The R-Class is a pretty nice vehicle. I haven't driven it but I thoroughly checked it out at the Benz dealership. Sharp car in several aspects. Very expensive, but hey, those high rollers who have always driven fully loaded minivans now have a reason not to: just get the R-Class, a luxury minivan, though that's not what M-B sells it as.

M-B's expanded product portfolio is somewhat necessary for survival. A company can't stand stagnant forever with three or four product lines. Even BMW has expanded to hell, following M-B. With the arrival of the Japanese with luxurious vehicles with better reliability, similar perceived quality and feature content and much lower prices, M-B and Co. had to expand or go out of business. I can question how the expansion has been conducted and marketed, but not the necessity for it.

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1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver