JTReeves

Amen!! We traded an 2003 SL500 because the repair costs were getting out of hand; the extended warranty covered nichevo.

I was exiting a rest stop onto I-95; a Camaro was slow to give me room to merge. I floored it, the tach ran up toward red line, and I left the sucker in the dust!

BTW, I autoxed it during the first two weeks of ownership. I outdrove a 400 E. It was great in the slolom. Next summer, I'll treat myself to some high performance summer tires.

fireman_mike

Dragging up an old thread to say I have two regrets:

1. Not being able to afford an R63 (ok ok we *could* afford it, I just wasn't able to talk SWMBO into it...!)

2. The R is a tank. It's a great tank, it drives like a car but it's still a tank. MB should accept and embrace this, and offer an even larger tank as an option, stretched 12-18", with adjustable 3rd row seats, so you can trade between huge 3rd row legroom and huge luggage space. If they made it, and made it handle even slightly better than a supertanker, we would buy it.

Other than that, no regrets. So much so we've just returned our lease R350, and bought a low-mileage used one outright :-)

Benz-O-Rama

I think we have a mutual acquaintance, John Hef... that works at EuroMotorCars-Germantown. He was talking to me about you a couple of weeks ago. He's the only person that turns wrenches on my E500, R500 and C240.

silverspecial

Amen brotha, I can't give this car away right now without being 20K upside down.

BallJack

None at all. I'm sure some people are not as excited about its styling, but it's all relative. I know of some people who used to hate it but now like it. It just grows on you. I fell in love with the R class the first time it came out but just can't pull the trigger on it because I prefer a 7 seater family car. Fortunately, the seven seat option came out this year in the US. So, I gave up my minivan for a new R350. Best of all, you can get the R class now for a huge discount at the dealer's lot. One of my best purchases! It's not as roomy (cargo wise) as a minivan but you can forget about its misgivings after you drove it. Not going back to a minivan anytime soon. With its lower center of gravity, the R class is a bit more nimble than the GL. I also considered the Audi Q7. In the end, I still preferred the driving dynamics of the R class.

BallJack

Yeah. Not many people are buying it especially at a price so high. Nowadays, you can get them brand new for 12K below sticker.

bigben320e

I don't regret the R500 at all.

Good points:

Gets plenty of looks
Low price -$35K loaded! Clear bra thrown in.
Fast pickup - 302 horsies! Pulls hills like nothing, my wife loves the fact I talked her into getting the 500 rather than the 350.
S Class suspension - smooth as butter
Plenty of room - Luggage, 4 people? No problem!

All I can say, I don't buy new cars and anyone that bought one new it sucks. I feel for you.

rosswell

It will take you about 6 months to figure out all the little extra features and how they work - all while the R's style and comfort win you over to MB for life. We have two teenagers and an '06 R-350 with Pano-Roof, Parktronic, and Nav. I often eat my lunch in the middle row for added comfort. I would trade Nav for heated seats though. The R500 is essentially the same price used as the R350 - I could have bought a Capri Blue '06 R500 with 15K miles, fully adjustable leather comfort seats, keyless go, bi-xenons, and small sun-roof for the same price as my low mile R-350. In the end the Pano Roof, Nav, Parktronic, smarter V-6 gas mileage, owner history, and Lazurite Blue won me over. I drove both and yes I too fantasize about an R-63/R-500 and all that power, but this will disappear when gas goes up again. You can drive the R350 very fast too - I drive mine (rarely) at 200 km/h without any trouble on back roads. We plan to keep ours for 15 years.

The best part: Sitting in other cars and seeing all the stolen ideas from the R. (Ford Flex, Chevy Malibu, Buick Enclave, etc etc).

JTReeves

B-O-R,

John got 1st last Sunday in Winchester. I tied for second with the male driver of the 400E. His wife got third. There were only the three of us in the non-AMG V8 class. I don't know John personally but I've seen him drive and he is an excellent driver. I know he's running autox tires and his suspension appears to be tweaked a tad.

You are blessed to have a mechanic who enjoys and excels at driving.

JR

~CL500~

+124878

Agreed. NO REGRETS! Love the R.

chilledbenz

I see this is some what of an older thread, but I never shy away from a chance to boast how much I love my R! It easily has one of the best rides of the entire lineup and for the price it can't be topped. The S class is probably its only competition in the ride department and that will set you back at least $40k more and have less interior room.