Mercedes E350 finally a reality?

Your post said, "Comment: But if you seem to think that I value German cars solely because they are German, It is clear you have not read my posts and you need help understanding what you read. You missed the point by a mile."

However, in an earlier post you wrote, "Either you're born with it or you are not. The Germans are." Enough said about that.

Your comments continued, "If you had ever driven a Range Rover, even when they still had the old unreliable GM engines, you'd know what a truly luxurious SUV or any car feels like. You buy the Range Rover for the way it feels : Slow, sober, compsed with a great craftsmanship and materials or even badge recognition for some. The new ones are even better with great BMW V8s." The Buick V8 was never a problem, it was electrical, suspension, four-wheel drive and other things that made them unreliable. And "craftmanship," what craftsmanship, you could slide your fingers through the body panel gaps and the vehicles literally fell apart around some owners. The materials were also suspect, have you ever seen the leather in a Range Rover after 50k miles? And what does "badge recognition" have to do with quality, feel or luxury? And when you say the ride was, "Slow, sober, compsed," you got the slow part right, but choppy and tipsy is a better description of the ride. Great off-road though, oh yea, only about 2% of SUV buyers actually go off road. Perhaps the Range Rover was a bad example of a quality car. The new one is light years ahead of your example, I don't know about reliability (I'm a bit pessimistic on that though, it is European afterall), but I think it's the best luxury SUV in the market.

You also say, "Owning luxury cars or living next to people who do DOES NOT make you expert nor beyond reproach in the subject." You're right, owners are not always experts, but they are the ones buying, and there experience and perception are the most important in this whole argument. If the guy in DC's neighborhood with the A6, sees the quality and lack of problems his neighbors Lexus have, you can bet he will think hard about that when it comes time to trade his problem car. When you talk about the feel of German cars I assume you mean handling, stability, etc. At normal driving speeds (the way 90%+ of owners drive) the German cars don't feel any better than the Japanese, only the Japanese cars are typically quieter. Nearly any modern car feels like a great handling car to nearly all buyers (people would think the ML was a great handling vehicle from going around a corner at about 6/10ths). So the feel you're referring to means less and less to the urban/suburban premium car buyer and trouble-free ownership means more and more. That being the case, buyers may be less disposed to spending more money for less equipment and more problems.

Finally you close with, "Do you see now how silly you sound and how lacking you are of a frame of reference or perspective." DC and I both have experience with ownership and driving the various cars in the market. What other frame of reference or perspective is more important than that?

Sorry for the cheap shots, it happened in a moment of weakness, it will not be repeated.

Cordially,

BW

HAHA, great points RK. I like those innovative lights that turn in the corners... They were so innovative every 1948 Tucker came with them standard!

Jon

That's my first car! Almost the same color and everything! It was a tank... A "floor car," the gas pedal was more like an on/off switch. Either you floored it or you didnt. As slow as it was, it was the most reliable car I've ever driven. It got me through high school and college without even one trip to the shop and I parted with it at 359K miles. I wish they built them like that now.

Jon

... almost the same. Mine had a bigger much bigger bumper and lighter blue. That picture brings back fond memories.