financeman

Saint Charles...is suburb of St. Louis; not some backwoods rural town....maybe OP meant $27 per week. I live in Wichita, have a clean record, am middle aged...and pay $70 per month for full coverage.

gee wiz

Owning a previous G35 was pretty much the clincher for us. We took a look at the BMW 335, but wasn't overly impressed vs. the extra dough. Audi was a slight consideration, but not a fan of the design. I guess eight good years of service from our 2003 G35 is what really sealed it for us.

roots4x

I will agree with you in general except in the case of Mercedes. Growing up my father only purchased new German cars (with the exception of a misguided decision to buy a Chevy Tahoe). These consisted of 7 MBs and 1 BMW. I know it's anecdotal, but none of those MBs had a major problem (everything ranging from a 1995 C280 to a 2008 S550 - the gem being a 1990 420SEL). The one BMW he had (a 1990 BMW 525i) had more problems than I could remember (and I was only 10). He said it was the most fun he had driving a car, but that was the first and last BMW he ever purchased. Can't say much about Audi except they look nice; sterile, but nice.

My wife's 2008 535i has been pretty reliable thus far, though. I think there was a recall for the fuel pump, but we haven't seen any issues with that. Who knows what'll happen a few years down the line, but if it ends up lasting, we'll probably keep that car for a while.

movinon

The only other car that I barely considered was the BMW 335i. It didn't take me long to come to my senses. I had been burned once with a BMW and would really feel like a moron if I bought another lemon.

A few years back I had a CPO, BMW 540i. It was the worse car I've owned as far as reliability. It had a 4 year warranty and 83,000 miles left on the 100,000 mile part, so I kept it until the warranty ran out.. I didn't have to put any money in it for repairs, but it got very old having to continuously bring it to the dealer for repairs. I'm talking dozens of times.
It was so bad at one thing or another going wrong with it that I was afraid to take it on road trips, for fear that it would leave me stranded in a town without a BMW dealership.
When I bought the 540i, I knew BMWs were known for being unreliable, but I figured what the hell I'll have a warranty. The problem is you still have to bring it in and go back and pick it up, over and over again.

sniper27

iTrader: (2)

I had 2 VWs and 2 Audis. No major problems with them also. My parents also had 4 Mercedes. They also did not have any major problems. I will agree that the repair costs are higher than a lot of cars.

JohnEnglish

The IS-F, M3, and C63 are all much smaller than the G. I rarely have back seat passangers but with the driver seat in a confortable position for me I can still fit 2 people in the back of my G. The 3 Series, IS, and C class had useless back seats.

In Canada the M3, and C63 are $90,000 vehicles. They start out around $68,000 but after adding options and taxes you're getting close to $100,000. The IS-F is about $85,000.

If they had been roomier vehicles, yeah I probably would have gone for one of them but when taking their size and price into account, the G was just an overall better value.

When looking at the IS 350, BMW 335xi, and C 350 4Matic, the G was a clear winner. It's bigger, roomier, and has more power.

They do in Canada.

roots4x

Not sure about the IS, but the Mercedes C-class and the BMW 3 series have about the same interior room as our cars. I've sat in a C63 and minus the sporty front seats, I believe the rear seats are identical.

So you mean to tell me that you scrubbed buying some of the best sports sedans in world because their back seats were marginally smaller than the one in the G? I'm sorry bud, maybe you've never owned a nicer car, but there is an extremely large difference between the likes of the G and something like a C63 and an M3. From the amazing seats, to the amazing leather, to the general fit and finish, the amazing amount of power, and even little things like paint, solid feel, and the almost sports car handling.

Sorry, I just can't buy that you could have afforded these vehicles (and would have bought them) yet decided not too simply because the back seat was a bit too small. We're not talking the difference between a M37 vs a 3 series. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the 3 series rear seat might even be more comfortable for taller people.

Of course, maybe you just ran into a lot of money and you felt like you didn't have to blow it all an once. In that case, you will end up buying one of those cars and you will know the difference. Or maybe you are just really rich and have a hug car collection and you were just trying to buy a sporty daily driver. I dunno... I still would've bought the M3 (or mebbe an RS4).

JohnEnglish

Different people have different opions and desires. vv

The 3 Series, C Class and IS were definately a lot smaller inside for me than the G was. I sat in the front and the back and the G was roomier for me. The backs of the front seats are hollowed out in the C Class to make room for the legs of the people in the back. Even then it's still tight fit. I didn't find the interiors of any of the cars any better or worse.

As for the price, I have a pretty good job so I could have purchased any of the cars but I just didn't see the benefit of the extra $30,000. I mean I can appreciate why the cars cost that much more but for me there's no benefit. Sure I can say I have a 451 HP hand built V8 but at the end of the day the G does exactly the same thing the C63 would.

I don't track my cars or do anything remotely high performance with them; it was more for image than anything.

I'm kind of in a similiar situation again. The lease of my G is coming up soon and I've found myself looking at the BMW 550i and MB E 550 and E63. However, again, I don't see any reason why I should pay a premium for the E550 or 550i when the Infiniti M56S delivers more HP and the same features for thousands less. Sure the E63 is a nice car but beyond that it doesn't deliver anything over the M56S that I find important.

I find cars like BMW's M vehicles and MB's AMG cars interesting as I see them as engineering works of art. I can appreciate what's gone into making them what they are but beyond that it doesn't translate into anything practical for me. It's like a Rolex vs a Patek, sure the Patek is a nice watch and has lots of thought go into it but at the end of the day both watches will deliver the same functionality while looking nice.

roots4x

I supposed it's all relative. I've heard of first year associates at law firms buying Porsche GT3s (obviously don't have priorities set right). Then there was the story the Infiniti dealer was telling me about a girl who made about $30,000/year trying to a buy a fully loaded G37 coupe (keep dreamin). I guess financially, it would make sense for anyone to buy a G37 sedan over a C63.

JohnEnglish

Well it all depends on what you want out of the car too. If you're going to track it then yeah, an M3 or C63 would be a good car to get. Most people have no intention of doing that and buy it purely for image alone. If it had been a $10,000 or even $15,000 difference, OK I probably would have done it but the logical side of me couldn't get past the price differential knowing that I'd just use the car for going out with friends or running errands.

roots4x

Well like you said, the art and craftsmanship and ride quality of a c63, m3, or even a 335i is not comparable to something like a G. I guess what gets me is that you weren't truly cross shopping. The c63 or m3 are high performance versions. There's not much more to expect. I do believe they are worth the extra cost since all the little things do add up.

I can understand if someone was cross shopping a 335i. It might be about $9k-$12k more in the US but most people who can afford one could probably afford the other. One is still a better deal.

I dunno I'm just confused.

JohnEnglish

My criteria was a mid-size 4 door RWD or AWD luxury sedan.

That gives me the 3 Series, IS, C Class, and G. I wasn't interested in the Audi A4 as everyone I know with an Audi has constant electrical problems and I stayed away from the Cadillac CTS due to GM's financial problems and my own past bad experience with GM cars.

All those vehicles met my requirements, it was just deciding on which on I wanted and in what trim level. I am aware that the M3, C63, and IS-F are high performance cars but I wasn't really interested in the high performace aspect of them. I just saw them as the top of the line models for those lines. Sure it's cool and interesting but it has no real world value for me. I suppose those cars are more of an emotional purchase than most cars. However, I didn't see them in that light. While I appreciated their technical prowess I didn't see any practical use for it. That's why I wasn't willing to pay the premium those cars required. Sure I could have but it didn't make logical sense to me.

It's kind of like the carbon-carbon brakes on the new MB E63. It's a $14,000 option and while it's really cool and technically sophisticated what on earth do you need carbon-carbon brakes for in everyday driving? Not to mention the cost when it comes time to service them. The regular brakes are overkill for everyday use.

It's not a matter of being able to afford the option or not, it would just be a waste of money in my situation.

Bo2point0

Car manufacturers should read this thread and take some ques from people's posts.

If I was in research and marketing for a car manufacturer I would read our competitor's forums and research why people bought our competitor's car over ours.

Maybe they are doing this, but the people assigned to the task hate their jobs, hahaha.

Steveo47

iTrader: (8)

I looks at: G37x, Acura TL AWD, Mercedes C350, Altima 3.5, 335xi

Acura was a boat
Mercedes was more (imo) for older people, and not a good value for the money
Altima was FWD which i wasent really interested in
335xi is way to expensive for what you get
G37x, awesome!

Icerider2001

Mercedes: E350
Infiniti: FX50S, M37
Audi: S4, TT-S
BMW: X5
Lexus: GS350

I really wanted to like the TT-S but it just felt like an over priced, under sized mini. The M37 didn't have the same planted feeling on the highway that the G has (or the E350 for that matter). Lexus~ well my mother has that department covered so yea...