High End Luxury Cars

24702 messages, Last post on Dec 17, 2009 at 11:48 AM

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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#4013 of 24702 well by ljflx Jan 28, 2004 (1:36 pm)
As I said yesterday - to each their own on spending money. No one should be critical of others. Some are carefree - spending everything they have and when a job is lost the house usually has to be sold. These people tend to seek status and as such do buy lux cars and yes many of them buy a Lexus as well. So to generalize that they buy the most prestigious brand is probably over the top. It's probably the case in a higher percentage of times but trust me these people also buy Lexus, BMW, Jag etc because they all have plenty of status. Others are more conservative and build equity in homes and businesses and build up savings. It's life and all that really matters is whether one is happy. I know plenty of rich people and many of them are not satisfied and I know plenty of lesser income people and many of them are. Merc1 - forgot - Queen Latifa is also in town about a mile away. Bon Jovi lives over in Rumson which is a helluva town on the Navesink river (Springsteen used to live there) and Geraldo Rivera and Connie Chung are in neighboring Middletown NJ. I just missed Bon Jovi at Ray Catena one day. He was shopping an LX for his wife and I had just taken the GX out for the day to see if it was the right truck. The big money towns here are Colts Neck, Rumson and Holmdel and all three have some homes that price out at $10-20mln particularly Rumson because of the water. Now one guy in town would be an interesting interview. He has an SL, an SC, an LS, an S500 and an LX470. But he also has a 10 car garage in a 12,000 foot house with lifts. So God only knows what else he has in that garage. By the way the car salesman will tell you some great stories. A funny one my guy told me was about Martina Navritolova - she bought her and hers SC430's. Those were his words.
#4014 of 24702 Now wait a minute... by mfullmer Jan 28, 2004 (1:37 pm)
That was my overall perspective of European brands. Just like yours may be that anyone (especially a 35 y/o with no kids) who drives a LS430, when they can afford a BMW or MB, is boring. I guess it all depends on where you fall. I am more like the guy earlier who ranked "fun to drive" as last. Mostly because I don't want to find driving "fun" as I do too much of it.
#4015 of 24702 by kdshapiro Jan 28, 2004 (5:25 pm)
"Bon Jovi lives over in Rumson which is a helluva town on the Navesink river" Yes, he lives in a nice cottage, but it is for sale.
#4016 of 24702 Bon Who? by blockislandguy Jan 28, 2004 (8:58 pm)
Can anyone imagine the thrill and status you would have if you had neighbors like Geraldo, Ms. Chung, Bon who?, Springsteen et. al? Come on, with neighbors (and the assorted hangers on and government agencies that they would attract), like that who needs to live there? You wouldn't want to even see them on television (e.g., Geraldo) so why would you want them as neigbors to share your life with? It sounds like the all-flash, no-cash, bling-bling crowd. No thanks. Give me a medium sized city with real people with a sense of community. Where people drive what they own not what they need to lease as a fashion statement. Throw in a couple of Starbucks and Borders/Barnes&Nobles located within two hours of the ocean and skiing and that would be all she wrote.
#4017 of 24702 ljflx by merc1 Jan 28, 2004 (11:16 pm)
Yikes, that sounds like Barrington IL, or Lake Forest where all the Bears live. Any British or Italian cars there..Ferrari, Aston-Martin, Bentley? I'm surprised you've never seen an A8 there. I always heard that the Northeastern part of the US was a Audi, Saab and Volvo stronghold. The celebs there makes it sound like Hollywood Northeast...lol. kdshapiro, Careful, you aren't going to be able to verify that with a survey or bar graph from JDP. I mentioned what you said about SL's in your area and got the Gettysburg address from atop the CR and JDP mountain. mfullmer, ljflx is right, it does indeed vary. There are people in debt up to their eyeballs with every brand of car, not just the prestige Euro brands. M
#4018 of 24702 Merc - Agreed. by mfullmer Jan 29, 2004 (4:28 am)
You are correct. My experience has been though, people with so-called "European Prestige Brands" generally (note that I used "generally") are more wrapped up in the "Prestige" of having a European car than the overall functionality. Those same friends I mentioned earlier are on their 4th LR Discovery. They keep buying them despite the awful experience they have had with them. He, in jest, always teases me about my "American piece of junk" Chevy Tahoe yet we are constantly taking it because it is so difficult to get into the mail-slot rear doors of his Disco. We'll see if his attitude changes when I get the LS. I have to admit my current vehicle (2001 Cadillac STS) is (soon to be was) a total piece of crap though. I've also noticed a certain "haughty aire" to BMW owners (in GENERAL) on the road. I know that my prejudice is only generalized by my experiences but I get a certain pleasure out of NOT giving in to my desire to own a "look-at-me" brand and choose my vehicles first and foremost on reliability. Although - I'm thinking of getting a '99 or '00 SL to have as a weekend car. I just started warming up to that body style as the new (read: UGLY) one's came out.
#4019 of 24702 mfullmer by shipo Jan 29, 2004 (5:58 am)
"I've also noticed a certain "haughty aire" to BMW owners (in GENERAL) on the road." I tend to agree with you, I had to overcome the same stereotype about BMW drivers myself before I bought my first one. I'm a little different from most folks though in that while I like my luxury goodies, I still want a car with a good sporting capability AND a manual transmission. Unfortunately the number of cars on the market that meet my criteria these days are few and far between, hence my move to BMW. FWIW, even though I'm doing the "European Prestige" thing, I have all of my credit cards paid off, my home has an LTV of less than 50%, and even though my kids are only 10 and 7, their college funds are already capable of getting them through their undergraduate degrees. So, IMHO, it's time to play. Best Regards, Shipo
#4020 of 24702 Airs by designman Jan 29, 2004 (7:20 am)
"I've also noticed a certain "haughty aire" to BMW owners (in GENERAL) on the road." I've also noticed that BMW owners put more miles on their cars than other marques. Could it be there is something to the "ultimate driving machine" other than fluff, image and arrogance? Besides, BMW is no longer a "look at me" brand and I'm not sure it ever was. There's some serious ugly going on there. Buyers are turning their backs on the look so it's all about function now—the ride. Any "prestige" that comes with it is icing on the cake. There are airs with all luxury marques BMW included, but for most BMW buyers it goes a little deeper and I would think that anyone who doesn't understand this never drove a BMW.
#4021 of 24702 blockisland guy by ljflx Jan 29, 2004 (7:49 am)
You are thinking its like Beverly Hills or something. Nope. It's very private, very country like and you rarely see these people and when you do you respect their privacy. It's so private around here that many people don't even put up window treatments. Merc1 - The A8 just never cut it in the NYC and south of NYC area. But go northeast of NYC to Conneticut and you'll see a decent amount of them. When I looked at the A8 in 2001 the local dealership - which was an awful place - told me they get 4 A8's a month and they were discounting heavily without me negotiating. When I test drove the car a few months back nothing had changed. I'm sure a few are sprinkled around but with the local dealership (and it's a small one which also sells Range Rovers) selling so few it's easy to see why they are so rare around here.
#4022 of 24702 AWD by motownusa Jan 29, 2004 (10:41 am)
Since the Merc and Audi comes with AWD, and considering the weather in the Northeast and midwest for last couple of weeks wouldn't it be smart to pick the Merc and Audi over everything else? RWD LS or BMW 7 series doesn't help during major winter storms