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

What is this discussion about? Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, Jaguar XJ-Series, Lexus LS 460, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Volkswagen Phaeton, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes-Benz CL-Class, Sedan

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.

Outline

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#3949 of 24700 michael by ljflx Jan 18, 2004 (12:38 pm)
From test driving it I can tell you it is smoother and silkier still (if you can believe it) with more road feel, good handling (the sport suspension has fabulous handling) and more power due to the six speed. Very quick in 0-60 and excellent torque. The interior is virtually unchanged, remains very very quiet (a bit quieter than the 2001 model) and the back-up camera is great. I'm a leaser so I will take the 2004 in April. The body style is also a bit more agrressive and the car looks spectacular in black, flint mica and cypress. If you go the sport route the 18" wheels make it look better still. If you take it than you should lease because the big change is coming in 2006 as a 2007 car and you'll be much more desiring to change then.
#3950 of 24700 ijflx by michael_mattox Jan 18, 2004 (1:36 pm)
Thanks Mike M.
#3951 of 24700 Re: reliability of BMW 745Li in response to 3943 by bmwlgbaaron Jan 18, 2004 (4:32 pm)
We've got two 2003 745Li's with every available option (except sport package and adaptive ride package) and have never had a single problem. iDrive is very easy to use once you understand what it's doing. I hope you enjoy your 7-series. We've got nearly a year on one of them already and it has been flawless. The other we took delivery of in May and have not had any problems either. What options did you order for the 7? Both cars are identical in terms of equipment except that one is Toledo Blue and other is Titanium Silver. Both have flannel gray interior leather with dark ash high gloss wood trim. They are equipped with: Luxury Seating Package: -20-way front active comfort seats w/heated seats and air conditioned seats, massage, and 4 position memory Premium Sound System: -13 speakers with Logic 7 digital decoding technology Convenience Package: -power close doors and trunk 19" radials - a must have (look much better than 18s) Rear Comfort Seats: -14-way power adjustable rear seats with heating and air conditioning, 4 position memory Tire Pressure Monitor - has already saved us once! Heated Steering Wheel - nice when it's cold Active Cruise Control: -Awesome system that maintains a specified distance between you and the car in front of you, modulating speed to maintain that distance Electric Side and Rear Window Sunshades: -electric rear window and both side windows on either side-all of them are electric! Park Distance Control - neat feature, use it all the time. Both of my grandparent's have these cars and they have absolutely no problems with iDrive and both are computer illiterate. I think you'll enjoy that 7! Welcome to the club!
#3952 of 24700 michael by ljflx Jan 18, 2004 (4:35 pm)
I shouldn't watch football games and post at the same time. I'm trying to figure out how I answered your post on this board. I thought I was on the LS board. Let me know what you do.
#3953 of 24700 Will Any Test Data Come out on the GT? by lexus0622 Jan 18, 2004 (7:54 pm)
Does anyone know whether any test data or actual driving reviews will come out on the Bentley Continental GT before they start arriving in the states?
#3954 of 24700 745Li options by tmjdds Jan 19, 2004 (11:24 am)
Got Jet Black w/Black Leather. 19" rims, luxury seats, conv. pkg and prm sound. Heated steering wheel, PDC and shades. I asked the salesman what the dealership does with the buybacks...he said they go to auction and are advertised as "Buybacks" so the new buyers know. He said some smaller private dealers will sell them without advising the new owners. He said most of the 2003 745's on the market are probably buybacks.
#3955 of 24700 Retention Rates by lenscap Jan 19, 2004 (3:19 pm)
I'm sorry if this was already discussed when I was out of town (I don't think it was), but JD Power had an interesting study released in late December. It measured the retention rates of auto brands when customers of a new vehicle replace it with another new vehicle. Here were the top scores: 1. Chevrolet (60.8%) 2. Toyota (59.3%) 3. Mercedes (58.7%) 4. Ford (58.1%) 5. Honda (55.5%) 6. Lexus (54.3%) 7. Hyundai (52.9%) 8. Cadillac (50.8%) 9. Subaru (50.2%) 10. BMW (50.1%) 11. Kia (49.9%) Industry average 49.3% Below average luxury brands: 14. Jaguar (45.5%) 16. Land Rover (44.3%) 17. Audi (44.2%) 20. Porsche (40.4%) 24. Acura (36.6%) 25. Infiniti (36.5%) 30. Volvo (31.9%)
#3956 of 24700 Porsche by anthonycecil Jan 19, 2004 (7:09 pm)
The Porsche replacement is a no brainer--The guy got married-- Tony
#3957 of 24700 Retention Rates: Can anyone explain? by blockislandguy Jan 19, 2004 (7:30 pm)
Anyone want to guess why three brands with supposedly bad reliability problems (Jag, LR, and Audi) have significantly higher retention than Volvo?? Caddy even has retention? ( I thought that when you bought a Caddy it was your last new car?) Chevy out ranks Toyota?? Kia is 10 points above Accura?? I think JD Power got himself into some Christmas eggnog when he wrote this December report.
#3958 of 24700 Retention by JBaumgart Jan 19, 2004 (8:47 pm)
No doubt Chevy and Ford's numbers are heavily influenced by their trucks, where buyers tend to be very loyal. I know a number of people who would own nothing but a Suburban; others have owned a long series of F150's. To the extent brand loyalty is influenced by reliability, I'm surprised by the low numbers for Acura and Infiniti, which are always rated towards the top by J.D. Power. Probably more a reflection of "near luxury" buyers wanting to move up to "true luxury" models as they can afford it - each brand has had relatively unattractive top end models to keep buyers in the fold. That and the fact that the near-luxury segment has become very competitive as of late, with buyers having many attractive alternatives from which to choose.