Indeed, always interesting to compare vs prior gens and today's comparables....
I recall as a kid carefully examining the ?'92 S500.....my elders tell me it was a well-engineered, reliable car....simple arithmetic tells me today's new S65 only costs about as much as that new '92 S500 costed (adjusted for inflation and interest rates).....doubt that '92 S500 offers even somewhat comparable safety vs today's new S65 (or 550).....and, as much as I mock the 65's codgerly quilted leather and wood steering wheel, S65 interior IMO is far more elegant/ergonomic than '92 S500's....
I recall a couple of colleagues in late '90s who got new Lexus ?GS400.....was amused by their various electronic glitches...and, more disturbingly, was dismayed by one of these new GS (I was a passenger) having a fuel-line failure on a busy urban fwy in NYC....it was NYC, so fwy speeds were lethargic...would have been a near-death expce on a fast CA fwy....
Along w/many car nuts on this forum, have collected enough anecdotal expces and first-hand driving/ownership expces to view a new S/CL as a no-brainer for anyone seeking to maximize perf/safety/daily-useability....the various media "analyses" are great amusement.....
Interestingly, do know many very smart guys who aren't car guys....guys who astutely analyze various risk/reward situations in their day job (and even carefully consider their choice of private plane and the qualifications of the pilots, etc), yet mysteriously/?absent-mindedly choose weak cars (or fail to realize that risk exposure to a LincTownCar (or any non-new S-Class) from airport to hotel more than offsets safety of any $50MM+ pvt plane).....I've managed to badger enough of my affluent non-car-oriented colleagues to, at the very least, get a new S550, w/ABC and Dist, every 2 yrs for their own safety and that of their passengers....
