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Sedans High End Luxury Cars
24700 messages, Last post on Dec 01, 2009 at 12:24 PM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
Let's try to define this forum as being limited to luxury performance vehicles where the mainstream version in a typical configuration has an MSRP of at least $60k.
A luxury vehicle with a base price of $59k qualifies because it would typically be bought with some additional equipment, bringing the MSRP over $60k.
Vehicles like the E, 5, A6, M, or GS, even if available in certain versions over $60k, don't qualify because they are cars from companies that have higher end cars in their lineups.
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Replying to: drfill (Feb 12, 2007 3:02 pm) SMGs are in a gray area between paddle-shift automatics and full 3-pedal manuals. The M6 is not supposed to get the stick like the M5 as far as I'm aware. |
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Without belaboring the issue, everyone seems to agree that the ownership experience of an S Class or a 7 Series isn't great. Lots of little "issues" crop up, the dealership maybe isn't as accomodating as they were when you dropped 8 or 9 large on your vehicle, the car that you bought for your 25th wedding anniversary is a lemon (see a recent post on the S Class Board), the cars are overly gimmicky and require an MIT EE who doesn't wear bifocals to figure out the controls and turn on the radio, etc. So, what to do? One alternative is to shop Lexus, with all of that brand's positives and negatives. Another is buy a loaded SUV such as a Denali, Navigator, TLC, etc. Maybe the thing won't be as bullet proof as a Lexus, but it will handle snow and a bunch of prep school hockey players. It might cost less than a Lexus, too. A lot of affluent families in the Northeast did that for the last 10 years. Now many are moving into MDX's, X5's etc.. But here's a well kept secret: Porsche. Great cars and few problems. Porsche is a family owned company, the dealerships are relatively small and staffed by car nuts, the dealership experience is great with free PORSCHE loaners galore, etc. They really care about the customer experience with no end to the surveys, phone calls, and thank you notes from Porsche. Not some customer satisfaction company hired by the local dealership to smooth things over when your wife's Volvo consistently comes back from service unwashed and with more lost tools in the engine compartment than a Snap-On dealer has on his truck. Sure the routine service is expensive. But this time you get what you pay for. Just like Paul Stuart or Brook Bros. Moreover, they will even have a four door sedan in a year or two with a price point of 80K or so.
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Replying to: dewey (Feb 08, 2007 8:34 am) Drop the twin-turbos from the upcoming RS6 into the S8, and you have an S65-eater. Yes, it's hard- but the car is already $100K with average options. I don't think an extra $10-15K for all that extra performance is a bad deal. Alpina should leave BMW designs as they are. M does a much better job with bodykits. '06 Audi A3 2.0T DSG • '05 Audi S4 Cabriolet • '04 Lexus RX330 |
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Replying to: blckislandguy (Feb 12, 2007 7:11 pm)  ). If the Carrera, 650ci and XKR convertible are ALL not to my satisfaction, I'll probably end up with the next-gen S5 or RS5 Cabriolet. Audi is a pretty good secret in the US. Only their owners know how good they are. '06 Audi A3 2.0T DSG • '05 Audi S4 Cabriolet • '04 Lexus RX330 |
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"Dependable Drive The new LS is the fourth generation of the car since Lexus introduced the line in 1989, and it has garnered more awards for quality than any other luxury car, says Lexus. It has also won J.D. Power's Vehicle Dependability Index study every year it has been eligible. Lexus builds five of the 16 most reliable luxury cars. Its slogan used to be "the relentless pursuit of perfection," and it wasn't just lip service. While the company has world-renowned manufacturing methods, "the pursuit of perfection" is implanted so vigorously into Toyota's corporate culture that Lexus engineers its trademark reliability into cars before they ever hit the factories. The company's designers and engineers have mastered the science behind the creation of reliable vehicles, and they don't need to wait to see how their technology and engineering will hold up on the actual cars, at least not to the extent that other manufacturers do (to test things out, other automakers need to build more pre-production prototypes than Lexus does)." |
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Replying to: ctsang (Feb 13, 2007 9:02 am) In order to have the level of reliability that Lexus has, it also has to be engineered right, and built right, using quality parts and materials. Tolerances have to be less that other cars as well. This is what Lexus stands for. They have commited to building the best car that can be built. And they do it. |
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Replying to: houdini1 (Feb 13, 2007 11:01 am) I've never seen anyone ever try to minimize the importance of reliabiity... or somehow cheat Lexus from its due credit with regards to reliabiltiy. It's a given. What I have seen, though, are some that try to maximize its importance... making reliability out to be the most important thing that matters in a vehicle, and minimizing other important factors, such as style, driving dynamics, and sometimes even critical factors such as steering and braking. Every poster here knows the importance of reliability. It is a wonderful thing. It is not minimized just because of the recognition of the other important characteristics of a vehicle. No poster here wants to own a shop lizard. While some do indeed maximize its importance, however, the rest of us recognize that those other factors can be worthwhile enough to give up a little of the statistical reliability and still obtain a reasonable and adequate level of reliability and own a car that offers terrific advantages in many other areas as well as still having reasonable reliability. That, IMO, is a more balanced approach. TagMan
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Replying to: tagman (Feb 13, 2007 3:13 pm) On another forum the other day a guy said that it was true that the 7 series he owned previously would out perform his current LS. But then he said that his current LS would run circles around the old shuttle bus that he spent way too much time in riding back and forth to the BMW dealer for service and repairs. So I guess it averages out. 
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Replying to: tagman (Feb 13, 2007 3:13 pm) I've been lucky, however. The worst problem I've ever had with one of my Audis was the headlight washer cap flying off of my '00 A6 2.7T on the highway (twice). No biggie. However, if I get, say, a Mercedes and the reliability isn't quite as good as the S4, it wouldn't matter to me much as long as the luxury/performance characteristics are better. '06 Audi A3 2.0T DSG • '05 Audi S4 Cabriolet • '04 Lexus RX330 |
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Replying to: houdini1 (Feb 13, 2007 11:01 am) Lexus can no longer call the LS the best value in it's class. The build quality of both LS' I've been is average at best with spotty workmanship that used to be top-notch. And as to those reports, the '07 models have not been "evaluated" as CR or JDP would say, so they're not valid. Yes Lexus vehicles are reliable, but so is every other car nowadays. Your deal.....
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