Ding dong the King (C63) is dead. Long live the King...
Ding dong the King (C63) is dead. Long live the King...
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findtomdotcom

Original Poster:

868 posts

264 months

Wednesday 2nd October 2013
quotequote all
So after struggling with my C63 Coupe for 4 months I have sold it and bought a new 991 C2 PDK.

The engine was magnificent (in fact, anything touched by AMG was great), but the Mercedes built bits were rubbish.

I will miss:

The engine (and the noise)

I won't miss:

Rattles (lots of), poor UI design between the command system and the driver display screen, poor DAB reception, missing functions in DAB, rubbish voice command system, poor handbrake design, the comedy speakers that hurt your ears, cheap plastics inside the car, steering wheel controls that don’t control the functions you need, fuel warning icons that don’t work, command system that won’t work with iPhone, heated seats that turn themselves off, a sat nav whose voice you can’t turn off, the USB charging point that won’t charge an iPhone and honestly the list goes on and on and on.

Honestly, one of the best engines I have ever owned and the worst car I have owned to date.

Tom.



Edited by findtomdotcom on Friday 4th October 15:19

Till135

116 posts

157 months

Wednesday 2nd October 2013
quotequote all
You should have:
a) read the manual
b) read the manual
c) probably done the voice control "learn"
d) not cared so much about petty things
e) not bought the Merc in the first place

I'm sure you'll enjoy the Porsche but you obviously have personal issues that are subjective re the Merc. The 911 is on another price level and I'm sure you can put loads of options to do exactly what you want.
Personally I think that the command system works very well, I don't really bother with the steering wheel controls, DAB is crap generally, the HK speakers are as good as any I've heard and superior to the Porsche Bose,
It is a bit creaky but I couldn't care less
Each to their own.

findtomdotcom

Original Poster:

868 posts

264 months

Wednesday 2nd October 2013
quotequote all
Yes, it is indeed a personal choice (and opinion).

But as a point of note, I did read the manual and did the voice learn stuff. I guess I just felt that overall a car should do what I paid for, ie all the bits work correctly.

I'm very technical and was shocked that lots of features I paid for didn't work.

Of course for some people they won't care less and will enjoy the engine for what it is, (it is very good).

But for me it was the death of a thousand paper cuts. That and Mercedes not caring that things didn't work or saying they would fix the DAB issue later in 2014......



Edited by findtomdotcom on Wednesday 2nd October 22:22


Edited by findtomdotcom on Wednesday 2nd October 22:26

Till135

116 posts

157 months

Wednesday 2nd October 2013
quotequote all
Curious re the issue with DAB? I haven't had any problems with it.
I'm sure the Porsche will be great. I've just spec'd one to a fairly basic but comparable to the AMG and it came to £83k
Not big enough for me.

findtomdotcom

Original Poster:

868 posts

264 months

Wednesday 2nd October 2013
quotequote all
No you are quite right, it is smaller. The C63 was almost practical and I will miss that, but have worked out a deal with my wife. She gets to drive the 991 and I get her 4x4 (sometimes)...


DAB has two issues. One, it's very poor (reception problems and cutting out) and two (which Mercedes acknowledge) the information from some radio stations (like the playing now and next info) does not work. They know its a problem and have identified which stations aren't working correctly, but won't offer a software fix until 2014?!

Overall it's a small thing, but this added to the other issues I had with the car were just too much for me.


Till135

116 posts

157 months

Wednesday 2nd October 2013
quotequote all
Onwards and Upwards.

firesafetydave

955 posts

272 months

Wednesday 2nd October 2013
quotequote all
To stop the sat nav talking just press the mute button. Simple

colinc01

178 posts

270 months

Thursday 3rd October 2013
quotequote all
Funny that I just got rid of my C63 last week after 4 months and bought this

findtomdotcom

Original Poster:

868 posts

264 months

Thursday 3rd October 2013
quotequote all
firesafetydave said:
To stop the sat nav talking just press the mute button. Simple
You see this is one of the things that drove me nuts about the car. I agree with you firesafetydave, you should just be able to mute it. However, on my C63 you could only mute it once the "voice" spoke and you had to re-mute it every time you started the satnav! It did not remember that it had been muted. You can see how that would be quite annoying.....

SLS, now there is a nice car. All the best bits of the C63 and then some.

Bradders901

225 posts

155 months

Thursday 3rd October 2013
quotequote all
I'm about 4 weeks into my 507 Coupe - the only issue I have is the car does have too many creaks and rattles, some just sorted by the main dealer - but no two ways about it, this does indicate an issue with MB quality but I am not regretting my purchase at all - its a special car with that engine and the 507 (imo) looks pretty stand out.

Sounds like you really got annoyed with yours, the sat nav issue for example seems like you had just got into lots of detail on things that were grating on you but moving to a 991 is a pretty good outcome.


Bradders901

225 posts

155 months

Thursday 3rd October 2013
quotequote all
colinc01 said:
Funny that I just got rid of my C63 last week after 4 months and bought this
superb - enjoy

how is the sound compared to a c63 (did you have PP?) - big difference right?

Gulzar

745 posts

210 months

Thursday 3rd October 2013
quotequote all
colinc01 said:
Funny that I just got rid of my C63 last week after 4 months and bought this
Delicious.... when I drove one for two weeks it was near perfect if it wasnt for the rear looks at the SLS.... reminded me of a cheap Mazda so much. An almost near perfect car! Colour is spot on...enjoy!

Ari

19,779 posts

239 months

Thursday 3rd October 2013
quotequote all
colinc01 said:
Funny that I just got rid of my C63 last week after 4 months and bought this
Oh. My. God! blah

bowbowbowbowbowbow

colinc01

178 posts

270 months

Friday 4th October 2013
quotequote all
Not sure what PP is but there is definatley a big difference in the sound this makes compared to the C63. The main reason I changed is that I got dusted by and SLS in Germany last month and I was flat out at 265 kph and the SLS just accelerated away. Do not think I will get much use out of it this year though as I expect the weather to get worse in November. I plan to take it for a run across to the Lakes on the 26th so hopefully the weather will stay fine.
Bradders901 said:
superb - enjoy

how is the sound compared to a c63 (did you have PP?) - big difference right?

findtomdotcom

Original Poster:

868 posts

264 months

Friday 4th October 2013
quotequote all
How do you find the build quality compared to the C63? Does it have many of the issues I experienced? Is it mostly built by Mercedes or does AMG put it together?

Lagerlout

1,812 posts

260 months

Friday 4th October 2013
quotequote all
Funny. My Wife owns a 991 C2 and I own an SL63 and none of the tech in the Porsche is better IMO, it's (cheap) button tastic and the interior creaks like a ship in a gale. Both are great cars but Mercedes wins the quality and tech hands down IMO. 911 and C63 are just not comparable anyway, totally different types of cars. The Porker drives superbly and has lots of feedback, it's also down right uncomfortable and harsh by comparison - is that unexpected? It's nowhere near as harsh as previous 911's but still much less usable day to day than the Mercedes. Horses for courses.

AndyBrew

2,774 posts

243 months

Sunday 6th October 2013
quotequote all
I have my iPod plugged directly into the car without any problems.

Whenever anybody says something critical about my C63 saloon I just say, "so what, it has a 6.2 litre V8" and that trumps everything smile

The Porsche is an astonishing car and I doubt you will be disappointed.