An E being a Taxi has no correlation with my point against the ES being a Camry. If anything, it is a testament to the level of strength/durability of the E-Class. Granted if I saw one as a Taxi everyday, I certainly wouldn't see it as the prestigious vehicle that I do, but fortunately I don't see it as a Taxi I will say, seeing so many W221 S-Classes used as Limo Service vehicles has about ruined that car to me.... Every time I see one now, I naturally look to the left side of the rear bumper to see if there are numbers stuck onto it. Same thing I do when I see TownCar's.

Interesting this Thread gets brought back up.... My Mom, who had an '04 E320, then an '08 525i, recently ended her Lease with the BMW, she REALLY wanted a W211 again as she loved it a lot more than her Bimmer (reason she got the BMW was Free Maintenance, oddly) but with the current Economy was weary of getting an M-B, due to cost of repair/maintenance/ownership, etc.

So she just bought an '07 ES 350.

 

IMO, she should have considered a brand new 2009 E350.

The current economy has MB dealerships in SoCal scrambling for customers (at least most of them... a couple dealerships here are doing "pretty" well considering the economy), as all of them still have 2009 E350's on their lots. With the 2010's already rolling in, MOST dealerships are more desperate than ever to get rid of their 2009's (especially the "common" configurations, which include MB Tex and P1 only). In fact, the price for a brand new 2009 E350 is very close to a certified preowned 2008 E350 of similar configuration (factoring in all the incentives, trunk money, etc the dealer can give you... adding up to probably around $17K-$18K off MSRP now, or around $15K-$16K off invoice, if you pry it out of their hands).

And with financing at a low 1.9% APR, it really doesn't cost that much to finance the vehicle (for $50,000 financed, that ends up being a little over $2,000+ in interest over the course of 5 years... less if you finance for 24, 36, or 48 months).

Add the "American Reinvestment & Recovery Act of 2009", which states you can deduct your WHOLE sales tax from your BRAND NEW car purchase (up to $49,500) from your 2010 Income Tax, and you can potentially get a pretty darn good deal (which we probably won't see for another few decades or so after the economy recovers).


EDIT: As far as maintainence goes, I've been told that if anything goes "wrong" within the first 30 days and/or under 1,000 miles (that can arguably be like that from the factory), then the MB dealership will take care of it free of charge (depending on the dealership and service advisor). Maintainence comes at 10,000-13,000 mile intervals, so that probably translates to once per year (for the average driver). Service A in SoCal seems to range around $129 (with coupon) to around $230 (at the most expensive dealership I've been to). Service B in SoCal seems to range from $229 (with coupon) to around $330 (at the most expensive dealership I've been to). Add on any wear-and-tear items that need to be replaced but are not covered under the routine Service A or B, and you're probably looking at around $400-$600 per year for annual maintainence (excluding tires, since I don't get those done at the dealership). The 2009 E-Class is a very solid vehicle, as pretty much all the kinks, glitches, and problems have been worked out through previous models of the W211. Looking on these (and other) W211 forums, the vast majority of "problem" posts I see have to do with 2006 models and prior. A few posts are about the 2007 model, I can't remember any significant troubles posted about the 2008 model, and I've read absolutely no major/consistant problems with the 2009 model at all.

IMO, this economy has "levelled the playing field" in a sense that manufacturers of expensive mass-produced cars (such as Mercedes and BMW) have been hit pretty hard, and have discounted their vehicles significantly. Manufacturers of less expensive vehicles (such as Lexus) has been hit "less" hard, and even though they have discounted their vehicles more, it's not to the level of Mercedes and other more expensive cars. (I still have yet to see a brand new 2009 GS or other E-Class-equivalent from Lexus being discounted almost $20K from MSRP.) Anyway, the price gap between the "high-end luxury" cars and "mid-luxury" cars has been closing since financial crisis, and most likely will continue to close until the automobile industry begins its recovery on solid footing (either that or adjusts its supply to meet decreased demand, thus automatically raising prices since there isn't a huge over-supply of vehicles anymore).

 

I love this quote from analyze that:

Paul Vitti ( working as a car salesman ): What are you driving these days?

Customer: A Lexus.

Paul Vitti: You mean a Toyota.

Customer: It's a Lexus.

Lol, I love Italians. An IS is a corolla, an ES a camry. I was thinking of buying a GS, but really couldn't get to like it. I remember when shopping for a car for my sister, we were looking at leasing a C230, 328 sedan, or IS250. The IS was a rip off, over $400 a month with a lot down. The BMW was well priced but when I told the salesman I was also thinking of a C class, he arrogantly said "well this is a BMW" as if a MB is a pos. We happily went with the C and the deal was amazing.

The only Japanese car that I would consider is Infiniti. I believe the G37 gives a great bang for the buck. All my friends that have one love them. I've never liked Lexus cause they are so "soft" IMO and never liked Acura styling at all.

 

I agree with you. IMO, Lexus's ride in its "e-class-equivalent" is "too soft" for my taste (even on Sport mode). It feels like I'm riding/driving a cloud rather than a sporty car. It's acceleration feels more "constant" and "linear" to me (powerful, but gets "boring" very quickly... for lack of a better word... maybe because of the smoother shifting). And IMO the steering is "too sensitive" and "light" for me (moving the steering wheel 1cm to the left or right immediately veers the car in the direction of the steering wheel... even moving the steering wheel by 1mm will make the car drift in that direction).

Don't get me wrong, Lexus makes very good luxury cars that are loaded with features for the price. If it weren't for these 3 "issues", then I most likely would have got a Lexus.

 

Believe me I know, she just had that typical thought pattern people do when it comes to buying cars, i.e "Mercedes costs an arm and a leg, so buy BMW only because they have "Free Maintenance" (built into the price), and when times are tough, don't spoil yourself, go the easy route and buy a Lexus, yet spend about the same money on one as you would an M-B built and designed/engineered at a MUCH higher original price point.

She wanted to spend under $30K, so that ruled out an '09 (but believe me I tried), and she ended up getting swept off her feet by a fully loaded '07, and got taken by the Sales guys enough that she paid $32.6K.

Wait, the IS is a Corolla?? No f'ing way??

If that's the case, I don't know how anyone could justify buying one.

 

Ya, Lexus is on the soft end for me vs BMW being a little on the too sporty end. MB falls somewhere between that and I love the fact that you can adjust the suspension on a lot of these MBs.

 

Well, you can just mention to your mom that for only around $9.4K more she could have got an E350 w/ P1 and 321 AMG Sport Package (even less if you negotiate more aggressively). There are also a lot of CPO '07-'08 E350's around here too that are around $30K (I would stick to '07 or older because they tend to have better reliability than previous years... since your mom seems very concerned with reliability).

Anyway, I guess it's too late to change her mind now... hopefully she likes her car for however long she intends to keep it!

 

That is EXACTLY how I feel. BMW is too harsh/stiff, Lexus is too soft and has too much body roll. MB is in the middle and is perfect IMO (even without the airmatic, which the E350's doesn't come with).

 

Yes, but the 07+ E350s with the sport package or AMG sport package have a nice sporty, but not too harsh, feeling to them. I test drove an 07 Saks edition once before buying mine (it was the last 07 at MB of Calabasas back in July in 07). Ride was great, nice and firm with the 18 inch wheels, but not rough like my friends 07 530i after long drive with run flats.

 

That's exactly how I feel about my 2009 E350's. Perfect balance between sporty/firm and luxury/plush for me. I can drive for hours and not fall asleep at the wheel or have a sore back/rear when I get out of the car.

 

The 09 is the best. No charge AMG sport package, amazing comand system.

Exactly about the sore back/rear. My sister had an 07 C230 that was leased. It came with the AMG sport package. The exhaust note was great, the monthly payment was nothing for a benz, maintenance was nothing either (one service A, one service B, one set of brake pads). Nothing went wrong with the thing except the sunroof auto-close feature stopped working but that was it. Handled like a dream, but the ride comfort SUCKED!!! God, I remember driving to a club once in hollywood with it. The drive was about 40 miles from my house and took about an hour. God dang, I got out of the car and my back was killing me. The seats were horrible too. However, the E is great IMO. The only complaint I have about the 07-09 E350 and 550 is why do they not have an option for multicontour seats??? I mean it doesn't even have to be dynamic like mine, or even with the massage feature. I just want a 4-way lumbar system, not a manual 2-way one that doesn't really do anything (damn, 4 years of high school football is catching up to me). Even the CLS550 doesn't have an option for multicontour seats. Only the E/CLS 63 comes with it standard, but you can't even get the dynamic seats as an option.

 

What I've learned from this thread:

IS are Corolla's
ES are Camry's
GS are Avalons

 

Can't tell if you're joking. But only 1 of the above 3 is true. Some misinformation in this thread.

I also don't understand why the outgoing w211 would be compared against anything, even in April

 

Well considering it was still considered at the top of its class during its last year by many, and considering it was still a best seller, I think needless to say it still holds up to, and surpasses the current competition.

 

Very good point about outgoing E-classes, I have a bud looking to get one and the dealers here are giving them away! Superb deals on a superb vehicle, I love the previous E-class.

 

LOL, thank God those don't make it across the pond.

 

Agree with Audi is better looking interior and also better performance.
I fall in love with A6 interior design and almost bought one.... but the reliability and maintainance of Audi is higher than Mercedes. Specially to repair a RS6 will cost much more than a AMG

 

Ummmmmmm... yeah... instead we have the SMART CAR!

I'm not sure which one looks better... but I've seen some pretty pimped-out Smart Cars in my area (with larger rims, low-profile tires, limo tint, spoiler, etc) and I guess those look better than the "normal" ones...

 

LOL

Ya, I've seen ones with black rims and smoked out lights and tints. I always think WTF when I see that. But like I said, thank God it doesn't have an MB star on the car or else the depreciation on MBs would get even worst. I wonder if they'll come out with a Smart AMG.

 

Indeed, thankfully the Smart doesn't have a Star badge on it.... But luckly for us, we have the hideous R's, GL's, GLK's, and the apparently soon to be RE-HASHED C-Coupe which went under years back due to its unpopularity, to help drag the brands prestige and once coveted "exclusivity" down.

 

Have you always been a troll?

 

No, but they do have the BRABUS COUPE and BRABUS CABRIOLET... ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 

While I agree that the C-Coupe wasn't as popular as the C-Sedan or other models, and that it did drag down MB's prestige in the U.S. significantly (back when it was more highly regarded and could command a higher premium due to its brand name), to be fair I should mention that I personally thought that the C-Coupe wasn't all that bad!

My wife and I switched off driving a 2003 C230 Kompressor Coupe until recently, and IMO it actually was much more fun to drive than my old 2002 C240 Sedan. The supercharged engine was zippy and fast enough to weave through CA traffic very well and it was very fun to drive. It's powerful enough to haul a trunk full of IKEA furnature (although couldn't accelerate as fast), and has very impressive gas milage for a car of its weight/size (for a non-hybrid car back in 2003). And with its split fold-down seats, it was like a mini-2-seat-SUV/crossover (and could hold oversized or irregularly-shaped objects my E350 can't fit).

Over the years, we've never had any "major" problems, and it didn't cost any more to maintain/repair than any other pre-2009 MB I've owned (probably because it didn't have GPS Navigation or many of the other high-end features that you would find on more expensive MB's... so there's less stuff that could go wrong). All in all, I'm going to miss the C230 Kompressor Coupe. It's certainly served me well, and helped me haul things that I couldn't fit in any other "regular" car more times than I could remember!

 

I just didn't like the exterior styling to much of the C-coupe (the hatchback idea doesn't fly with me). However, I believe the concept (the idea) is a good one. I believe it makes more sense to bring a C coupe to compete in the lower price range vs bringing an E coupe that has to compete in a higher price range. I believe it would look very slick (exterior wise) the new c coupe. I really don't understand why they made an E coupe, to compete with the A5? They should have just scrapped the CLK model all together. The CLK is based off the W203 C, so bringing a C coupe would technically be the right replacement for the CLK, just would be a little smaller. I mean, you can't say it competes with a 650i cause that is what the CL/SL do (even though they are more expensive).

 

I agree... the styling of the C-Coupe was a bit unique and could even be considered a bit too "feminine" for males. I was OK with the styling (not great, but not terrible). But the CLC that other countries are getting actually solves that styling "problem"... it looks much better IMO.

And IMO, in general I think MB should reduce the number of models they have... not create new ones!