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

Messages Page 404 of 2471: 1; ...; 401; 402; 403; 404; 405; 406; 407; ...; 2471; Prev; Next; Last

#4027 of 24700 ljflx by lenscap Jan 30, 2004 (6:59 am)
Put me down for Carolina also. We'll see what happens.
#4028 of 24700 merc1 by lenscap Jan 30, 2004 (7:10 am)
Audi still has an 18-year-old facility up in Glenview (is that the one you refer to?). It was built as an Acura dealer (the very first in Chicagoland), and then about 10 years ago Audi moved in and Acuras and Audis were sold side-by-side. Just recently, Acura moved out and built a spanking-new building right next door. Even though it is next door it is in Morton Grove and not Glenview. When the Audis and Acuras were together potential customers would go in the back and talk to the mechanics to see which were better cars from a reliability standpoint. Of course, the mechanics said the Acuras required far less maintenance. I guess they wanted to separate the two brands to "protect" Audi and that may be why Acura moved out.
#4029 of 24700 merc1 by ljflx Jan 30, 2004 (8:04 am)
I didn't realize the percentage was that high but it still equates to only about 7,000 cars. If you haven't got your current edition of motor trend yet I can promise you that you're going to enjoy it. 25 pages on future cars. lenscap - I sought of feel the same way about this one as I did about New England winning two years ago. I think Carolina will blitz heavily because of the lack of NE's running game and this will throw them off. Regardless New England was very impressive in the AFC championship as was Carolina in the NFC game. Should be a good super bowl.
#4030 of 24700 lenscap by merc1 Jan 31, 2004 (10:47 am)
I forgot about that dealer, I've been there before. Yes they're in an old-look/build facility. I'm sure each brand had their reasons for being seperate. Reliablity for Acura, and styling, and dept of models for Audi. I heard a few people saying how the A6 and A8s made the Acuras look like a bunch of Hondas, naturally I laughed when I overheard this..lol. I'm sure Acura took more than their fair share of Audi intenders when the sticker prices were looked at. ljflx, Well thats still a good amount when you're talking about less than 25K cars, especially for such a pricey car to start with. For the E-Class it will be even higher this year, 4Matic E's are an hot item. I have the MT issue. Honestly I'm tiring of MT, their writing is so high-school and it's always the Corvette, Mustang type rhetoric month in and month out. No sophistication at all. England's CAR magazine has more in one issue than about 5 of Motor Trend's. Though I do like MT's comparos (sometimes) and it's always fun to read what they think the future cars are going to be. M
#4031 of 24700 BMW, Not so exclusive anymore by bkpawsat Feb 01, 2004 (8:56 am)
I bought my first BMW 320i in 1982 and I have now owned over 7. My current cars are a 740il and 330i. I kept buying them because I couldn't find any other cars with the same combination of "road feel" and "comfort". I have to admit that in the Washington DC area, BMW used to be exclusive and I felt a little special because of the hood ornament. With BMW selling over 225,000 cars and SAV's in the US per year, it seems like everyone is driving one. They are growing sales because they offer a great product with a great reputation. BMW's receive praise from car magazines and every road test for performance sedans is titled "BMW Beater??? Then you read the test and the conclusion is: close but not a BMW beater. Even the conservative mag Consumer Reports pronounced the 530i the best car they have ever tested. I've been looking for a replacement for my current 7 series and when I test dive the Lexus, Merc, Phaeton, Audi, Infiniti, I get back in my car and drive away knowing that I'm already in the best car. (in my humble opinion) I guess the only replacement for me is a newer BMW (except the new 7 scares me a bit).
#4032 of 24700 wow by i_drive Feb 01, 2004 (7:17 pm)
I've been at the Porsche Cayenne forum lately (just took home a new Cayenne Tiptronic V6 yesterday!). You guys talk A LOT within a week! So far, we like the Cayenne so much we don't want to give it to our daughter (supposed to be a birthday gift in about 2 weeks). according to plan, I want to get my wife a Cayenne S, but we've been quite pleased actually with the performance of the Cayenne V6 (but noticibly weaker than the S model). the only problem; we've got this one in black and it takes in dust WITHIN SECONDS, literally. So I always have to wipe it. And guess what? All of our cars are black. Black S430, Black (metallic) SL55, Black Cayenne, and soon-to-be black Cayenne S. Drives a lot of our neighbors crazy. So, what's up with this NavUp programme? My 2002 S430 has CD-based GPS, and look at what it says: ( mbusa.com...) CD Navigation - Model Year 2004 C-Class, CLK-Class, G-Class, SL-Class. (Also available for prior model year vehicles with CD or DVD navigation) ------------------------------------ I don't understand that. It says 'also avaliable for prior model years WITH CD or DVD navigation.' Does this mean that a CD-based Navigation can use DVD-CD's? I highly doubt that, but if that's the case, I'll send it asap to my MB dealer. Because all I can say is that the '02 COMMAND GPS system was one of the worst introduced (actually, the Cayenne's is THE worst) Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel has a lot of Maybach's in the showroom. Stopped by there last weekend to service the car, and I'm honestly quite surprised about the close-resemblance to the '04 S-Class. A bit too close, in my opinion. But, I've seen one, Maybach (the 57 model) cruising along Pearl Ave. in Downtown La Jolla. I think it was some desert-silver color, close to the designo silver offered on the S-Class. It was an rather old gentleman, about 60 something. The car zipped along quite fast, which was interesting considering the gigantic size of that monster. i've also heard from my salesperson at MB of LN that the next-generation S-Class will look very similar to the Maybach- not too sure I'll like that, but time will tell...
#4033 of 24700 by merc1 Feb 01, 2004 (10:25 pm)
Mercedes-Benz of Naperville (IL) also has a Maybach 57 in the showroom. It has a different set of wheels than others I've seen, though they are still Maybach factory rims. I hope the next S doesn't look like the Maybach, but some of the spy photos and drawings are pointing in that direction, with the rear of the next S having a similar design. One thing the next S should have a Maybach level interior, with an all new look. i_drive, What has the SL55 AMG been like to own/drive? M
#4034 of 24700 Maserati Quattroporte! by merc1 Feb 03, 2004 (11:06 pm)
I received an invite for a personal showing of the Quattroporte at the Chicago Autoshow this Sunday. I finally get to up close and personal with the Italian "4-door"! I can't wait, it's just what I wanted. M
#4035 of 24700 merc1 by ljflx Feb 04, 2004 (9:07 am)
Enjoy and give us your view after you see it. By the way I told you the Maybach had a bit too much of a Lincolnesque grill. But I still find the car quite impressive from the side and the interior is out of this world. I did'nt notice if the rear seat is raised like the Rolls so that the back seat passenger has same view as driver.
#4036 of 24700 by merc1 Feb 04, 2004 (9:58 pm)
I surely will report back on the Quattroporte. Did you recently see/drive a Maybach or something? Yes it's still an awesome car in my book, my only real problem is the styling. I hope the next generation Maybach has a better look outside and a interior not in the same pattern/style as Mercedes'. I read your post on the LS board, and yes you're right the HPX doesn't look anything like the FX. I'm not sure what I said back then based on pictures, but after actually seeing it I agree that it doesn't look like the Infiniti FX. I think some may have got it twisted by thinking just because the HPX was rumored to be launched because of the FX, they convinced themselves that it also looked like it?? Naturally I totally disagree with the notion of a S600 being a "total ripoff" because it looks like the other S-Class models. The S600's power and command of the road is unmatched by anything from Japan. Only Audi's A8L 6.0 W12 looks any different from the basic A8, nobody else does different body work for their V12s or top line cars either. M