than average or poor values, appear above the curve.
One way to view the graph is to draw a vertical line through any purchase price. You may see several dots that fall on this line - each of which is a car with a similar purchase price. However, notice the difference in ownership costs of each car represented by the vertical position of the dot. Two cars with the same purchase price can have thousands of dollars difference in ownership costs. This is what separates "good value" cars from "poor value" cars.
What is a good car value?
A "good car value" is one whose cost to own and operate is less than expected. The lower the cost to own and operate a car compared to what is expected, the better the value of that car.
But how do we know a car's "expected cost"?
For each car in the class, IntelliChoice plots the car's purchase price against the total five-year cost to own and operate it as determined by IntelliChoice research. Each dot on the above chart represents a specific car. Generally, we find that as the purchase price of the car increases, the cost to own and operate that car increases. This is why the dots on the graph tend to rise upward and to the right. This phenomenon also makes intuitive sense - as the purchase price rises, financing costs tend to rise, as do insurance, depreciation, taxes, and most other car ownership costs.
This is an important concept. It's normal for car ownership costs to rise as purchase price rises. Therefore, we can't just establish one "average" ownership cost number for each class, since cars in the class have different purchase prices. (This is why the "Relative" shown on each chart is different for cars in the same car class.)
Using statistical techniques, IntelliChoice "connects the dots" to form a curve that defines, for this car class, the relationship between the car's purchase price and car's ownership costs. This curve is our "expected cost" curve. The curve defines, for any car in the class, the five-year ownership cost that we would expect to see at each possible purchase price. If every car in the class were an average value, then all the dots would fall exactly on the curve. However, it's rare that any dot is exactly on the curve. Some dots are a little higher or lower, and some are a lot higher or lower. The dots that are a little lower are better than average car values, while the dots that are a lot lower are excellent car values (A dot that is a lot lower than the curve has ownership costs much lower than expected for a car of its purchase price). Conversely, a dot a little higher than the curve is a poorer than average car value, while a dot that is much higher than the curve is a poor car value.
Value is a relative term, not an absolute term. It is performing better than the logical expectation.
So is a Mercedes-Benz E320 expensive to own and operate? Certainly in an absolute sense. Most other cars cost less. But, when its cost to own and operate is plotted against cars with comparable invoice prices, the E320 costs less. So the E320 is not expensive to own and operate - it is a good car value. The Mercedes does not have low ownership costs, but it has low ownership costs for its invoice price.
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Review From Motor Trend Magazine
First Drive: 2008 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMGHostile over-taker: Check your blind sport, BMW. The M3's doors are about to be blown off. / By Frank Markus /
Article provided by: Motor Trend Magazine
With its M3, BMW has owned the C-segment hot-rod market, winning hearts, minds, and comparison tests for decades. Others have competed, few have been competitive. Now Mercedes-AMG is plotting a hostile takeover of this popular niche. Your brows are furrowing, recalling that the last four fat-tired, big-motored C-classes to roll out of Affalterbach have won drag races only to be outmaneuvered by the Bavarian. You're thinking, can the C63 AMG possibly be that good, or has AMG wined and dined this guy into senseless parroting of the PR flack's hyperbole? I claim the Fifth on the subject of alco/gastro inducements, but present the following evidence for my enthusiasm: This is the first AMG product to be designed from its computer-conception for extreme performance. Its predecessors (like most AMG models) are essentially tuner specials, with bolted-on performance. This time, practically everything forward of the firewall (except for the two energy-absorbing frame-rail stubs) is unique to AMG. The front track is 1.4-inches wider, standard 18-inch wheels permit larger knuckles, and a new engine cradle accommodates longer diagonal links that completely change the geometry. A lower roll center, for example, helps the car corner flatter while preserving ride quality with an anti-roll bar that's only 0.04-inch thicker. New ball bearings offer twice the rigidity of the stock front-axle bearings. Camber increases from 0.5 to 1.4 degrees and caster is reduced by 15 degrees. The steering ratio tightens from 14.5:1 to 13.5:1, and there are new bearings atop the struts. The effect of all this front-end work is vastly improved steering feel and agility with reduced understeer.  The 6.2-liter V-8 weighs about 70 pounds more than the E350's V-6, and it's about four inches longer, but by moving it two inches closer to the firewall, weight distribution remains at a respectable 54/46 front/rear. An all-new front end stretches the nose 3.4 inches. Power output is dialed back to 450 horses and 443 pound-feet-enough to vanquish the M3 without crowding AMG's pricier 63 models. Coaxing the CLK63 Black's 500 horses and 473 pound-feet out of this setup will be child's play for the aftermarket, if AMG doesn't offer power-spiffs of its own. A Performance Package will include a mechanical limited-slip differential (offering 30 percent lockup under power, 10 percent or less on overrun), and compound steel brake rotors with aluminum centers (for vastly improved fade resistance and slightly lower weight). Springs and dampers are stiffened by 10 and 15 percent respectively, and the speed governor is raised to 174 mph. Europe's optional 19-inch wheels and tires won't be offered, as they can't survive urban-America's potholes. One chink in the C63's armor: there's (still) no manual transmission. But the paddle-shifted 7G Tronic automatic runs with the converter locked except when the car stops, it bangs off shifts as crisply and quickly as the best SMG/DSG/F1 boxes, and its sport-automatic shift programming is incredibly astute. Rev-matched, throttle-blipped downshifts happen exactly when you want them, up-shifts never happen when you don't. Manual-mode shifts are slightly quicker, and you can happily bounce along on the 7300-rpm redline if you so choose. The Black Series's 2.82:1 rear axle is fitted, but without the auxiliary oil cooler-that car is intended for extensive track use, this one isn't. Diff-oil temperature is monitored, and the car will preserve itself with a limp-mode in the event of an extended summer track-day workout.  C-class buyers are AMG's youngest, and-especially in SoCal-they're more interested in making a statement than in keeping a low profile, so the C63 gets extroverted DTM-racer styling cues, like huge front-wheel arches wrapping the 235/40R18 PZeros, air extractors, hood bulges, and aggressive fascias. An edict to preserve all the stamped and welded steel parts leaves the rear-wheel arches looking a bit mismatched with the fronts, and little appliqus are required on the back sides of each wheel arch to fully envelop the jumbo 255/35R18s. Inside, there's a flat-bottomed steering wheel (covered in alcantara suede, on Perf-Pack cars), sport bucket seats with integral head restraints, and AMG gauges with a race-lap timing function in the body computer. It looks mean. It is mean. ... >>next page
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