hokietech

I had a 2000 gs 400 bought it brand new back then for $46 grands, now it has almost 96,000 miles. I picked up a 2006 e350 about 10 months ago. Here is my ownership experiences with the both cars. Lexus is more of quality in terms of the materials it uses especially the interior. Unlike the e-class, many parts are very high quality looks and feels much better, even my gs is almost 7 years old vs the brand new benz. The engine is more smooth than the benz probably due a V8. However, my e350 handles better than the gs 400 although the Lexus is faster. I know you can change the suspensions but I talk about the stock cars. The benz get you the "Tank" feeling that almost no other car maker can deliver it you. I have tested droved the BMW 5's few times as well as last the generation M5 (that's a beast). Bimmer definitely handle better than the Lexus & the Benz. The interior design is a crap (current generation). I can't stand to look at it from the inside (I do like the exterior desing for the 5's), but it does drive excellent. I did had the problems with my gs such as low idle which I brought it back to the dealer numerous times, driver side motor and engine belt replaced (they were making the clicking noises) under the warranty. The low idle problem is so freaking annoying. I got my car cut off few times at the traffice lights due to the low idle (around 450 on my gs). Of course, the dealers were not able to adjust the it to be higher. So I just have the auto climate on almost all the time now. Overall it's a very reliable car. All I do is keep the oil & filter changed every 5k miles. I don't do any of the maintenance that requied by the booklet. If it is worn out, I will get it replaced or fixed with the oem parts, like the break pads. My E350 has almost 11k miles, I had the engine coolant pump & the radiator changed becuasue it was making the slightly abnormal noises in the engine compartments. Other than that, its problem-less unlike the gs (low idle, engine cut off). However, overall I felt the lexus is more of the quality car, although mercedes is more prestigious or renowed. My dealership experience goes to the Lexus side, but they are overpriced & dishonested about the service requirements (almost all auto dealers are). I'm from Northern Virginia & D.C. area, Pohanka is the worest compare the Linsey although they are little cheaper for their services charges. In conclusion, the Lexus stands for the quality and craftmanship, I love my gs for that and will keep it for very long time. The E-class is equally good car in many other ways, but not sure about the long term reliability wise. So, please share your ownership experiences in these three brands. I talking about what have you or your family and friends expericenced NOT what you heard or reseached, Thanks

jracerlmn

never had any problems with any of my MBs, never had any problems with my either one of my Lexuses (except for the bastard that killed my RX400h).

Personally i prefer the interior materials in MBs, they just feel much better than in my lexus.

Service-wise it's been about the same. Both companies have treated me pretty good.

spwolf

i can tell you that one of my wife's cousins drives MB since he got drivers license. He has been in shop 8th times so far. His best friend also drives MB, and has been in shop for 12 times so far.

They are now looking to buy new LS when it comes out :-).

RX_330

Three MBs no problems at all...they're all like heaven. Same with Lexus, however I just wish Lexus could get that safe, tank like fealing in their cars, and get them to handle properly!

lexusk8

Since I wrecked my ES300 a while ago (R.I.P.) , I've been driving around in my father's '98 740iL. Big difference between the Bimmer and the Lex: The ES was much much quieter than the 7-series, even though it's the flagship vehicle of BMW. However, the 7 handles way better than the ES; I could take accelerated turns with ease and minimal body roll. As far as the interior goes, I prefer the ES over the 740iL; it is more clean-cut and comfortable to sit in. However, when I drive the 7, it feels like I'm driving a tank due to its shatter-proof windows and heavy doors and body panels.

All in all, there are a lot of trade-offs between a BMW and a Lexus, but it all depends on what you are looking for in a car. If you want performance and handling, take the BMW, but if you want luxury and comfort, go for the Lexus.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

lol, i think it's important to state how long he has gotten drive license for

Lucky Devin

I've had impeccable ownership experience with both of my SC's as well as my old BMW. If I had to choose one over the other, it would be Lexus by a small small margain. Yes, my Bimmer was older, and a lower model, but it was still a BMW and by no reason should I have been treated differently.

Even though Acura wasn't a part of the original question, I found their dealership/ownership experience to be lacking a bit personally. Another point, my mother has owned two Jaguar XJ's, and I imagine Saturn's dealership experience OWNZ Jaguar's...two local dealerships were pathetic.

GREED777

I have owned 2 E-Classes and a C43 AMG, all prior to switching over to Lexus. I had several problems with the MB's all before the 75K mark. I appreciate the MB's design and bulletproof tank-like features, and the AMG was a true performance machine, but in the end I had to go with Lexus due to reliability. I have had no problems whatsoever with my GS or ES. Another member and I were just talking about this recently, basically trying to figure out wheter it's better to buy a AMG or M series vehicle that already comes performance equipped, but deal with the issues or by a Lexus and create a performance equipped vehicle. He was trying to justify the amount of $$$ he had spent on his GS + inital purchase price, compared to just buying on of the others and throwing some BASIC mods on them. We debated for a while and still never came to a final conclusion. What do you think ??

Incendiary

I plan to lease factory-ready performance monsters. That way you're under warranty all the time.

hokietech

Can MB & BMW cars running like Lexus without much maintenances besides engine oil changes? I don't hear many people has their benz & bimmer with very high mileages like this people board with their Lexus. Many modified their cars, especially the gs, to outhandle the Mb & Bmw. Sure, without much respects from the public views, they can change almost everything but the souls & prestiges from Amg & M cars. Personally, I won't do that aside the facts that Lexus is more reliabe and cost lower with the performance modifications.

srashid

I have owned 2 Merc ML SUVs, which are supposed to be a nightmare in terms of reliability, but both of mine were very good; some small stuff taken care of at service time, and they never let me down in terms of being immobilised. The 1st ML I had for 4 years (leased), 2nd one I had for about a year. Also they were both on the free maintenance deal that MB used to provide which was awesome. Service at dealerships was also very good, except the free loaners were rarely MBs, so I got to experience the delights of Buicks and Chevys from Enterprise.

However my wife has a 2001 E430 from new and it has been quite poor, immobilised a couple of times, and regularly has problems with other things that are not quite major issues but not minor either.

Now I have the RX330 and it is 100% so far, but I've only had it 3 months. Been to the dealer for the LPS settings and they were excellent, but obviously no more free servicing.

Best thing about the Lexus experience so far for me is this website.

ajcsanders

I had an '00 MB CLK 230 Kompressor - it had a gorgeous interior - two tone grey leather and black wood. I currently own an '06 GS300 fully loaded.

I never had any mechanical problems with either of them, but the CLK somehow felt more special at the time than the GS does today. Even though it had a teeny 2.3 4 cylinder engine it felt like it had more torque than my GS300 (thanks to the supercharger), but ultimately the GS is faster.

One thing my Benz NEVER did was CREAK everytime I hit a little bump - and the wood in the interior was REAL - not wood that grows on nasty plastic trees like in my Toyota corolla . It also had more grip. Compared to the GS, the Benz was really noisy - mainly engine noise - that 4 cylinder engine was crude in comparison to the GS's silky smooth motor.

doug_999

You might want to check out the MB and BMW boards - strange as it may seem, over there you don't hear about many Lexus owners with high mileage on their cars...

edit:
My own ownership experiences are pretty well known here... my gs430 had an engine tick and serious road noise in the cabin. Numerous trips to numerous dealers before both were finally fixed. Service is/was/always has been a nightmare on the Lexus product as well - they want to do so much more than Lexus calls for and they really pressure you if you don't follow the the "dealer" guidelines - with threats like "Boy, I hope you don't have an issue with the transmission, cause Lexus won't cover it since you did not change the fluid at 15K". This of course is typical dealer crap and not unique to Lexus. Still with the maintenance included on the BMW and techs that know how to fix a car (yes, because they do break more often than Lexus vehicles), the service experience at my BMW dealer has been exemplary.

vraa

iTrader: (2)

Lexus > BMW > Mercedes

It's commonly known.
Except I really like the fact that BMW has free maint. for the life of the warranty. That means free rotors, free pads, free wipers, free oil, etc. Sure it might be built into the price of the vehicle, but if you really *use* your vehicle I bet the costs will surprass the built in costs.

RX_330

Wanna explain MBWorld?

But how long is BMW going to keep that free maintenance plan?