I had the pleasure to ride in a '97 S500 yesterday to the airport in Saint John, Canada. What a ride!! And what a car!! I could never imagine how fast this thing moves. Not only it can pick up and go, the car was absolutely quiet and smooth as we headed down the highway. If I were in the market for a big sedan, it would be on my top choice. OK, except the CL500. Just want to share my experience with anyone who may be interested. Happy Thanks Giving Y'all!!

95 R129
98 ML320

Elau,
I absolutely agree with u.Before I own my 1995 S320L,I owned a 1994 Lexus LS400 which although offered a more silent environment,
it was not that stable and quiet at high speed (>120km/h).That's why I couldn't agree with some magazines (especially C&D)that Lexus is the quietest luxury sedan in the world.They should have tested it for a longer time (at least a week).At least my Lexus had excessive wind noise and the steering wheel was as light as nothing on highway.
If reliability and comfortability are the whole lot for a luxury sedan,go for LS400.If stability and safey are taken into account,S-class is the best choice.That's my opinion and experience from living with my Lexus for 1 year.

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Davis Lo

Davis,

With respect, unless you drive 250,000 miles a year, I don't know how you can claim reliability of a Lexus is greater than a Benz. The Benz is reliable up to very high mileage. The beer cans that the Lexus is made from dissintegrate before that many miles. Also, the leather in a Lexus is probably beginning to crack within the first year.

If the Japanese had better raw materials, they too could make cars that would remain reliable and still look like new at high mileage.

My $0.02,

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Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

In my opinion the W140's sedans are the best car your money can buy, period. They are the epitome of the old Mercedes philosophy of best eng/design (when cost was no object). The new S-class is a sorry attempt, and although very high tech, misses seriously in all the important marks: size, presence, quality, design detail.

I understand the reference about Lexus reliability. The are nice cars, but they are just overgrown-expensive Toyotas. If any Lexus fan is offended, just visit the Toyota website in Japan and see the new LS430 sold as a Toyota. As Toyotas, Lexuses are extremely reliable (they definitely tend to give less problems than a Benz, and if they do, they are cheaper to repair).

A. Rosich
S320 1998
E320T 1995

Cheaper to repair?!?!?

I don't know about a Lexus but 4Runner parts are way more expensive than Benz parts. Maybe you have a dealer that sells cheap labor, because parts cost is sure not cheaper.

Larry

I have to agree with Larry: For the parts that I have replaced on my MB, replacing the same type of parts on my Acura has been 50 - 200% more expensive on parts and labor.

My Japanese car mechanic told me the reliability on the Japanese cars is true up to about 100k miles. His opinion is that, while not as reliable as they used to be, Toyota is still the most reliable, but all of them will be increasingly expensive after 100k miles. He said he wouldn't buy any older Japanese car that he hadn't worked on since it was new, and then only would buy it if it were a Toyota. 'Nuff said for 2 cents.

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JCE
87 300E, 65k miles
Smoke Silver

Lets face it, you can like Honda (Acura), Nissan (Infiniti) or Toyota (Lexus), but you love your Mercedes-Benz (Maybach soon, maybe).

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Dean Albrecht
94 E500
99 ML320

www.need2speed.web.com

Well my girlfriend drives a '94 Toyota Camry (no Lexus I admit), however she spent more money on it just last year alone then I did on my '86 300E since I bought it and I put some 100K on it. And the milage on hers is only 110K or so meanwhile I approach 260K and can blow her doors off anyday( mind you she's got the 4 cylinder so it is not really fair). Somehow I don't see many traded in Benzes at my local japanese dealerships however every time I drive by the Benz dealership there is always some off make standing in the used section. There must be a reason for this. And I don't know about you guys but I actually encountered some comments (jealousy maybe?) in parking lots, namely "You think you can do that just because you drive a Benz?" type of statements when pulling in or out. I am not even pushy simply got a decent looking car for its age.
Well, what are you going to do?

Alex

The W140 is, above all, a high-speed interstate cruiser. It is quiet, stable as a house in a cross wind at 100 mph, and spacious for all passengers, front and rear. They are not perfect cars, but traveling in one is like flying in a private jet rather than either first-class commercial or, especially, coach. Long trips don't fatigue you or your passengers.

Brian

1992 600 SEL

A portion of the Car & Driver road test of the new Lexus LS430 - "To most eyes around here, the new car owes at least as much of its design to the IMMENSE and IMPOSING slab-sided 1992-99 Mercedes-Benz S-class as it does to its own predecessor". I guess Lexus loves the 140's design as much as I do.

This should be no surprise, the Japanese have been known for decades to be the best copiers in the world.

My $0.02,

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Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

LOL, Larry!!!!

You are absolutely right!!! But, I did go check out LS430 just for my own curiousity, and it's indeed a big leap from LS400, but some of the designs are very un-thoughtful....

Andy Kuo

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<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>1992 Mercedes-Benz 400SE
<LI>Pearl Grey/Black Leather
</UL>
ICQ#26950002
Mercedes Owners ICQ ActiveList ID#61730549
Mercedes S-Class Page
http://akry.homestead.com

Its like I have said before.

Mercedes Does, Others always follow.

Mercedes has always been an innovator and has always set the standard for styling, design, reliability, and ingenuity.

Who was the first to introduce an airbag in a car? You guessed it, Mercedes, and who followed? Everyone...

Alon

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'92 300CE
Metallic Black (Blue Flaked) on Parchment
Clear Corners
94-95 Tail-Lights
Debadged
Black Grille Insert
78.5k Miles

Future Upgrades:
Sportline Suspension
17" AMG Monoblocks or EVO II's
Euro Headlights
Performance Chip
AMG Exhaust

Click here to Go To My 300CE Page

Mercedes= The best engineered cars in the world. Period.



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'91 190E 2.6

Until I bought my Benz I had only owned older Japanese cars ('86 Sentra, '83 Tercel) and much older American cars ('65 Ford Galaxie), and I figured that all "luxury" cars were the same. I was so wrong! My '87 560SEL feels more solid and reliable than my girlfriend's '96 Lexus LS Series. The steering wheel is so small, the whole car feels like a typical Japanese economy car covered in leather. I feel the same way about my friends Acura 3.2CL ('98 or '99 I think.). My 13 year old Mercedes (156K miles) drives better and feels MUCH more solid than newer, lower mileage Japanese Luxury sedans. If you ask me, Mercedes builds the best cars, period. The other "luxury" manufacturers build nice looking, average quality cars. Two more cents in the pot...
Justin