General Car Conversation 2024 - part 1
#5416
Lexus Champion
LOL @ satan package. yeah, horrible.
if they didn't exist, you'd probably be paying 20-30% more for your s-class which would lower their sales and appeal of those, possibly forcing mercedes further up market leading to fewer sales, repeat. that's the problem all luxury brands have and do face.
and that's the problem with not having split brands like toyota/lexus, vw/audi, nissan/infiniti, hyundai/genesis, etc.
newsflash, many customers of high end mercedes also want them for the badge.
in low income areas here, we're more likely to see something like this
well all the luxury brands disagree so there's that.
so is this a 'real' m car or not to you? certainly not luxurious, or hand built, lol.
i test drove one of those back when they were new, and loved it, but i kept my legend gs instead and then yeah, went to a lexus gs400!
if they didn't exist, you'd probably be paying 20-30% more for your s-class which would lower their sales and appeal of those, possibly forcing mercedes further up market leading to fewer sales, repeat. that's the problem all luxury brands have and do face.
and that's the problem with not having split brands like toyota/lexus, vw/audi, nissan/infiniti, hyundai/genesis, etc.
newsflash, many customers of high end mercedes also want them for the badge.
in low income areas here, we're more likely to see something like this
well all the luxury brands disagree so there's that.
so is this a 'real' m car or not to you? certainly not luxurious, or hand built, lol.
i test drove one of those back when they were new, and loved it, but i kept my legend gs instead and then yeah, went to a lexus gs400!
#5417
Lexus Fanatic
From what I can tell, the CLA and GLA sell for one principal reason (and one of my neighbors got a new CLA last year....I did a thread on it).....people want the Tri-Star for its prestige and safety-features, but don't want to (or can't afford to) pay a Tri-Star price.
Last edited by mmarshall; 07-07-24 at 02:55 PM.
#5418
Lexus Fanatic
From what I can tell, the CLA and GLA sell for one principal reason (and one of my neighbors got a new CLA last year....I did a thread on it).....people want the Tri-Star for its prestige and safety-features, but don't want to (or can't afford to) pay a Tri-Star price.
#5419
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
there's a scene at the beginning of one of my favorite movies 'defending your life' where the main character goes to pick up his new bmw 3 series. at first the sales guy plays a trick and points him to a 750 which he of course loves, then points him to his actual 3 series and he says "My car looks like a turd now."
#5420
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
#5422
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
#5423
Lexus Fanatic
I test drove a 2008 M3. Lousy build quality (if you remember my review), but plenty of power (414 HP), and handling like it was on railroad tracks......at the cost of a MUCH stiffer ride and suspension than the sister 335i.
#5425
Lexus Fanatic
Just spent a week in a 2023 Infiniti QX80 rental and wanted to share some quick thoughts. Avis must've gotten a great deal on them as they were introducing the next gen because they had a ton of them available. I had originally booked a minivan (along with 4-5 other people in line) but they barely had anything available since it was a holiday week. It was the first time I had to go to the counter instead of straight to the car an it was horrible. Anyway back to the Infiniti. When I picked it up it was at 10K miles and I dropped it back off at 11,950.
Good
Good
- Smooth V8. Drove between SoCal and Vegas and it did a great job. Effortless between 80-90 mph although the transmission was a bit rough shifting from 1st to 2nd.
- Interior
- Seats. I like the seats in my R1S, but I loved how comfortable the seats were in the QX80. Had multiple hour+ drives and didn't have an issue finding a comfortable seating position
- Screens / center infotainment stack: a little dated, but the screen was responsive and Android Auto and CarPlay both worked without issues. It would've been nice to have wireless AA as wireless CarPlay was available, but I used it wired in either case.
- Digital rear view mirror: I love this option and wished my Rivian had it. When people are in the 3rd row, it makes things so much easier.
- Entry / Exit: On of my biggest complaints about the Rivian are the lack of handles and running boards to help with entry/exit and the QX80 had both. Both kids had no issues getting in and out and it has led to me ordering rock sliders for the Rivian.
- A/C: The QX80 regularly made me uncomfortably cold and I loved it while in Vegas with an average high in the 110s. The only time it had issue cooling the car was when it heat soaked in the sun for 3 hours. As long as it was parked in the shade, it could cool the interior within 3-4 minutes.
- Steering: the steering in this thing was unreasonably heavy. I checked the settings to see if I was missing something, but couldn't find a setting to adjust. I could still single hand it, but at low speeds in parking lots, it was definitely more comfortable to two hand it. When I got back in the Ody to drive home, it was uncomfortably light lol
- Turning radius: it's a big SUV with a big turning radius. Easy to adapt to, but kind of annoying to deal with
- Loading height: One of the reason I prefer a minivan when traveling is because of how easy it is to load things into the back. As expected, both set of grandparents gave the kids a bunch of toys and clothes and loading the overweight bags in at the end of the trip was not fun. Wasn't a killer, but annoying
- Efficiency: my average efficiency over the week was 14.9 mpg. Even when with cruise control set at 80 on the way to Vegas, I couldn't get past 18mpg. Combined with the CA gas prices, I spent more on gas on this trip than I have for the Ody YTD.
#5428
Lexus Fanatic
True. That's why I said, when I reviewed it 16 years ago, that while the M3 was an excellent car for the track, I thought that the sister 335i was a far better alternate for everyday driving in this area.
In fact, I considered taking home a 335i wth AWD....but it was a little more than I cared to spend on a new vehicle, I didn't like the snooty BMW dealerships, and the 335s turned out to have fuel-pump issues that left a number of owners stranded. But I was amazed at the suspension-engineering on the 335....I usually gripe about the ride quality on vehicles with 45-series tires, but the 335i was astounding. It soaked up bumps (with great handling) even with the rubber-band 35-series Sport-Package tires on my test car.
And, of course, keep in mind that that was the older BMWs with hydraulic steering and the well-engineered suspensions. BMW dumped its superb hydraulic steering, where you could almost steer the car blindfolded just by the tactile road-feel alone) for the newer electric steering that is simpler and more reliable, but less-telepathic.
In fact, I considered taking home a 335i wth AWD....but it was a little more than I cared to spend on a new vehicle, I didn't like the snooty BMW dealerships, and the 335s turned out to have fuel-pump issues that left a number of owners stranded. But I was amazed at the suspension-engineering on the 335....I usually gripe about the ride quality on vehicles with 45-series tires, but the 335i was astounding. It soaked up bumps (with great handling) even with the rubber-band 35-series Sport-Package tires on my test car.
And, of course, keep in mind that that was the older BMWs with hydraulic steering and the well-engineered suspensions. BMW dumped its superb hydraulic steering, where you could almost steer the car blindfolded just by the tactile road-feel alone) for the newer electric steering that is simpler and more reliable, but less-telepathic.
Last edited by mmarshall; 07-07-24 at 05:55 PM.