$55k - Which luxury sedan would you buy?

[b3lha]

Originally Posted by Noir

If you had $55k and wanted to buy a luxury sedan. Which would you buy?

A friend of mine is in the market for a luxury sedan and was looking at the Mercedes Benz E320 and E350 gas along with diesel. Apparently alot of people's having problems with the recent quality of their cars. What other options are there. BMW, Infinity, Lexus?

I figure since you guys pay attention more to cars than I do, you'd have a better idea.

My Dad has an E320 CDi (Diesel). It's an awesome car, but I'd rather have an SVX.

Worst thing about it is the brake assist computer. Sometimes you touch the brake pedal gently and it slams on full brakes. It happened to me and I was like WTF??? Scary. There's no way to disable that system, so I always feel uneasy driving it since then.

And I don't understand why they bother putting 10 speakers on such a crap sounding CD player.

[Noir]

Originally Posted by b3lha

My Dad has an E320 CDi (Diesel). It's an awesome car, but I'd rather have an SVX.

Worst thing about it is the brake assist computer. Sometimes you touch the brake pedal gently and it slams on full brakes. It happened to me and I was like WTF??? Scary. There's no way to disable that system, so I always feel uneasy driving it since then.

And I don't understand why they bother putting 10 speakers on such a crap sounding CD player.

yeah, i went with him to look at the e320 cdi's and sure they look and feel alright, but i'm not terribly impressed. went to his house afterwards to read some reviews and apparently quite a few people have had problems with this car. he was looking at some of the stuff i saw and was like

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by b3lha

Worst thing about it is the brake assist computer. Sometimes you touch the brake pedal gently and it slams on full brakes. It happened to me and I was like WTF??? Scary. There's no way to disable that system, so I always feel uneasy driving it since then.

The new s/c E55 AMG forums have owners complaining about this all the time. Even a few magazine editors complained about a non-linear braking application with the Mercedes system.

Personally, if I bought a 55K Mercedes, I'd be pretty upset with this silly quirk!

-Chike

[Noir]

Originally Posted by Chiketkd

The new s/c E55 AMG forums have owners complaining about this all the time. Even a few magazine editors complained about a non-linear braking application with the Mercedes system.

Personally, if I bought a 55K Mercedes, I'd be pretty upset with this silly quirk!

-Chike

yeah no kidding. but that's not all, apparently there are nice little electrical gremlins causing all sorts of little problems.

[Royal Tiger]

It would have to be the M45 with the change left over, you could upgrade the wheels and tires and the anti-roll bar and it would stomp all over the 535i.

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by PA_SVX

It would have to be the M45 with the change left over, you could upgrade the wheels and tires and the anti-roll bar and it would stomp all over the 535i.

Agreed. You can get a fully loaded M45 for ~49K which is about 10K cheaper than its competition.

This is a good review on the new M45 by freshalloy:

http://www.freshalloy.com/site/cars/...6/m45/home.asp

The lines of the new M45 are supremely sexy and the quality of materials is definitely on par with offerings from Lexus, Acura, BMW and Mercedes.









-Chike

[Earthworm]

Even Jeremy Clarkson on TopGear complained about the Mercedes brakes in the latest episode.

"nothing...nothing...nothing...I've just torn my face off"

[benebob]

Originally Posted by Chiketkd

You're talking like an ex "camaro-bird" owner who got promoted into senior management!

In all seriousness though, the CTS-V and STS-V are some serious performance sedans and can match their German competitors in every way at the track!!!

-Chike

Not quite! Someone has been doing a little too much reading! They aren't bad but drive one. You'll see it isn't a comparision!!! (a friend has one as his company car definately fun but still about 1 design back to the comp.

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by benebob

Not quite! Someone has been doing a little too much reading! They aren't bad but drive one. You'll see it isn't a comparision!!! (a friend has one as his company car definately fun but still about 1 design back to the comp.

many reviews say the CTS-V feels kinda cheap, and after sticking my head in one while shopping for cars a couple months ago, i'd say the interior looks a little cheap, too. if the guy is looking for a luxury sedan for his wife, she probably isn't interested in lighting up the tires at redlights anyways (but i could be wrong.)

i'd stay away from Mercedes, too. my stepdad's S-class has been to the dealer alot lately for misc. problems. they have some quality issues - MB says they will put renewed effort into quality control, but i'd wait to see proof of that. Chrysler must have sent some extra gremlins over to MB during the merger.

so the M45 gets my vote for the guy's wife. if i had $55k to spend on a car, i don't know what the hell i'd get - it would be a fun decision, though.

[NapaBavarian]

Originally Posted by Landshark

many reviews say the CTS-V feels kinda cheap, and after sticking my head in one while shopping for cars a couple months ago, i'd say the interior looks a little cheap, too. if the guy is looking for a luxury sedan for his wife, she probably isn't interested in lighting up the tires at redlights anyways (but i could be wrong.)

i'd stay away from Mercedes, too. my stepdad's S-class has been to the dealer alot lately for misc. problems. they have some quality issues - MB says they will put renewed effort into quality control, but i'd wait to see proof of that. Chrysler must have sent some extra gremlins over to MB during the merger.

so the M45 gets my vote for the guy's wife. if i had $55k to spend on a car, i don't know what the hell i'd get - it would be a fun decision, though.

GM iz da poopie...I couldn't resist

[Royal Tiger]

Tell him to get the M45, in Black! Silver would be my second choice.

[benebob]

Originally Posted by PA_SVX

Tell him to get the M45, in Black! Silver would be my second choice.

Personally I'd never buy the Infiniti. Not that the Infiniti isn't a good car but people buy such cars for 1 reason. PRESTIGE

Sorry but you just don't get that w/o going with the standard Mercedes, a Jag or BMW esp. once you get out of talking to car people. The majority of the country looks at Infiniti's and Lexi as nothing more than souped up versions of their cheaper counterparts. (Inbread by 50 years of products from GM, Chrysler and Ford noless).

[Subafreak]

Well I think Infinity, Lex, and Acura are a lot less inbred than MB, or Jag. I mean really, ones a Ford and ones a Chrysler now. I laugh at the really stupid people who buy Volvos, Saabs, and Rovers for prestige

Your decision should really come down to how much money you want to spend maintaining and reparing the car after you buy it. Once the warranty is up, you could be getting shocked at the prices to keep those "luxury" cars going. Alot of the "Euro" cars require special tools and scanners to work on that your average repair shop isn't gonna have. So you will need to take them to specialty shops that will probly cost you just as much a servicing it at a stealership........and with the current reliability of Euro cars, you will probly to have it serviced alot.

Stick with an Infinity or a Lex (even thoe most of the Lex designs are BLA right now). Or even better, just tell his wife to get over the image thing and get a reliable, fun to drive, easy to service SUBARU!

[benebob]

Originally Posted by Subafreak

Well I think Infinity, Lex, and Acura are a lot less inbred than MB, or Jag. I mean really, ones a Ford and ones a Chrysler now. I laugh at the really stupid people who buy Volvos, Saabs, and Rovers for prestige

That's only b/c you know who really owns 'em and makes them. Most of the world doesn't. Which is my point. The only way you'll impress a car person is to drive the car they want but you can impress a non-car person with a car they thing is better than what they can drive.

[lee]

I'll throw my $0.02 in....

For luxury in the plush arena it's Lexus, and for Luxury with a sportier twist it's Acura...no other car (that I know about) has as low a cost of ownership (depreciation, insurance, etc.) and reasonable reliability (which is where BMW and Mercedes are failing).

FYI, I currently hold title to an Acura and a Lexus, and am a prior owner of an S-class Mercedes. Brother-in-law works for a BMW dealer and encouraged me to look elsewhere -- if I expected the reliability I've gotten used to from the Toyota, Honda & Fuji companies.