Jim Banville

Some of you may remember I posted a while back about trading in our C240 for an Infiniti FX35. Well.... we decided that for the same money, a new Sequoia would be much more practical (but surely not as fun!). The best deal we've found so far is $22K trade-in for our car and a '04 Limited Sequoia with options of CD changer, rear spoiler, floormats and side curtain airbags for $38.7K (MSRP for Limited with no options is $40.5K). We really do like our C class, which has been trouble-free for the most part, but we can't have our cake and eat it too, so it's back to SUV land for a growing family of four (plus two dogs!)

victor20170

The Sequoia is really nice. Congratulations

amdeutsch

Who cares about the SUV. We want pics of the dogs.

Jim Banville

Well, we did it! We got $21.7K for our C240 as a trade-in on a black/oak leather '04 Sequoia Limited. Sticker was $42.2K. We paid $39.2K. The ride and overall quality do seem a notch above the Eddie Bauer Expedition we traded-in on the C240 2 years ago, as well as the "re-designed" '04 Expedition we drove just a few months ago . We're gonna miss the old C240 . It was a fun car to drive. It's smoothness and luxury made any trip seem shorter . I'll probably be spending the mojority of my car-talking time on tundrasolutions.com, at the Sequoia forum. See you at the gas pump

CRB

Speaking of gas pumps, doesn't TRD make a supercharger for that thing?

Oh nevermind... and congrats, Jim!

session

Congratulations! I've been trying to sway my girlfriend to buy an FX35 for some time now. Good luck with it!

moomeh

i hate SUV, SAV etc. but whatever makes you happy, its all good to me. just don't drive in front of me.

brett

its laughable to hear someone excited about a trading in a car that is clearly a product of superior engineering and technical progress for a "pick up truck" that has an extended cab weleded to the frame and then stocked with some creature comforts. SUV's are a horrible value. a 38 thousand dollar rip-off!! with children and dogs you can get by with a E class wagon easily!! do you know what a "trip-up" is???

Guest0001

Yeah But Wagons are Ugly

Jim Congrats! Toyota Makes Great cars.

Jim Banville

What a coincidence! I HATE people that hate SUV's

Stationwagon? Oh yeah, my grandmother had one of those

I doubt my 90 lb. Golden Retreiver could comfortably stand up in the rear of your Benz wagon without bumping the roof. I also doubt you could fit 8 people COMFORTABLY in your Benz wagon (yes, we carry around that many people on occasion- instead of taking two cars). One thing we noticed today in our Sequoia is that my wife and I no longer bump elbows over the center console - SPACE is GREAT for a marriage

And finally, as reliable as our C240 was, I suspect we'll visit the dealer's repair shop a LOT less now!
Can you imagine only going to the dealer for SCHEDULED maintenance. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh :p

PS- One thing I thought I was going to miss from the C240 was the way the vehicle's ignition started the car itself once you turned the key all the way and then let it go. I was AMAZED that the "technologically inferior" Sequoia did this too!

electromethod

AMGDood

shoulda got a g-wagen.:p

brett

i never said i hated you. i just hate SUV's and in fact i think or know you bought one with very little knowledge about how unsage and technoligically inferior they are. Space? have you sat in an E class? most likely not. there is more than enough room from side to side and leg room is quite good. a 90 lb dog can easily fit in the cargo space and my car doesn't get repaired often. maybe its becuase your first Mercedes was a post 2000 car that is prone to some technical oddities. I would bet you my 94 will get more miles than your toyota in the long run. you may find this ironic. Since you said you "hated me" you will find it interesting to know that Ford did years of research about the demographic of SUV drivers. the result was the following: they determined through thousands of hours of research and focus groups that SUV owners and drivers are insecure, consider themselves bad parents, have worse than average driving skills, view the world in a "survival of the fittest" or "me vs you" perception and best of all are prone to have irrational thoughts about others. Note: i never said i hated you or thought you were a jerk, in fact i still don't. I do however believe you fit the profile of an SUV purchaser/ driver. happy motoring you lemming!

session

What was that about insecurities, brett?



Back to civil conversation, please.

nukblazi

Why didn't just buy a used short-bus? Sounds like you'd be accustomed to the comfort features and ride handling of one of those. RVs are the next step up though.

Sorry, please stay out of the left lane in that POS. And if at all posible, change lanes utilizing the blinkers. And remember, even though 80mph feels safe, it really isn't. Ug... SUVs. Nothing pleases me more then seeing them in a ditch, in the trees along the HWY, or flipped end over end by some moron with 22inch wheels and 5 1/4 in brakes doing 90 on the freeway.

Best one I have seen was a big fat guy in a Expedition FLYING down the GSP in NJ, weaving in and out of traffic while flipping people off. A little ways down the road, there he is, he went off the road, over the gaurdrail, ripping the entire underside of the truck off. He's running circles around another car who's stopped punching the windows and wildly screaming about killing him.

Well, I hate SUVs. I think they are worthless junk less they have two live axles and spend the majority of their time off-road or bring people with tools to where people with tools are needed. I am glad you hate people who hate SUVs. I feel like I've accomplished something.


Brett, great post. I think the Ford research yeilded very interesting results compared to the typically observed "roadside" manner of many of the drivers.



For that price, you should have bought Land Rover Discovery.

moomeh

wow. i thought i hated SUV, SAV etc, but damnnn....

Jim Banville

Wow! The stereotypes you people project are really sad
Do you also think Jews are stingy with money and all blacks are criminals?

We've all seen bad drivers in every possible vehicle. In my experience, most of the SUV's I see are driven by people that appear to be over 30 and they are usually driving conservatively. Most of the cars I happen to see speeding and driving recklessly are small import cars, usually driven by what appears to be young w/m's.

We did test drive a new E320, but it only felt slightly larger than our C class. The used S430 we drove was nice and big! They don't make S class wagons, do they?

Can someone tell me what technological advantage a '94 Mercedes E class has over a '04 Sequoia?

Someone is still talking about cellphones being a serious driver distraction? All that hoopla died down a while back when stats proved things like eating and reaching down for things in the car were FAR more likely to result in a crash. Using a cellphone was no more distracting than carrying on a conversation with someone in your car. Even without cellphones, many people wouldn't be driving with 2 hands anyway, although I'm confident that the SUV-hater crowd would count themselves as some of the safes drivers out there, using both hands 100% of the time, never looking away from the road for a second, never drinking coffee while driving, etc

brett

The Occupant death rate pre million SUV's is 8% higher that the occupant death rate per million cars" (insurance institute for highway safety)

"If pigs are big and popular then we'll make pigs." (Harry Pearce , General Motors Co. VP Marketing)

Intimidating dimensions and general lack of maneuverability makes driving a chore. Braking is by far the poorest feature." (Consumer Reports on the TOYOTA Sequoia)

"If everybody in the US who drives and SUV drove a car inst4ead, we could cut out Middle Eastern Oil Imports Entirely" Union of Concerned Scientisits

"Drivers in SUV's are particularly likely to run over people while backing up in driveways, especially children who are not tall enoughto been seen out the hight rear windows" (national transporation safety board highway fatality commission)

"Ford's truck engineering director Ronald Elken pointed out that the big SUV's shared the same roofs as full sized pick-up trucks, and the roofs in fullsized pickup trucks are made tall because they are designed for the TEXAS market, the countrys biggest for SUV's and Trucks. "in Texas, you have to be able to wear your cowboay hat", he said in total seriousness. (NY times 2001)

Height of a typical SUV make it hard for car drivers to see the road ahead and predict the traffic patterns or an abrupt manuver (NTSB)

"Stiff truck underbody does little to absorb the force of collisions with trees or cars transferring that force to the occupants" (NTSB)

"SUV's size increase traffic congestion becase car drivers give SUV's more room and fewer vehicles proceed through traffic signals" (NHSC)

"ESCALADE: is a GMC Yukon SUV, which in turn is little more than a fancy version of a Cheveroltet Tahoe SUv, The tahoe SUV in turn uses the underbody and most of its other parts from the full size cheverolet Silverado PICK UP Truck. So Cadillac is esentially taking a 20,000 dollar work truck tricking it up with lots of chrome,leather seats, and a fancy stereo, then selling it for about 50,000 dollars. this is how automakers have earned enormous profits on full sized suv's (Consumer Reports)

Toyota highlander is derived from the Camry Sedan? where do you geuss the Sequioa comes from?

I KNOW FOR A FACT that a 94 E320 is technologically SUPERIOR to a toyota sequoia from 04. HA! my car gets 22mpg, what does yours get? now lets talk about how your car will flip, but mine has been engineered for even weight distribution etc. the list goes on and on. Sir, you wrongly assume that becuase your Sequoia is "new" it is more advanced thus making it better. Your misconceptions and accusations come from the phenomena known as "network externalitites" not informative deliberation. If you would like we can start a seperate thread on the following issues:
Safety
Manufacture
Performance
Cost
Fuel eff.
but it all can't be covered here. sorry but i am remaining civil here.

brett

BTW: Stereotypes about "blacks" and "jews" as you refer to them have nothing to do with ACTUAL marketing research done by the ACTUAL companies like Ford that make the SUV's. Companies attempt to capture more of a market when they do these things. Why do you think the SUV's of the 90's compared to the 04 look so much less menacing? Because of these focus groups. People who SHOULD own a "mini van" that has MORE space than a sequoia don't want the MINI VAN IMAGE, that's right! The IMAGE not the utility. which explains why 82% of all SUV's sold are TWO WHEEL drive!!!! So, ford, dodge, toyota, whoever makes the SUV knows that the people with 8 kids and a 90 lb dog don't want to be mini van owners, they want to look like badasses. Hence all the new designs with strong lines and grille or headlight arrangements that look like animals. look at the dodge durango? it purposely looks like a wild cat from the front. the escalade body was modeled after a TANK!!! what about the H2?? Did you know the bumper of the Sequioa is 52 inches high, the average height of the head of an occupant of a normal car. So, your assumption that I or we are making a stereotype is incorrect. This is an analysis based on FACTS, something you apparantly have no use for while auto shopping. please leave "blacks" or "jews" out of the equation. and BTW "blacks" or "coloreds" as you may refer to us, well we would like to be referred to as African Americans, i believe WE have earned it.

bmms8

jim, congrats on your car, dont listen to the dumb people who are telling you what to do, i cant believe how stupid some of these members truly are, and yes, your most likely gonna visit the dealer a lot less! i would of done the same thing if i was in your shoes, no e class wagon could do what you can do with that thing, congrats on it.

what is this forum coming to with all these dumb ppl

CRB

Reading brett's rants made me laugh and I just wanted to say that my aunt who lives in NYC has an attitude very near his.

The gas mileage on truck based SUV's is poor, but the Audi S4 gets mileage about like Jim's new truck. Not everyone wants a Prius.

Trucks do roll over more than cars, cannot slalom with them, and when offset crashed into a fixed barrier don't do great. That is simple physics. But in real world crashes into other vehicles do quite well on occupant survival statisics. (Just don't ask about the "other guys")

Again congrats jim!

vraa

Congrats on that tight SUV man! Hope you go long and far! Make sure you keep us updated with trip logs

Jim Banville

WTF does that mean? "Earned it"? You can refer to your culture or heritage as African-American, but as far as race, you are black. I'm white, you're black. Big deal! "Africa" is not a race. It's a continent. Would a 100% white person that happens to be born in Africa and moves to the USA be considered "African-American"? Hell no! Can you picture Al Sharpton's face as this white person introduces himself to Al as an African-American?! Al would either **** his pants or pop an artery! This African born caucasion person has "white" skin, but he's probably more "African" than most black people in the USA! Most of their parents and grandparents were born in America, after all . How many generations will it take to become a FULL-American?
If you're determined to "hyphenate" yourself, you'd be more correct in referring to yourself as negro-American, since negro is a race, like caucasion. Either way, all that "hyphenating" yourself does is create division! Let's leave all that stuff to the likes of Hillary Clinton and Jesse Jackson, who make their million dollar salaries by perpetuating the ideas of class and race warfare to keep us Americans at each other's throats! In the words of a famous criminal, "Can't we all just get along?".

And as far as your MB being more technologically advanced than the Sequoia, you've yet to point to a single example that doesn't differentiate just about any passenger car from just about any SUV or truck (i.e., size, weight and gas mileage). Can't you do better than that? What whiz-bang feature does you car have that the Sequoia lacks, hmm? <insert cricket sounds here>

bagwell

ditto...I KNOW the Toyota will be rock solid....but probably only 16 MPG

bagwell

Jim B versus Brett





Brett - you need to chill dude....geez....