why would you buy your woman a cls...you should get her a volvo xc90 or acura mdx and call it a day. And i dont know what you guys talking about, the new 2010 E class is MB's best sedan in a long time, compared to the previous generation quad round eyed ugly thing. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder..
I'll never own another M-B. I bought it to last 20 years and it started falling apart after a couple. Every time I took it in for scheduled service it would cost anywhere from $500 to $2000 extra. And the dealer was the most dishonest I have ever dealt with.
I own a 2004 Mercedes CL600. It is by far the best car I've ever owned. I live in a part of the country where there is at least 4 months of snow and ice on the roads so I don't really get to enjoy the car like I'd want. If you have the money a Mercedes is one fine piece of machinery to own.
volvo? you must be kidding..name alone make me sick..why not saab..sounds a bit better..first of all we are talking about two totally different classes. 70-90K hi end luxury sedans vs 40K suv. such advise make no sense to me. like i'm on market to buy a fine suit and salesman offer me a pair of jeans. ride quality,comfort of MB sedan is superior to any suv. period. even in your post above you are contradicting to yourself..you recommend to buy a volvo suv,while saying that MB is the best in sedan class. even from fuel consumption perspective MB beat those both SUV's. 26-27 mpg on our E class on highway is a norm. 20+ in city with a/c on. those suv's got 15mpg average! btw our E is 4matic,not classic 2 wheel drive(which consume even less). http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/24695.shtml Thank you,but no thank you.
MB is relatively complicated and required quite a bit maintenance. half of the jobs can be done if you are decent DIY person. they have DIY dvd for every model.maintenance using original parts and fluids is the key(how you drive is important too). it's actually key to any auto. i use to work in the garage and parts dept,parts delivery etc..i got 400K miles on little nissan sentra. i didn't fix a thing on that car. only fluids(i was using synthetic oil all the time),brakes,belts,plugs. after this mileage car use to run like new. unfortunately died in accident(not my fault). MB's warranty is 4 years,50K miles. somewhere around 50K you roll it into dealership,give couple hundreds dollars to service adviser and they will fix\change everything you need for next 2-5 years. and before you original warranty is expired-buy extended one. it will cost you 1500 and will last another 4 years or 75K miles. pretty much everything will be covered. bottom line is usual-do your homework. and don't buy newest model. i prefer 2 years old ,off the lease at half of original price from dealers auction. the model\body should be in production for at least 2-3 years. take W211 for example. 02-04-sucks,lots of problems..from 05 up to 09-great quality,no problems.
1) for your wife not you, and because safety. 2) i never said mb is best in sedan class, reading comprehension please. I dont think we can communicate.
Benz, Bimmer and Audi are so much $$$$ for what they offer. My friend who has his own shop and probably pulls 200K drives a V6 accord and when he wants some attention, gets his weekend warrior out: 1999 Dodge Viper. This way he gets the both worlds: Honda just keeps on ticking and Viper is so much more visible that he feels like a superstar driving it. Actually, he admits that he drives his accord faster than his Viper since the sports car is so much more visible and a magnet for caps. So for 70K he has the best of both worlds.