Just dying to get a new car. Pretty much “killing time” till the 460L’s come out.

So, I went to another MB dealer this morning and actually drove an S550. Just had to get it totally IN or totally OUT of my consideration.

I LIKED:

1. The front, but mainly the hood ornament star. I hate to admit it, but that hood ornament has ALWAYS fascinated me! That star, I believe, is MB’s single most important prestige magnet.

2. The shifter lever being on the steering column. It’s good being on the floor in my C6. But, I personally like it on the steering column in a luxury car. Not many put it there anymore, though, it seems.

3. Pushing an electronic button to put it in park.

4. The paddle shifters on the wheel. (Except that one side is up and the other side is down, instead of each side having both up & down like the C6.) But, at least it has them.

4. It was very quiet.

5. Plenty of power and shifts smooth.

6. Rode fine.

DIDN’T LIKE:

Gas mileage.

Steering leads to right (just like the other 3 MB’s I had.) Must always keep pressure on left. (Yes, I know, ALL cars probably “tend” to slightly lead to the right for safety reasons but, MB has always overdone it. Just take your hand off the wheel for a second and see.

Price .. 93,500 plus Florida’s 6.5% tax. (1,000 of 93,500 is gas guzzler tax.)

Seems “bulky.” (Especially don’t like rear end much. Front end is nice.

No XM. I MUST have XM. Not Sirius.

No back-up camera. (Yes, he said, it’s available .. but, almost impossible to get. “Everybody wants it but the supplier didn’t make many..”

No a/c control on the steering wheel.

BUT THE BIG “NO LIKE” .. THE CONTROLS! Absolutely HATE them! The way they’re laid out, the way they work, etc, etc! Confusing and don't seem intuitive. I’ve never driven a BMW but the round knob thing must be like the I-drive. He demo'd it. I would HATE it! If the final 460 controls turn out anything like their pics, I’m going to LOVE them!!

=======

The MB salesmen are almost funny. They KNOW the 460’s are going to plaster them! When I’d mention Lexus, he’d always respond about “Toyota!” Never Lexus .. always “Toyota.” Also, there were many comments about how much safer the German cars are than the Japanese.
An enlightening experience. Sold me on Lexus.

Big Jimm
So. Fla.

BigJimm: If you can hang on for the next month or so, you'd get a 460L with colors and features you want. IF you can wait that long... For what the new LS460L delivers at very reasonable value ($75K-ish), you'd be hard pressed to find another car in its space that is better attired and priced. Yeah, that 3-pointed star is a huge magnet, I must admit, but its just a car afterall ;)

Hang on, sir... The days will go by pretty quick before you know it:D

Yeah the knob is the Mercedes COMAND system (that's indeed the way they spell it). Just like iDrive, but supposedly somewhat less aggravating.

LOL about the salesmen, they might have an inferiority complex.

Just dying to get a new car. Pretty much “killing time” ...
I LIKED:

1. The front, but mainly the hood ornament star. I hate to admit it, but that hood ornament has ALWAYS fascinated me! That star, I believe, is MB’s single most important prestige magnet.

=======

The MB salesmen are almost funny. They KNOW the 460’s are going to plaster them! When I’d mention Lexus, he’d always respond about “Toyota!” Never Lexus .. always “Toyota.” Also, there were many comments about how much safer the German cars are than the Japanese, etc. An enlightening experience. Sold me on Lexus.

Big Jimm
So. Fla.

Your comments are welcome! You seem to have a keen observation.

Benz is famous for silence, but so is LS. Plus the star on the hood.

The safety is another myth!

When the salesman mentioned Toyota you could have shot back "Chrysler". That would have settled the issue there and then.

When the salesman mentioned Toyota you could have shot back "Chrysler". That would have settled the issue there and then.

LOL! I'll have to remember that one!:bigthumbu

Your comments are welcome! You seem to have a keen observation.

Benz is famous for silence, but so is LS. Plus the star on the hood.

The safety is another myth!

When the salesman mentioned Toyota you could have shot back "Chrysler". That would have settled the issue there and then.
Very, very good!

When the salesman mentioned Toyota you could have shot back "Chrysler". That would have settled the issue there and then.

Too funny :D

Just dying to get a new car. Pretty much “killing time” till the 460L’s come out.

No a/c control on the steering wheel.

I’ve never driven a BMW but the round knob thing must be like the I-drive. He demo'd it. I would HATE it!

If the final 460 controls turn out anything like their pics, I’m going to LOVE them!!

=======

The MB salesmen are almost funny. They KNOW the 460’s are going to plaster them! When I’d mention Lexus, he’d always respond about “Toyota!” Never Lexus .. always “Toyota.” Also, there were many comments about how much safer the German cars are than the Japanese.
An enlightening experience. Sold me on Lexus.

Big Jimm
So. Fla.

That would be even more embarassing if they're getting plastered by "Toyota" than Lexus, right?:rolleyes:

Any other car out there that has a/c control on the steering wheel?

I-drive is not that bad, just annoying if you're so used to pushing buttons-getting what you want that is in front of you.

And no, the 460 is all push-buttons:thumbup: :woot: No excrutiating difference from the 430, just more toys:woohoo:

And who knows, I might be the first one to trade in my w220 for a lexus-just have it sitting right there in the used car lot:D

Any other car out there that has a/c control on the steering wheel?
Caddy does. My new C6 does not. I really miss it.

Big Jimm
So. Fla.

nice review jim, but sorry i have to move it to car chat since it doesn't have anything to do with the ls460.

maybe once you drive the ls460 i can merge them as review

nice review jim, but sorry i have to move it to car chat since it doesn't have anything to do with the ls460.

I would disagree that it has nothing to do with the 460. That was the comparison I was inferring.

I'm most unhappy that you would move it as this is the only Lexus forum I read.

If my posts are not in line, I'll quit posting.

Big Jimm
So. Fla.

like i said this is a review of the s550 that you drove, it doesn't have any direct comparison to do with ls460, and since you haven't driven the ls460 this cannot be a "direct" comparison. if you drive the ls460 later on and do a comparison then we can combine this and put it in the ls460 forum for comparison.

otherwise we have a huge forum here and we have to keep everything in sync.

there are a lot of different forums on clublexus, we cannot allow anyone to post everything in one particular forum just because that's the only forum they visit.

like i said, once you drive the ls460 and do a similar write up, i can combine both threads together as a comparison and put it under ls460 forum. if you have problems, you can pm me

i dont think anyone driving such a big car should be worrying about fuel economy
when i drove the 2005 S500, i had to put in $90 USD of gas every week

>i dont think anyone driving such a big car should be worrying about fuel economy when i drove the 2005 S500, i had to put in $90 USD of gas every week.

I might tend to disagree. Just because one has the money to afford it does not necessarily mean that one has the right to burn a disproportionate amount of the world's limited energy resources. Lexus has done a great job with the LS series in building an 8 cylinder car that performs great but still gets very reasonable fuel economy. That alone is good enough reason to choose it over the German cars.

If your looking to get a new car before the new LS comes out...I stronly advise you to take a look at the Audi A8.