DustinV

Bad news, fellow Lexus fans.

Anyway, kudos to MB and the S class. It deserves it in my opinion.




Adding to its already distinguished résumé, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class has once again been named the best new luxury car in the Auto Express "New Car Honours." This marks the third consecutive year the S-Class has won the award, a further testament to the luxury sedan's impressive dominance in its respective segment.

According to Auto Express editor in chief David Johns: "Few cars have reigned over such competitive sectors with such complete authority as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. To many there simply isn’t a better limousine. Beautifully engineered both inside and out, it’s one of those rare cars that is as good to drive as it is to be driven in."

Dermot Kelly, managing director of Mercedes-Benz, added: "The S-Class has been an enduring success with press and customers alike and accounted for one in every four luxury saloon sales last year. We are delighted that Auto Express still recognises S-Class as the best luxury car in the sector."

To learn more about the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and its victory in the Auto Express New Car Honours 2008, you can find the full details in the official press release below.

Enjoy.





OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Mercedes-Benz S-Class again retains Auto Express New Car Honour as Best Luxury Car

Milton Keynes – The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has been crowned Best Luxury Car at the Auto Express New Car Honours 2008, winning the title for the third consecutive year.

Editor in Chief, David Johns commented that “few cars have reigned over such competitive sectors with such complete authority as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. To many there simply isn’t a better limousine. Beautifully engineered both inside and out, it’s one of those rare cars that is as good to drive as it is to be driven in”.

Dermot Kelly, Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz said: “S-Class has been an enduring success with press and customers alike and accounted for one in every four luxury saloon sales last year. We are delighted that Auto Express still recognises S-Class as the best luxury car in the sector.”

The award-winning S-Class family has been the flagship model by which all others were judged for over 50 years during which it has continued to offer innovative technology, enhanced safety features including Nightview Assist, Brake Assist PLUS and DISTRONIC PLUS as well as supreme comfort for passengers in the spacious cabin and for the driver at the wheel.

As well as epitomising luxury, style and comfort the truly refined S-Class was the first car to achieve the Environmental Certificate from Germany’s influential TUV institute. The certificate not only takes into consideration the emissions of the car when it is on the road, but also overall emissions during the car’s whole life cycle from production, through the recyclable parts at the end of the car’s life, as well as materials used. Mercedes-Benz is still the only automotive manufacturer to have achieved this accolade, now for five of its current models.

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is available from £55,885 (S 320 CDI) on the road and can achieve up to 34 mpg on the combined cycle emitting 220 g/km of CO2. As with every Mercedes-Benz model the S-Class comes with a three year, unlimited mileage warranty and is covered by Mobilolife – a unique package comprising 30-year pan-European breakdown assistance.


http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Aug08/2...tive_Year.html

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

That's a nice photo of an S-Class. Why can't Lexus make decent looking rims and fitment?!

luxury1

I KNOW!!! Lexus doesn't believe that rims are important. It is like having a really nice suit and then beat up shoes.

I just told my wife last night that I am going to change her rims for a basic set of 19" 5 stars (below). Wheels make such a difference on a car.

My RX330 does have nice OEM rims but most of the other Lexus vehicles need work.

mmarshall

The new S-550 is the only car Consumer Reports has tested that, in their opinion, has a better ride than the Lexus LS460. Like upper-line Volvos, it is also a safety benchmark. Unfortunately, it falls well below the LS460 in reliability.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

According to them (CR), according to their subscribers, according to unspecified methods.

But what does "well below" mean?

I like the LS a lot, but given the choice, I'd take the S class!

LexFather

Kudos to Benz but I've never heard of this award before and I am unsure why it would win a "new" car award. Its not new.

How can I order one of these

mmarshall

There's nothing unspecified about their methods. They are explained fully in each annual auto-buying issue. CR probably has more data input about vehicle reliability from its widespread readership and surveys than any other publication in the buisness, although J.D. Power, of course, also involves a lot of people. (I myself was part of a J.D. Power focus discussion board, not just a random survey participant, and I'm generally not as impressed with Power as with CR)

CR's "Better", "Much Better", "Average", "Worse", etc.....categories and vehicle/dealer/reliability satisfaction surveys are all done by percentage points, how many problems owners list, the severity of those problems (obviously, a failed transmission is much worse than a body scratch). The final results are printed in a red/black circle format that is easy to read and decipher at a glance.

And CR, BTW, has not been unfair to the S-Class by any means.............it is their top-rated luxury car in everything but reliability.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

OK, but what does 'well below' the LS460 mean? 1 more problem likely in the first year?

Gojirra99

It's named by the U.K. website autoexpress.co.uk ?

cjf_moraga

CR can be misleading/ambiguous though. Looking at the copy of CR I have states "reliability has been below par" (this comment has not changed for a while) yet the data shows a reasonably healthy collection of solid red circles for the new (w221) FY07 car onwards - if still not 100% perfect on the CR scale, the current model is essentially a completely new vehicle to the former (w220) model and it is not accurate to measure it against a former model just because it has the same name. The methodology of extrapolating past history as a guide to current reliability - even across model change boundaries, is not quite fair (or empirical) IMO.

Chris

mmarshall

CR does not forecast relability of new or extensively redesigned models based on past performance.........they tried that with the new Camry and go burned when some versions took a sharp drop. To be a "Recommended" vehicle, it must not only do well in CR's tests, but also in Government crash tests, AND have an average or better record of reliability. That is why many new models that do well in testing don't make the Recommended list.........they have not been on the road long enough to have reliability data. Or, like many VW, Mercedes, Jaguar, and Land Rover products, they have a long history of unreliability, despite doing well in tests.

The overall assessment of a reliability rating, due to many and complex factors, will not always be a color reflection of how many red or black circles and half-circles you see on the chart. For one thing, those circles/half circles each represent a mathematical range. CR is very sophisticated in how they interpret their data, and many factors are weighed in, including the number of expensive and complex engine/drivetrain repairs that are are needed in relation to other, less complex, cheaper ones.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

If the current S class reliability was 'well below' the LS460 it wouldn't sell/lease so well. It also outsold the LS460 last month even though it's a lot more expensive.

I can believe CR has some credibility with their mainstream data like Camry because the sample size is probably quite large, but the number of recent S-class owners who read CR and respond to a survey I bet is miniscule.

And as Chris said, data on prior models is meaningless.

cjf_moraga

....so if a new model has not been on the road long enough to generate reliability data why do we see comments like "reliability has been below par"? CR may have sophisticated data sampling and analysis procedures but they can not operate if the data is simply not there or the sampling size is just too small. (Which is far more likely at this end of the price scale)

Frankly on any new model (at least for the first 1-2 years) with a new/updated power train, bodywork, electronics, and interior, it would far more honest to state "insufficient data" - just as CR does for new models without a previous version such as the Genesis. The history of a different vehicle with a similar name (or family of vehicles) should have no bearing. At least they should state that the comment is based on old data and may no longer be applicable.

I pick on this example specifically as I reviewed these reports regularly throughout the w220 to w221 changeover period while weighing an S-Class v LS purchase decision and the comment on reliability never changed - it was/is obvious that it was a carry over remark from the previous generation and that no-one at CR was honestly reviewing what was printed. Sloppy revision work by the editorial staff perhaps, but if so that further devalues the reports overall.

Chris

IS350jet

Wow!! One, relatively unheard of publication, ranks the S Class "Best New Luxury Car" and *that* makes it the best?
Truly, Wow!!

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Auto Express is domestic to the UK. We obviously dont get that here, and they dont get the equivalent of the US.


On the contrary, whenever the LS460 wins, even from a non-automotive press, everyone celebrates as if it was the new millennium. No need to dispute this one. I've heard all arguments

No matter what the source is, the S-class is a benchmark and it deserves to win any award that's given to it.