Albert Shaw

Which is a better car: E240 (W211), BMW 523i, Volvo S80 Executive, Toyota Camry 2.4

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I live in Singapore. I am a family man and will be using car mainly to/fro work, fetching 3-4 passengers. I drive mainly in urban area, doing 15,000 km per year.

E240 costs about US$113,000, BMW 523i costs about US$105,000, Volvo S80 Executive costs US$109,000 and Toyota Camry 2.4 litre costs about US$57,000.

I am a businessman and can well afford any of them. Any advice which would be a good car - value for money wise, quality of build and components, reliability, safety, vehicle handling and drive comfort to both driver and passengers, and durability.

mand

i would say of all those cars look for a volvo s80 executive, it is the safest car in the market, it looks amazing, drives good to, over all a great car, interior loooks nice too, but the toyota camry, is a good affordable car aswell, so overall i would buy one of those 2

Jetman

I would go with either the Mercedes or the BMW. If you are using this car for business then you will want to represent a certain image. Both Mercedes and BMW have that business type image. Volvo on the other hand has a more family car image and the Camry more of a middle-class soccer mom image. Car prices are a lot higher there than here in the U.S. though, a lot higher!!! I bought a Mercedes in Germany and you would think that it woud be cheaper than here in the U.S., but its just slightly more there too. The U.S. seems to get most everything cheap, especially gas up until now.

mand

that is very much so true, mercedes and bmw do give you a better look business wise, but the volvo is a very safe car, but the toyota, is practical i know from experience out in singapore, bangledesh, india, and such countries, the cars are damaged easily, so if you have a toyota easy to fix as compared to the other cars, and Jetman, out in the east, in southern asia toyota is considered a luxury brand. so either of those 4 cars would give you a good image with your business, so, me personally i would buy the volvo, looking into buying one out here in toronto, so thats just my opinion i hope i helped

timoc42

why dont you look at the GS 300 ? Its really priced well with the options compared to the E or the 5 series.

I was just at Borneo Motors a few days ago and saw the car.. its great.
Or if you carry passengers often in your car, assuming that they are your clients, maybe get a Toyota Crown..
Your passengers will really sit in comfort.

Andrew88

Hello Albert, I happen to own a 2003 Camry 2.4Q as well, and in my opinion, it is probably the best value for money, no matter which car you compare it to. See my points below. Please note that I am comparing it to my 2002 E280 and 2004 E240.

Good
1) Extremely roomy inside
2) Very comfortable ride
3) Good fuel economy
4) Very easy to drive, meaning that you do not have to worry about bad roads etc, since it can just glide thru most bumps in Bangkok, where I have to really slow down with my Benz.
5) Good interior built quality, almost like a Lexus, about the same par with E class.
6) Very reliable (yes, more reliable then Benz)
7) You can park it anywhere without getting worried, even late at night.
8) A car that you can just buy and forget about it.
9) Interior stays clean better than Benz, this may be important if you are taking lots of passenger often. (especially kids)

Bad
1) Poor resale value since there are tons of them out there.
2) Not so exclusive like Benz or Volvo.
3) Styling not so cool
4) Not much gadgets.


If you are Value for money is the most important, I think the Camry is probably the best car to buy.