luxury1

I hate to say this but my overall Mercedes experience has not been all that great. From sale to service I just don't feel like the entire experience was as good as I thought it was going to be especially when comparing to Lexus. Does anyone else feel like this from an overall level?

lig

My dealer has treated me extremely well. So has our Lexus dealer.

The biggest difference has been the car itself - the W211 really hasn't delivered in the same way our Lexus has. Lots of little irritating stuff. I've never been stranded - but there is no way I'd ever own this car out of warranty.

The M-B has more "label" appeal (and it's better looking ) but I'm probably going to go with Lexus (or maybe an Infiniti for a change of pace) when my lease is up.

paulhu

I tried my local Lexus dealer. Every salesmen in the showroom were talking about football games, none even saw me coming. I waited 15 minutes, then walked out, went to the local MB dealer and bought my 2004 E500 two weeks ago. Service really depends on the dealership you walk into. One dealership can be really friendly, and the other one looks at you as if you owe them money. So it is not the manufacturer, but the particular dealership that you walked into.

Double Eagle

I had a similar experience with the Lexus dealer near where I live. The salesman didn't really know much about the technical features on the LS430 I was looking at and was unable to answer several of my questions. They do have good service according to my neighbors who own Lexus, and I could have gotten a poor salesman but overall I like the appearance and handling better on my MB. My twin sister has a Lexus (after owning several previous Cadillacs) and loves it, BUT I still think it has an "Old Folks" feel and look to it. The seats in the early Lexus were somewhat uncomfortable on long rides but they appear to have solved that problem

guru

I had a great experience with the MB dealer. Great attentiveness, excellent product knowledge and (most importantly) an unhurried, hour long test drive.

In contrast, Acura dealers were no match, test drive was 10 minutes long and some salespeople were downright rude.

At the BMW dealership, I actually browsed in the showroom (in Manhattan) for a full 20 minutes and not a single person made any attempt to approach or help me. Shocking, given it was a slow, weekday afternoon.

Spartan

I have the same salesman for a decade so he knows what I'm like and don't like. Conversation tend to be brief and to the point. Our mormal way of doing things is...."take it over the weekend and if you want it, call me". Monday comes around, he faxes me the paperwork, I sign it and send it back with a check, next day I get the plates and the ownership. End of story.

Mind you....

I went to another dealership near me and the saleslady thought that I would get excited by her short skirt and buy from her.

Sadly, when it comes to money and cars, sex takes a distant third.