71 Screws and counting.....

mwph said:
..... Here in Alabama the ......Mercedes ......plant......
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I am not going to argue one bit about the Alabama plant but German engineers are arrogant with their attitude.

My wife had a Mercedes, one of their first models with a cup holder. Mercedes was about the last company in the world to have cup holders.

Well, they put it over the CD player.

After going thru a drive thru at a fast food restaurant my wife placed a cup in the cup holder. The cup dripped into the CD player and ruined it.

I complained to the dealer that it was poor engineering to put the cup holder above the CD player. The dealer sent my comments into Mercedes.

Mercedes engineering replied that the engineering of the cup holder was perfect and the issue was with the cup!
 
Tonka Boater said:
Sea Ray's are built in the south and (start the flames) the work ethic is a little more, shall we say, laid back. I'm not saying any more but.....I think the quality controls in Florida are a little looser than Detroit.
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Think you have that backward. Too many union do-nothings in the north.

Tonka Boater said:
I'll dig my hole a little deeper by clarifying that I was looking more at Florida vs. the south as a whole. I spend a lot of time in Florida and the work ethic compared to up north here is remarkably noticeable.
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OK, that makes sense. Too many transplanted unionized northerners in Florida.
 
fc3 said:
Too many union do-nothings in the north.
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Man, is that the truth.

Case in point (this isn't north/south specific, just union):
The USPS is looking to close local offices throughout the country and the union is pissed off about this. They blame it on things like online bill pay, etc. Bullcrap, the problem is the ineptitude of the union workers and their don't-give-crap-I'm-a-government-employee attitude.

I ordered something from Amazon and chose USPS shipping. 13 days later it's still not here and their online tracking is worthless. I went to the post office to see if they could track it down. Cliff Claven says, "Hmm, I don't know where it is. Sorry." Real nice. I cancel the order and re-order the same exact item from Amazon from the same exact seller and choose UPS for shipping. The thing showed up one day early and I got alerts every step of the journey. That was today as a matter of fact....just went home at lunch and found my order on the step. Still waiting for the mailman to deliver the original that was ordered on July 16th.

.
 
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In addition to thye screws, bolts & nuts, I found a screw driver behind the washing machine
 
Ive got a nut at the back of my engine compartment. Im leaving it there for now, figure I'll go diving back there for it when the bolt appears and I have a use for it. I consider it part of my "spares" kit.
 
Tonka,

In one thread, you have offended both the South and the Postal Service. Well I grew up in Alabama and am a Postmaster in a large city in Washington. Maybe one should consider that there may be a explanation for your package from Amazon and that you should consider painting a negative picture of the 600,000 plus employees of the Postal Service.

I believe that Amazon has a warehouse in Minnesota, perhaps they did not ship the package. PM me if you want assistance in tracking your package.

I have also enjoyed your prior posts and your sharing of your new 280. I guess we all have bad days.
 
Here's a thought... If any of you have worked in construction and worn a leather belt with pouches/pockets on it, you'll know what I'm talking about...

You bend over (because we all know how easy it is to maneuver in and around bilges, over bulkheads, etc.... on our boats but...

Your pouch/pocket hangs and empties about 50 - 100 screws, a roll of tape and half of your tools somewhere/all over the boat under construction... You do your best to pick everything up, but some, you just couldn't see or find...

I can totally see this as being the main reason someone could find a LOT or a little debris left behind after a build...

:thumbsup:
 
Presentation said:
I am not going to argue one bit about the Alabama plant but German engineers are arrogant with their attitude.

My wife had a Mercedes, one of their first models with a cup holder. Mercedes was about the last company in the world to have cup holders.

Well, they put it over the CD player.

After going thru a drive thru at a fast food restaurant my wife placed a cup in the cup holder. The cup dripped into the CD player and ruined it.

I complained to the dealer that it was poor engineering to put the cup holder above the CD player. The dealer sent my comments into Mercedes.

Mercedes engineering replied that the engineering of the cup holder was perfect and the issue was with the cup!
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I have a Porsche 911 Twin Turbo with 2 cup holders over the CD holder. Ask yourself why would you put cup holders in a 200mph sports car with a stick shift and stiff suspension? If you ever used them you would have coffee/soda all over everything!! German engineering is great is certain areas and not so good in others. The key fob is another, they designed it such that it can get pressed while in your pocket and opens the hood latch.....they did engineer a double latch on the hood though! Now the GT1 split block engine is a masterpiece of engineering, as is the transmission. Works of art to us engineers who appreciate it. They need to work on some other common sense engineering areas though!!
 
mawyatt said:
I have a Porsche 911 Twin Turbo with 2 cup holders over the CD holder. Ask yourself why would you put cup holders in a 200mph sports car with a stick shift and stiff suspension? If you ever used them you would have coffee/soda all over everything!! German engineering is great is certain areas and not so good in others. The key fob is another, they designed it such that it can get pressed while in your pocket and opens the hood latch.....they did engineer a double latch on the hood though! Now the GT1 split block engine is a masterpiece of engineering, as is the transmission. Works of art to us engineers who appreciate it. They need to work on some other common sense engineering areas though!!
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Brilliant machines, but ergonomically, the German and Italian cars are a disaster.
 
Wow.. I liked my german engineered Audi from a usability standpoint it all worked. OK so cupholder wise it was an utter failure as they were not above the CD player they were in the console one under the arm rest???? So the driver always has one available but passenger well you were out of luck or if I was so inclined I would drive without the arm rest which was a pain. All the other stuff worked like it should have. Ride, handling, was super loved it...

Now my Lexus, the handling just is not there, the way things work are really wrong on so many levels. There are so many things disabled while driving, the satellite implementation is wacky on changing presets. Cups holders work, its as quiet as could be, and solid so far mechanically. More then I can say for the Audi... But there is something to be said around German engineering, solid, and sporty....
 
Alegria said:
Wow.. I liked my german engineered Audi from a usability standpoint it all worked. OK so cupholder wise it was an utter failure as they were not above the CD player they were in the console one under the arm rest???? So the driver always has one available but passenger well you were out of luck or if I was so inclined I would drive without the arm rest which was a pain. All the other stuff worked like it should have. Ride, handling, was super loved it...

Now my Lexus, the handling just is not there, the way things work are really wrong on so many levels. There are so many things disabled while driving, the satellite implementation is wacky on changing presets. Cups holders work, its as quiet as could be, and solid so far mechanically. More then I can say for the Audi... But there is something to be said around German engineering, solid, and sporty....
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My youngest daughter has an Audi A4 and I agree it is much better ergonomically, plus it is very sporty. I think the german engineering places an emphasis on the sportyness of the car which I like.

Porsche does things differently for many reasons (some good and some not so good), such as the start key on the left of the steering wheel which dates back to the early 24 hours of LeMans when they started the race by running across the track and starting the cars. Rules were the cars had to be out of gear and the parking brake on, so this required all the work to be done with the right hand. So Porsche placed the starting key in the left to save a second at the start of the race. The 911 with the flat inverted 6 engine partially behind the rear axle, the only car built that way (outside the VW bug which Porsche designed) and this dates back to 1963. This allowed greater weight on the rear tires and better traction but at the cost of more difficult handling with the classic "wagging the tail" manners in a tight corner. Experts said Porsche's 911 could not compete with more traditional big displacement front and mid engine cars with better handling, well just check the history books the 911 has won more sports car races since 1965 than all other sport cars cominbined, even in the face of constant rules changes to allow better competition from others. The mighty 911 turbos have all but been banned by rules that chocked off the intakes favoring the bigger displacement normally aspiriated (NA) engines. Porsche now has developed very competative small displacement NA flat 6s and continue winning with the rear engine outdated 911s. The competition is much better now and fun watching the American LeMans or GrandAm series you will see the Porsche 911, Ferrari F430, BMW M3, Dodge Viper, Chevy Corvette, Ford GT40, Mazda RX8, Pontiac G8, Panoz, Spyker.


Sorry......back to boating!!
 
techmitch said:
How about finding a medium sized screw driver inside, yes inside the vacuum generator tank while replacing the diaphragm and duck bill valves.
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That's actually a "mid-model year improvement". It helps to agitate and break-up the larger particles that can sometimes clog-up the duck bills.:smt001

German cars? Yeah, cup holders are an after-thought. But, to be fair, in their veiw, you shouldn't be drinking/eating in while you are driving, anyways. At least that is what I'm told as to why the cup holders stink.

Ergonomically speaking though, our '97 528 is hands-down the most comfortable car I've ever been in. Everything seems to "just fit" and be in the right place.
 
I took handful of mixed screws and nuts and dump in my friend's engine room to scared him.. I let him get worried for a while til I told him, LOL. But it more likely happens at the factory.
 
Write SR customer service a letter stating your displeasure with quality control. When you spend the kind of money you did, I would expect a "clean" interior.

Who knows, it might fix it for future customers and you might get something for your troubles....

Just a thought.
 
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