Mercedes X-Class Pickup Drive

Anyone parting with 35-40K for a pickup seriously needs their brain taken out for a good long soak in some jeyes fluid I'm afraid. the Merc looks pants, and undoubtedly performs no differently to any other pickup- when used as a pickup.

The fact that Chelsea-ites, soccer moms and average joes in housing estates will buy one because it's a bad-boy looking Merc only serves to devalue the vehicle in my eyes. A suitable tattoo on your forehead would suffice in that regard, and be cheaper.
 

stellify

Member
Anyone parting with 35-40K for a pickup seriously needs their brain taken out for a good long soak in some jeyes fluid I'm afraid. the Merc looks pants, and undoubtedly performs no differently to any other pickup- when used as a pickup.

The fact that Chelsea-ites, soccer moms and average joes in housing estates will buy one because it's a bad-boy looking Merc only serves to devalue the vehicle in my eyes. A suitable tattoo on your forehead would suffice in that regard, and be cheaper.

There’s hell of a lot of people outside of farming that would be entitled to a £35k - £40k+ company car.

By choosing a commercial pick-up over a similarly priced car/4x4 means they will potentially save thousands a year in company car tax.

Through those peoples eyes, this pick-up is probably very appealing - cheap on tax and preimum car-like inside. I’m sure this is the market Merc is aiming at, not farmers.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
Anyone parting with 35-40K for a pickup seriously needs their brain taken out for a good long soak in some jeyes fluid I'm afraid. the Merc looks pants, and undoubtedly performs no differently to any other pickup- when used as a pickup.

The fact that Chelsea-ites, soccer moms and average joes in housing estates will buy one because it's a bad-boy looking Merc only serves to devalue the vehicle in my eyes. A suitable tattoo on your forehead would suffice in that regard, and be cheaper.


I think the Raptor is the footballer choice right now



Until AMG get busy with the merc pick-up I don't think they are sexy or interesting enough for a "Kings Road" poser yet
 
Badge engineering, plus “clever”marketing seems to be the way of the world.

Tractors are just the same.

100hp loader type tractor.

Deutz / Claas / Same / Hurliman

All exactly the same other than paint job and badge.

TSS
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
again not according to what they told us - its the same box but apparently has some different components / spec

We can only report what we are told


You were obviously spun a line and you seem to have swallowed it hook line and sinker. The Jatco box is very unlikely indeed to be even slightly different between Nissan and Mercedes versions. The main difference, which they were probably referring to obliquely, is the shifter in the cab, which is purely cosmetic.
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
shared components and platforms is the norm these days, you even see it on very high end cars, engine and platform development is too expensive to be exclusive, i don't see this sharing as a bad thing at all as each manufacturer brings their own spec and styling changes along with their service / network which all would claim be better than their competition

even my Defender has a Transit van engine in it .................... but its not a ford transit is it


Of course it is commonplace. Renault/Nissan even supply engines and transaxles to Mercedes for fitting into Mercedes built cars which are identical to the ones they supply to their own Renault and Nissan factories.
 
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Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
Just out of interest (and I have no real idea here), how does it differ in body? Other than the actual look of it of course. .

The body panels are all different, being stamped on different dies, almost certainly by the same presses as used for Navara panels. The Mercedes versions mainly differ in having wider wheel arch blisters in the metal. You can quite easily mistake the Mercedes for a Nissan from both the side and rear profile though, unless you know exactly what to look for.
 

SW1

Member
NFFN Member
I've had them side by side for comparison, as said above every body panel is different, on first glance the cab looks the same buy has a subtle difference above the back of the rear door + opening rear window.

Mechanically they are the same, same part numbers on components under the bonnet, some parts on the Merc even have Nissan written on them, the only difference that I could find is that my Navara has drum rear brakes whereas the Merc has discs.

To drive they are very similar, both have the strange rev-up on start, to me the gearboxes seemed the same, the merc has better soundproofing, so is a bit quieter.

From my point of view there is no reason to buy the Merc over the Nissan if you are going for/can manage with the 4cyl engine, the V6 will probably be very different.

upload_2018-8-14_20-21-2.png
 

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
So X-Class has been washed and returned. My parting thought from it is how quiet it is in the cab. Getting into a small diesel car afterwards was quite noticeably different. Its more like a car than any pickup I've ever driven. I can see the attraction for anyone looking from a company car tax point of view or vat eligibility. Even with 700 kgs in the back it drove well (not light at the front like my previous one's have done) and the one I tested was slightly less compliant as it had the locking diff and stiffer suspension. I have to say I really enjoyed driving it around and I've never really enjoyed driving a pickup before. Having said that, it should come with the territory for a pickup over £30k! Going to get some prices now and will do a proper write up then.

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IMG_5118.JPG
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
You were obviously spun a line and you seem to have swallowed it hook line and sinker. The Jatco box is very unlikely indeed to be even slightly different between Nissan and Mercedes versions. The main difference, which they were probably referring to obliquely, is the shifter in the cab, which is purely cosmetic.

I’m not sure why I should believe you any more than the manufacturer really ?

As I’ve already posted several times I’m just saying what we were told when we picked it up

You are clearly a pick-up trainspotter that knows a almost concerning level of detail about these vechiles, do you take parts books to bed at night ?

I just drive them and give an opinion of what I do or don’t like about them
 

Mdt

Member
Arable Farmer
You could fault Nissan for building shite pickups but they did back them up pretty well in this case. Contrast them with some other brands, even so called 'premium' brands that leave their customers completely on their own. Look at VW/Audi group who have left their own customers down but also devalued nearly every other diesel car on the market, and note that they have bought back cars and paid handsome compensation to US customers but sweet Fanny Addams to European and British customers.
Give me a Nissan any day of the week even though their customer service is generally quite poor, just like most others.

People tell me that Hyundai and Kia have just about the best warranties and customer back-up from any manufacturer anywhere. I would like to know whether that's true some day.
I have a Hyundai and am very happy with backup from dealer, nothing is a problem, myself am very happy with the car and am on my 2nd one now, reliability over 50k miles has been brilliant with no problems so far. Hopefully looking to swap for a 3rd one after harvest.
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
I’m not sure why I should believe you any more than the manufacturer really ?

As I’ve already posted several times I’m just saying what we were told when we picked it up

You are clearly a pick-up trainspotter that knows a almost concerning level of detail about these vechiles, do you take parts books to bed at night ?

I just drive them and give an opinion of what I do or don’t like about them

Then you tell me what differences there are with both the manual and automatic transmissions and engines depending on which badge is on the snout. There is a difference as far as engines go and that it the plastic engine covers fitted. One has Nissan and the other Mercedes printed and stamped on it.

Fact is, there is none. Zilch. Zero. I haven't even seen this claimed by anyone but you and you heard it from a salesman at your local dealership.

I am surprised that you are so naive about this. Or at least you pretend to be. You protesteth too much. You really really want there to be a difference and want to convince others that it is 're-engineered' when it is patently obvious that Mercedes' 're-engineering' means mostly minor cosmetic differences. The only major mechanical difference in the four cylinder models is that the Mercedes has disk brakes fitted to the rear and Nissan has drums. I pointed this out at the beginning and yet cannot think of any advantage for even that difference. It is just a difference which is of zero consequence to the owner of the truck.
The chassis is not reinforced or re-engineered. It is slightly different to very early NP300 off the line, but so are later NP300 off the line.
 

Lincsman

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
I’m not sure why I should believe you any more than the manufacturer really ?

As I’ve already posted several times I’m just saying what we were told when we picked it up

You are clearly a pick-up trainspotter that knows a almost concerning level of detail about these vechiles, do you take parts books to bed at night ?

I just drive them and give an opinion of what I do or don’t like about them

Small point, they are not the manufacturer, they are just a retailer in this case..
 

Chris F

Staff Member
Media
Location
Hammerwich
@Cowabunga I did ask again on return. There isn't much in the engine that matters its the same power, as many included you have said. There are only minor differences in the gearbox, the main change to gearbox will come int he V6 which will use the geartronic from the other Mercedes vehicles. The brakes are different as is the suspension which comes in two different forms. Along with all the panels (baring the adblue cap) and the interior. They also confirmed the chassis is different, but again, the changes didn't sound major just a bit of strengthening. I wouldn't call brakes and suspension cosmetic, but the rest of the changes are small. But lots of them. How anyone values these changes is up to them? We all know there is a substantial purchase price difference.

Functionally the X-class and the Navara Tekna do the same things, but then so does the basic Navara and the basic Isuzu for that matter. I have to say, I enjoyed driving round in it and I'd never use it for more than 5% of what its probably made for (but I do miss that 5%). I'm very much looking forward to trying the V6 though, but the reality is the one I tried is probably enough of pickup for what I'd need it for and the amount of towing I would do (but when did common sense ever come into buying a car). I much prefer the look and interior of the X-Class to the Amarok. But there is no doubting the V6 Amarok is better for towing and speed. Just not mpg. Going to get some prices now and see if my eyes water!
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
@Cowabunga I did ask again on return. There isn't much in the engine that matters its the same power, as many included you have said. There are only minor differences in the gearbox,

There are zero changes to the gearboxes.
the main change to gearbox will come int he V6 which will use the geartronic from the other Mercedes vehicles. The brakes are different as is the suspension which comes in two different forms. Along with all the panels (baring the adblue cap) and the interior. They also confirmed the chassis is different, but again, the changes didn't sound major just a bit of strengthening. I wouldn't call brakes and suspension cosmetic, but the rest of the changes are small. But lots of them. How anyone values these changes is up to them? We all know there is a substantial purchase price difference.

I highlighted the brake difference and mentioned that it has zero implication for the owner/driver apart from rear disks having the potential to rust and needing more maintenance.
There are several different versions of suspension on the Navara. They have been re-engineered since launch if you like. Twice as I understand it. Nissan have also strengthened the chassis of the Navara in a minor way since launch. I've already proved that the gusset under the chassis that has been claimed to be the Mercedes strengthening has also been done on the Navara for over 12 months [Illustrated in pictures].
Plus Nissan actually have the option of leaf springs, a long and medium bed as well as the shorty with double cab that is the only Mercedes offer.
Functionally the X-class and the Navara Tekna do the same things, but then so does the basic Navara and the basic Isuzu for that matter. I have to say, I enjoyed driving round in it and I'd never use it for more than 5% of what its probably made for (but I do miss that 5%). I'm very much looking forward to trying the V6 though, but the reality is the one I tried is probably enough of pickup for what I'd need it for and the amount of towing I would do (but when did common sense ever come into buying a car). I much prefer the look and interior of the X-Class to the Amarok. But there is no doubting the V6 Amarok is better for towing and speed. Just not mpg. Going to get some prices now and see if my eyes water!

The V6 is a different kettle of fish and is available for ordering now. It will have Mercedes' own 7G-Tronic automatic with two speed full-time4wd transfer case, just like the GLE [optional two speed] or GLS. Along with a Mercedes engine of course.
Now THAT is what I call 're-engineering', not the fluff and bulls**t heard so far.
 
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SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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