rominl

iTrader: (4)

hahahhaa, paul, your choices are pretty much exactly the same as mine!

Trexus

Somewhat true. Many Toyotas are made in the U.S., Canada and all over the world but the engineering, processes & procedures, responsibilities, accountability, philosophies, etc. are Japanese through and through.

Example; when one is a new owner of a cellphone that person configures the cellphone to their liking, ways, etc. So the new owners of the once upon a time British car companies take over they will eventually configure their newly acquired British company to their liking, ways, etc. Eventually the new owners will suggest their own engineering processes and procedures, philosophies, techniques, management, influence, etc. and so on.

jaseman

Unfortunately, I think you need to throw most of those out the window, in terms of the original question posed.

Lotus doesn't really qualify as a luxury brand. They primarily make hard-core sports cars aimed at enthusiasts. Try taking an extended road trip in one, in comfort, with kids and luggage.

Aston's are quite luxurious. But across the whole line-up, are primarily GT cars, verging on exotic/supercar status and out of reach of the average luxury car buyer.

Bentley and Rolls Royce, while defining luxury and opulence, like Aston, again, are just too far out of reach for the average luxo shopper.

So that really only leaves Jaguar and Range Rover. And of those two, only Jag offers a full line-up of sedans that fit into the price-range of the typical American luxury car buyer.




For the original question? It really comes down to what a buyer wants in a luxo-car. For some, luxury is all about a plush, quiet ride, while tooling down the road, with no care for how the car corners when pushed hard, or how fast it can lap the 'Ring. I think that this is where the majority of Americans who buy luxury brands lie. But others are more than willing to sacrifice some of the amenities for performance bragging rights. This is generally the "enthusiast" crowd.

For me, where the car is made makes no real difference. German, Japanese, British, or even American luxury cars all need to stand on their own merits, in their class, against their competition.

I'm an enthusiast. So generally, for example, I'll take a 3-series over an IS. But the IS over the C-class. Sure, my buddy's new C300 is much nicer and more refined a car than my IS-300, but is nowhere near as rewarding to drive on a twisty back road. At track days, the MB and Lexus don't compare to the 3-Series for pure driving bliss, but if I was going to spend a week driving to Florida and back, give me the Mercedes.

So it all just comes down to what you want the car to do for you....

werewolf

Mercedes was the gold standard. What always impresses me is how the S class and the E class both drive smaller than they are. They're relatively nimble for their size and have a small turn radius. Also the highspeed freeway handling is phenomenal but I feel the suspension is too soft for me

BMWs are great in the twisties but have become too heavy and too gadgety for their own good. Look at the evolution of the M3 over time. The company also seems unresponsive to buyers over things like HPFP, bad water pumps, runflats.

Lexus excels in reliability and resale (hand in hand) b/c they are designed to last while the germans are designed to last for two ownership periods at most. Ever wonder why the resale plummets for a German car out of warranty? B/c the electronics, transmissions and suspension bits start to fall apart

Where a car is put together does matter. Not a brand thing but the actual reliability of that model (think early MLs and BMW X5s). If I'm paying a German price, I want German precision in the actual build of the unit. Same goes for Lexus

TwiBlueG35

My personal preference is in the following order:

1. Lexus
2. BMW
3. Audi
4. Porsche
5. Mercedes-Benz
6. Infiniti

And I don't like Volvo, Saab, Acura, Jaguar, Cadillac, and Lincoln.


Then my favorite vehicles in each category are:

Luxury sedan: Lexus LS, Mercedes-Benz E-class sedan
Sports sedan: BMW 3-series sedan, Infiniti G sedan, Lexus IS sedan
Sports coupe: Audi RS5/S5/A5 coupe, BMW 3-series coupe
Luxury SUV: BMW X6
Crossover: Audi Q5, Lexus RX
Sports car: Porsche 911-series
Roadster: Porsche Boxster

I like Porsche's and BMW's and Audi's sportiness. I like Lexus' and Benz's luxury. I like Infiniti's improvement and I believe it would eventually catch up with those major players.

chikoo

he he

the first thing a politician buys with his corrupt income is a Mercedes Benz

SaintNexus

Thank you for your response.

You're the first person to respond the question I asked in the original post, and for that, I commend you.