Thoughts? Experiences?

Does anyone have both?


So far I owned two Lexus cars

Supercharged IS300 and a stock SC300.

Thinking about the C43 / CLK 430 / C32 AMG

 

I went from a 93 SC400 to a 2000 CLK320, I had tons of problems with that car and the dealer service was terrible... extended fam has had many M-Bs over the years and they are getting worse and worse, I would never buy one again.

 

thought about the sl500 when we bought our sc430. nice car, but the quality and problems i read was just overwhelming.

 

Lease a MB, if you want to try it out. But by the end of the lease (three years' ownership), the big problems usually arrive with electronics, quality, etc. If you want to buy it, stay with Lexus.

 

We did Mercedes-Lexus-Mercedes-Lexus. The old Mercedes vehicles were great, solid, long-lasting...dealer service average. The new Mercedes was not as good, but still ok. Dealer service still not too good. Lexus service---always better, and the Lexus vehicles, so far so good!

Lexus all the way!

 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=189502

ask him.

 

my cousin bought a S500 after he sold his GS430 to me..

he hates it.. he told me that it causes wayyyyyyy too many problems and he's getting sick of the Mercedes service...

he's thinking of coming back to the Lexus family as soon as he can let go of the MB which will be soon he hopes..

 

I own both. Do you want to replace the Lexus with a Mercedes?

 

I have an 05' c230 my wifes car.the service from MB has been great and the car solid.I was hoping for the E55 but was a couple of dollars short.So far so good.

 

e55 a couple dollars short? yea about $50,000. Those things are expensive. Benzs are nice cars that have lots of class but the reliability has sucked over the last few years, stay away. Unless you can afford to own an unreliable car then enjoy the good things.

 

I frequently switch between my 92 LS400 and an 02 ML320. When I drive the ML, the ride is bumpier, the throttle is harder to control accurately, and the steering and brakes are too stiff. Also, it's too loud for a car with only 215 (est) hp. I give it a little gas and the engine makes all this noise like i'm giving all this work to do, but the LS remains quiet and accelerates smoothly and quietly. Thumbs up for Lexus, Thumbs down to benz. Shame on you benz!

 

Consumer Reports is your friend. BTW, they don't have very good opinion of Mercedes.

Chris

 

Haha...go for it, don't say I didn't warn you firsthand. Look at my prior posts. I paid $65k for my car (CL500) in January 2004 with maybe 11k miles on it. I would estimate (and thank god insurance and warranty covered most of this), another $20k has gone into that car in not even 2 years for things having gone wrong, an accident (some Mercedes are ridiculously crazy expensive to have fixed), etc. For $85k I could have had a cherry SC430 with not one problem and $40k leftover.

Oh, did I mention the value of these cars if you keep them (resale I mean)? I was about to walk right into the Lexus dealer 2 weeks ago and buy a black SC430 until they told me they could only give me $26k for my car even though KBB trade-in value is $40k and private party value is about $44k (I owe $35k still on loan). In other words, that car depreciated $35k from 2001 to 2004 when I bought it and another $38k from January 2004 to today. Do the math, $73,000 depreciation in about 5 years. Granted, if I kept my CL, even if I put 250k miles on it, I will always be able to get at least $10-13k for the car because of the rarity and the model it is. I don't keep cars that long though, so it's a big loss otherwise.

If you are looking at a E or C class...they probably aren't bad, but if you get a higher end model and things go wrong, be very prepared to lose ALOT of money on the car. I learned a very expensive lesson about economics from this car. It has nothing to do with my budget too, I just would have rather spent the money on something else. You figure when you spend more on a car that it means that much less you will have to spend on down the line, WRONG.

 

I went from an SC430 to a SL55 and am sorry that I ever bought the SC. I could not be more pleased. My wife has an LS430 and it will be gone this coming Spring---going back to Mercedes.

 

Here's Mercedesdave's (from the clubhouse) recommendation considering goldark mentioned clks:
'98-'02 E-Class, the '98-'00 C-Class, and the '98-'02 CLK.

Lou, seems like both of your lexus were not that great

Like my father in law's 01 S500, no electrical nightmare or other nightmare where the car has to camp at the dealership (fingers crossed). Just parts breaking down prematurely.

The important thing besides warranty (and extended warranty) is dealership service.
THis was an addition to the family's garage, not a replacement.