shoes

The 2002 vintage will blow both 2000 and 2001 away. I haven't tasted a 2001 yet that I have liked and while overall 2000 isn't well regarded, there are a few that are dynamite.

Just a little tip from your local reporter.

LovinMercedes

I have tried very few 2002's. I will take your advise and get some.

Thanks,

E55AMG99

That is the early scoop on 2002 but since 2001 is still the "current" release for most wineries, it is hard to say what the 2002 vintage will be like overall. 2001 is definately better than 2000 but like shoes said, there are quite a few 2000's that will knock your socks off.

My free advice...

1. Buy the wines that you like to drink not what you are told to like. Opus One is a great bottle of wine but so is Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages at 1/3 the price. Don't overlook the value priced wines in favor of the famous labels. You can often buy 2-3x as many bottles and enjoy it just as much or more. Ask yourself if you can taste the extra money in each glass.

2. Don't let your wine outlive you. Too many times I've tossed expensive bottles of wine into the vinegar barrel becasue I was afraid to drink it before it was ready. That hurts. Wine aging is tricky. Storing it too warm will speed the aging process and also speed the spoiling. Keep it between 56-62F. 64-68F will cut wine life in half.

3. There is no food that cannot be made better by a good bottle of wine. Pizza, take out, leftovers, etc. all taste better with good wine.

Greg

PS Luvin, nice ride. My friend just got one. Haven't driven it yet but looking forward to it. Congrats.

LovinMercedes

I'd take Opus One any year over some other very special bottles.

Juice it

Any idea how the Ferrari 575 replacement stacks up to the Vanquish S? All I have seen is a few spy shots.

pimpitcharlie

strage, this r230 board use to be really laid back and friendly till this thread.

Anyways, Lovin once you get the aston, don't be a stranger, you don't need a mercedes to talk here.

I want to hear all about your car, and see high quality pics as well. If your looking for a luxury sedan for a beater car, and avoiding mercedes, i think the BMW is a wise decision. I want pictures of that too please. You and your wife can both have beater BMWs

Don't get her the E46 M3 though. wait for the E90. And if you can't wait, how bout getting here a 545, which drives nicer then a M3

Just wondering, what ever happened to wanting a Bentley over the Aston ? I would think the bentley is a higher status, more plush car and isn't that what you were looking for ? The 4 door Bentley Flying Spur looks great

E55AMG99

It will be interesting to see. The current 575 is more on edge than the Vanquish according to my friend that has both. He says the AM is more relaxing to drive. Other than that, he hasn't pushed the Vanquish hard because there are less than 400 miles on the clock. Can't wait to see them in side by side comparo.

LovinMercedes

I was thinking about the Flying Spur as I loved the Bently GT. I was never really considering the Bently over the Aston. I was looking at the DB9 over the SL600 but couldn't fit comfortably in the DB9 and thought overall the SL600 was better for me.

When I drove the Vanquish S I realized that this car was in a totally different league and could just not say no. I spent an hour with my salesman on the phone today just BSing about the car. I love that my salesman is so into the car as well.

Today I bought my wifey a BMW M3. I am interested in why you don't think this is a great choice. We haven't taken delivery yet as we ordered one so there is still time. Why don't you like it? I would love to hear.

For those of you keeping track of this thread and even care my "wifey" is my girlfriend who I am now engaged to and have decided to start calling her wifey although we are not married yet. Also, yes I have 4 girls. Sorry, had to get that in for the thread followers.

Back to the BMW M3. OK, so she will be really nuts about this car and drive herself crazy.

I now have my Aston Vanquish S coming that I will be totally neurotic about. I will try not to be but I won't be able to do it. Never have so I don't know why I even try.

As for the Flying Spur I was realling thinking about it but you won't believe why I am not going to get it. Here goes.

I really wanted a third car that I wasn't really going to give a sh#t about. You know something you can eat in, not worry about your shoes, etc.

If I got something like the BMW new 5 series or the 7 series that would work. With the Flying Spur I would care about the car and emotionally I couldn't handle two cars nor could I get attached to two cars so for these reasons I have ruled out the Flying Spur although I agree, a great and gorgeous car.

Love to hear your thoughts on the M3.

Thanks.

E55AMG99

M3 is a fine car. I considered it for my "wifey" too but she like the more luxurious feeling (according to her butt) CLK. Personally, I wanted the M3. Much more sporty and fun to drive quickly. Early M3s had engine problems that were covered by the factory. Lower end, I think but they stood by all the repairs that I've heard about.

Prolix

I think many women, and certainly some men, would find the ride quality of the M3 too hard, but if your wife has spent time with the car and likes a very firm suspension, then she will love it.

Prolix

tiggerfink

My butt like the more luxurious feeling too. The BMWs are just too firm for me.

LovinMercedes

She has test driven this car several times and loves it. I too have driven it. While it certainly doesn't have the smoothness of an SL, in many ways it feels more like a sports car which is the feel she wanted.

Really all depends what you are looking for in a car.

FThornton666

WHy am i just now seeing this thread????? Lovin i say great choice in car first. Secondly from what i have seen through the Top Gear video, and the 5th gear video the Vanquish S still has a very major flaw in its gearbox. It is because it uses a real manual transmission, unlike the DB9s Automatic Paddle gearbox. You will definately need to baby the tranny, try not to load it up to much on launches. I doubt you will abuse her though, you seem like a man who knows how to cherish a lady.

BTW you should have bought the wife a Slot for the Aston AMV8 Vantage, that would look special. Your Vanquish next to her AMV8. M3 is a fine choice though, did you get leguna seca blue(my favorite color for that car), or perhaps alpine white (second fav) Also you should come down to so-cal with the vanquish s and enjoy our canyons. One more thing if you having problems trying to sell the SL600, you could just PM lexani, he already has two, a third couldnt hurt.

LovinMercedes

Thanks for the post. You are right about the gear box not being the same as the DB9 as it is still a manual one. I am told that it is not a design flaw but they deliberately do it that way. Please don't ask me why but this is what I have been told. I had extensive conversations with them about this. I am going to get this question answered and report back. We can determine if the answer sounds like a bunch of bull but I expect not.

They tell me since this is my first time using this car, expect to ruin the first gearbox within 5,000 miles although when I drove the car with them they were particularly impressed how quickly I picked it up. I am going to try very hard to prove them wrong. but have been warned that I may not.

From what I understand you can use it to take off to whatever extent you want power but the key is not to load it up as you said or ride it. When approaching stop signs it is a good idea to slow down using neutral which is easily accomplished. Don't stay in first too long and etc, etc. Again, I am very new to this so not sure I got it all right yet but I will learn. They have a course they send you before you take delivery and I am sure I will pick it up. I am glad you use their Vanquish to learn on the course.

Again, thanks for the feedback.

FThornton666

The Vanquish uses a manual because it came out before they used the Auto found in the DB9. I HOPE that in 2008, one of their improvements is a switch over to the automatic tranny. Jeremy Clarkson, and other reviewers have stated that the vanquish could be much faster if it had a better gearbox. Also i heard back that they were planning to offer a 6 speed manual in both the vanquish and DB9? I wonder what happened to that idea.

Also you are right the Aston V12 just defines what a V12 should sound like. Ferrari could learn a thing or too if you ask me.

lorinserbenz

Lovin..
Have thought about the wait for parts for the Aston?
I COMPLETELY understand why you want to dump the Sl..
I have friends that deal with Aston for repairs and getting parts is LOOOONNGGG wait.
I know you will get better treatment from Aston Martin, versus Mercedes Benz ( I understand your MB dealer has treated you well). But I think the end result will be the same.. If you do have problems with the Aston you and need parts you will be in the same boat as the SL600.
From what I heard owning an Aston is much like owning a Ferrari..
In other words its a car meant to be driven very little..

pimpitcharlie

Hey, Lovin

So you got the M3 after all. It is a good car, but i just said don't get it because its going to be outdated with the new E90. Also im kinda bored with the 3 series in general because i have had a new 3 series ever 4 years, and i want something different, so i am going to try to avoid it.

I want the 545, but i have to wait and see. You shoudl have got the 545 , its better then an M3.

Just curious, is it a convertible? Do you have a bunch of pics yet that i may see

if not , well go take some :v

LovinMercedes

I do realize that in the end, the wait may actually be longer but at least I will be waiting with a smile.

I am really not that difficult to please. I just need to know you give a ****. Not sure that is really asking to much but evidently for MB corporate, it is. For a long time the fact that the dealer cared so much helped tremendously but in the end, it just wasn't enough as they too had to rely on corporate.

I was worried about how often I could drive the car. They are telling I should probably not drive it in the rain and in places where there is going to be a lot of stop and go traffic but other than that, it should be fine. They say most of their cars are driven between 3,000 and 10,000 a year.

I suspect I will be somewhere around 7,500 but who knows. They assure me this is fine. As for Ferrari's, I just don't know.

One thing I know for sure is that if I had a problem with the part I myself could get on the phone and call England to help to resolve the problem and they would take the call. That means a lot to me and under those circumstances would probably wait much longer and be much happier.

I know you understand and I appreciate it. I just wish I could give my forum buddies a drive in the Vanquish S because when you do, if you can afford it, you really have no choice. While I do love the SL600 and it is really fast, this Vanquish is something I have NEVER experienced up until the weekend. I never got it until then when people spoke of true "performance" cars. I still can't stop thinking about my drive in Napa.

I want to go back to the dealer and drive the car again just for more fun. I know he will let me do it but I don't want to take advantage so I am waiting a little.

One thing I am going to have to do is take up my driveway at the entrance as it is too steep in the front. He came over and tried the car and it makes it up without scrapping but it is just too close for my comfort. I have someone coming over today to give me some ideas and an estimate on what it will take to redo the front part of the driveway. It is all concrete so it won't be pretty.

Hope all is well and that you are enjoying your new car.

Take care.

NeilC123

"I was worried about how often I could drive the car. They are telling I should probably not drive it in the rain and in places where there is going to be a lot of stop and go traffic but other than that, it should be fine. They say most of their cars are driven between 3,000 and 10,000 a year."

Crumbs SL600 - those are some restrictions. Here in england it rains a hell of a lot - the car would never see the light of day!

lorinserbenz

Lovin
I know you will love the Vanquish.. I have never driven one but I have sat in one and my friends work on them. I hear its an "excellent" driving experience. I opt to avoid test driving such cars... I know Id fall in love and end up in some crazy "creative" financing loan
I love my Sl, its been a blast so far... I had a rocky start but it all turned out well.

LovinMercedes

Wifey wanted the M3 and she wanted this body style. Who am I to argue?

I am very seriously considering the 545 for my second car, so we will have the M3 and the 545.

It is a convertible and a car that had to be ordered given all the options we got. We lucked out as we were able to change it to our exact specifications and the production date is this Monday. How lucky are we.

It should be here in June and we can post the pictures then. By the way, wifey has already joined the M3 forums as LovinM3. What a surprise.

LovinMercedes

They are not saying you can't drive the car in the rain. His point was given my experience at driving this type of car, he thought it wouldn't be the smartest thing.

I am sure once I am get the hang of it I would be OK. His other point about the rain was that then you would have to immediately clean the car.

Other then these two reasons, there is no reason not to drive the car in the rain.

You can also drive the car as many miles as you like. Owners of these cars just don't as I understand it.

NeilC123

Well SL600 my old chum if I had a car like that I think 10,000 would be the absolutely minimum - in fact I think i would drive it every minute of every day....hell I think i'd live in the damn thing!

pimpitcharlie

what website did she join? lol
she must be lucky to have a husband to buy her an M3

RJC

Why do I have this sneaking suspicion that you want this car just as much as her, or maybe, just maybe, even a little bit more...