I've gone over to the Dark Side
 

Most here probably don't know who the heck I am, or care. :D But this is probably my last post on this forum, not that I've been around much the last couple years anyway. But to those I know, just wanted to say it's been fun!:cool: Have had a lot of laughs, as well as a few serious moments. Never "met" anyone here I wouldn't like to meet face to face (yes, even you, Kerry:P:D)
Anyway, the 'ol Benz is just getting to need more TLC than I have time, energy, or $$ to put into her. Still a good, solid car, even with 360k miles. But up for sale she goes.
Just picked up a Lexus GS300 last week, with low miles. I always said if I were to buy a newer luxury car, it'd be a Lexus. Germans still make awesome cars, but I'm not going down the maintenace path with the newer ones. Sorry. They need to get their act together, and build 'em like they used to, IMHO.
Anyway, didn't intend to start a "build quality" debate. Been enough of those here.
Take care all!:cool:

One of my clients was recentlly rear-ended in her Lexus and she's really impressed by how well it came through it. Them fellers have definitely got a good product going on with excellent reliability ratings.

Hey Rick! Ya'old Swede, you've been replaced by the new Swede. :)

Come back and visit. We kinda miss you around here. Hope life is treating you well. :)

We'll still let you hang around.

What did you think of that PBS show on Mormons a couple of weeks ago?

Will miss your avatar.

Here is my next car:

Azera

Just kidding...but it has received good reviews!

What you come back to say good by? Come on you can't do that, a lot of people around here don't own MB's!

Nice new car, I like the GS series the most because they are RWD!:cool:

Hyundai, Wtf??? Omg? Lol!!!
 

You'd better be kiddin', Ernesto......those guys made the "Pony", and the Excel ("Rodney King-mobile")

Whew....Hyundai, now that's REALLY going over to the the dark side. Do that, and we'd have to send a couple of those big blonde guys in black leather greatcoats and jackboots to kick your door down at 4am and give you a quick, impersonal lecture about the high cost of dental care and the difficulty of trying to make a living with two broken arms:book:

When I bought the Subaru Outback wagon a few years ago in Sacramento at the Subaru/Hyundai dealer, I overheard a new Hyundai owner say she bought the car solely because of its warranty. (It's TEN years/100,000 miles....that's the best one in the country....)

Those Azera things do look pretty good, but FFS, man, they are comparing themselves to the BMW 760i......that's really reaching......

So long, Rick.
I think the quality issue lies with MB mostly, not all German cars. Traded my W210 for a '02 BMW 525 recently: the difference is light years. Maybe now that Chrysler is gone, perhaps they will get their act together and start doing again what they are good at: building luxury cars. I'll stick with the Bavarians for the next few years.

Cheers,
V.

Toyota's are cute. Have fun.:D

Rick, if you glue a three-pointed star on the hood, we'll let you stick around.

MBs: The new ones are overpriced and too technical for us do-it-yourselfers. The older ones are getting a bit harder to keep running and need quite a bit of tender loving care.

IMHO you didn't cross over to the dark side. You just did what a thinking man would do given the same set of circumstances. The Lexus is a good choice. It shouldn't need much expensive maintenance. My Tacoma doesn't.

Good luck with your future endeavors.

Cheers,
Wes

Nah their warranty isn't that good. We looked into one last fall, it doesn't cover anything. Resale sucks as well. The Toyota dealer that we bought the Rav4 from would match the terms of Hyundai's warranty 10 year 100k mile, except their's were bumper to bumper. The Honda dealer would as well.

We got a 7 year 125k mile bumper to bumper warranty on the Rav4 for $1,500. If its not used they return the $1,500 to you. According to the dealer its pretty rare when they don't return the money.

Man, I never heard about that. DAMN, that is really good.

Is it just the Toyota/Honda dealers at their option that would offer a bumper to bumper warranty for 10 years/100,000 miles, or was it the factory?

If that's a factory deal, it should get HUGE publicity, it's a recipe for success! No wonder Toyota is selling so well in America.

The Hyundai 100k/10 years is a factory one, but it is only for the drive train though. But it is publcized well, and, as I said, I saw a lady at the dealer who bought the Hyundai just because of the warranty alone that the factory offered on the thing.

Hey Rick,

Haven't seen you post here for a while. Cheers and have a good one and feel free to stop by once in a while to say hello...

Chris

I think its just the dealers that do it. They must get it all the time because my dad started to talk about Hyundai's warranty and the salesman was like will beat it no problem. The way he made it out it's something they do all the time.

Hyundai's latest little SUV that competes with the Rav4 and CRV isn't that nice. Its ok but not as nice as the others. The transmission is anoying it doesn't downshift. It also still uses V belts which I didn't like.

Their is a reason Toyota and Honda do so well, they don't mess around. They know Hyundai is gunning for them.