Although it is going to be awhile before I get rid of my Maxima, I find myself dreaming about the next car I am going to buy. I have narrowed it down to a used, probably a 2003 or 2004 (it probably won't be for another 3 years that I am ready to move on to something else) Lexus IS 300 or a BMW 3 series. Of course, I will go back and forth which one I like better but right now it is the Lexus. Although in 3 years, that could easily change to the BMW. So, I got to thinking - what is the favored luxury line of autos for people here? I included an other category so if you go with that option, tell us the specific brand.
I love BMW's and Mercs, but I gotta go with Infinity. I've had two so far, and had a Nissan before that, with hardly a problem on any of them. They just don't break, IMO. Of course, I have already seen the "Nissan horror stories" thread, so obviously there can be problems with them. But when you're 3 for 3, they tend to build loyalty on you. Plus, the new cars are finally attractive! My two bits.
If we're talking luxury being the primary consideration, there's just nothing that beat Mercedes-Benz, in my opinion. A lot of other car brands come close, but none beats M-B in the luxury department. But since luxury isn't my chief concern, I would prefer other brands when I was buying. I like some sport in my driving experience, and I think BMW, Lexus and even Acura provide that better than Mercedes does, for the most part. If I were buying in the 30K to 40K or so range right now, I'd go with the Acura TL with the IS300 being my second choice. While I think the BMW makes a sportier and better driving car, the potential cost of ownership for German cars scares me after spending so much money keeping my Audi running. As of right now, I'm planning on going with the TL when my Altima lease is up (which is nine months from now, I believe).
There's always going to be a percentage of owners of any brand who have a bad experience with their cars. No automaker is 100%. Heck, if Nissan had just handled my transmission problem better, I wouldn't have a problem buying from them again. Having something go wrong and having it fixed under warranty isn't enough to turn me off completely (and I think more usually goes wrong in the first year of a new model/design). I just don't want to have to deal with the company again on a future car if something were to go wrong.
I'm not a fan of Mercedes' lower end stuff, but their upper end is just sick sick design - the way it should be done. The Mercedes Benz SL 600 is the finest car they make outside of their super exotics. One of these in black is the sexiest car you can get for under oh... $140k. http://www.europeancarweb.com/features/0308ec_mercedes04_z.jpg http://www.europeancarweb.com/features/0308ec_mercedes03_z.jpg http://www.seriouswheels.com/images/2004-Mercedes-Benz-SL-600-RA-1280x960.jpg I'd also put Aston Martin up there.
the SL600 Brabus Benz is quite possibly the sweetest car in the world. supposedly thats what all the execs at MercedesBenz drive. two of my dads friends have one and i can say that they are absolutely ridiculous. of course they retail at about $190 G's.....
Id take an Infiniti over a BMW any day. The Cadillac CTS-V is pretty sweet. Might be looking at one of those when I'm rich and 50.
I went with infiniti since that's what I drive.. but haven't really driven the other kinds so... All I know is the infiniti service I've had has been great and has made me really enjoy owning one of their vehicles
I say infiniti because it seems them as well as acura.. lexus etc seem to always be rated great as far as quality... now if I was buying a luxury car.. just to have one and because I wanted to look "cool" and have a luxury car I guess you have to go with mercedes or bmw.. because there is a certain stigma with driving a mercedes or bmw... I guess my point is you can probably get one of the higher end models of those brands for as cheap as the bmw or mercedes lower end models.. but I'm not certain on that
BMW M5 7 speed w/ paddles. Engine Type: V10 Displacement: 5000 cc Horsepower: 507 bhp @ 7750 rpm Torque: 383 lb-ft @ 6100 rpm Redline: 8250 rpm 0-62 1.9 Seconds 0-100 4.2 0-200 19.1 0-250 34.8
King Cheetah, Where did you find those numbers? No way in hell a stock M5 can do those times. Hell I don't even know what mods must be needed to push a car that size to 62 mph in 1.9 seconds. Something like oh... a JATO unit maybe? lol. The new V10 M5 is supposed to do 0-60 in the low 4's. The numbers you posted has it out-accelerating everything but light. lol.
DoD - They look like km/h to me. You know 100 km/h approximates 60 mph (not exact) so at 4.9 seconds seems about right.
