Buick PA vs. MB's?!

[spartonboat1]

So I have owned 4 MB's- 3 E class and a 190 and now 5 Buicks, including two Park Avenues. The MB's were great, until they broke...not fun...got left high and dry more than once.

If MB made the Park Ave. I think a lot of people would swoon, but of course it gets dissed big time. But here is my experience:
3.8 V6 with Supercharger
-0-60 7.4 secs, pretty fair,
-not unheard of to go 300-500K miles- dealer stories abound
-I had a 1988 3.8 that really needed no internals, such as timing chain at 150K miles, when water pump finally went out,
-Buick has made the 3.8 v6 since 1959 and has it sorted out, very few problems,

- Fuel Economy- got 29.1 mpg on recent trips on freeway at 70-75, plus some side roads at 55. Good to very good by any standard,
- I average 27.5 mpg in my daily 55 mile commute, mostly freeway. Again, very good IMHO.

This Park Ave has independent suspension with aluminun control arms at all four corners and rides, handles, and corners well. It has 4 wheel disc brakes with anti-lock, traction control, and yaw control and they modulate very well, but also function well.

The PA runs very smoothly and you better use the cruise control or you will be doing 85 without noticing. It is a well controlled ride, but yet very smooth.

The PA has side air bags and a 5-star crash rating, plus is rated very highly, including higher than MB and other brands for initial quality by JD Powers.

I have recently looked at used E-Class MB's (I sure cannot afford new) and frankly with the recent times poor quality issues, plus they did not ride that well, I did not think.

So the one concensus downside is that the shocks are weak (GM- what else). I think GM has done a very poor job of marketing what I think is one of the very best all around vehicles there is in terms of safety, quality, economy, and general driving pleasure.

Bet I get flamed...!!!