I have a 02 S500 and I love it. There is no way I would trade it for even a W221. I drove that car for a week and while it was nice I just prefer the W220 more. There are not many cars that I have ever got behind the wheel and loved more the my S500, until now. The 2008 Maserati quarto*(&*@^# whatever is called is nothing short of a miracle behind the wheel. I imagine its what God drives in Heaven. Seriously, this car was as close to perfection you could put in a 4 door sedan. After driving it for 3 days, I had to get back in my s500 and for the first time I felt my car was a .... Well, boring. I think im just having withdraw symptoms . If anyone ever gets a chance. this is a car you want to test drive.

 

i drove a variety of masers and didn't care for any of them.

the car sounded nice and had good performance, but the build quality was crappy and the materials did not wear well.

A bentley continental GT on the other hand...now thats a luxury car.

 

My father flirted with Maseratis and in particular the Quattroportes between S Classes and A8s but like Quadcammer didn't really like them as a longer term prospect, nice for a weekend but as a daily driver for a year or two (about the length he typically he keeps cars) he didn't really fancy it.

 

Where you guys driving the same car? Lol. 2008 on up have a fully automatic transmission and a lot of nice features . I couldn't get enough of that car. Out of curiosity , what do you guys look for in cars

 

I drove a 2010 quattroporte and a 2008 Grand Turismo.

The quattroporte sounded good and the outside was nice. The interior materials were ok, but the build quality was crappy. Nothing felt solid or well put together. But, being a 2010, it was much better than the GT.

The GT had a felt headliner, there was nothing to cover the gap when the steering column goes up or down, the side bolsters were heavily worn in 20k miles, the wood looked terrible and faded and the electronics suite was way behind even my 2005 220.


These cars, to me, are luxury cars first. I want a smooth quiet ride, low interior noise, high quality and well fit interior panels, etc. Performance and handling I have a sports car for, so they are low on my list.

In the end, i think they are attractive cars, but they are simply not as well thought out or developed as the MB, which has far more experience and money behind delivering a more useable package.

 

Also keep in mind that a designo s500 has the executive semi-aniline leather in them, so the interior is really first class at this price range (bentleys and such are another step up)

 

Have you tried an S600 lately? Best of both worlds! I don't think I'll go back to a V8 after this...designo leather interior...I test drove the Quattroporte when I was looking for a car. It sounded awesome, but it was slow by comparison. And I agree with the fit and finish coment. In the end I kept gravitating back to the S600 for both luxury and performance.

 

going from full leather back to plastic is really difficult. It just increases the opulence. I won't go back.