I like they way they look, but the interiors are still pretty cheap. They need a a few more years to keep bumping the quality up.

The CTSV is no where near the car the E63, RS6, or M5 is. Its cheaper though, and the resale is amazingly low.

I actualy like the CTSV, if I could get past the plastic fantastic interior it might work.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

You are asking for a "high end" new car for $30-35K. Well such a thing doesn't exist. Some premium brands only start there. Price a C300. For starters, they charge $710 just for picking a color other than black, white, or red. Add a few nice options, taxes, etc, and you will be pushing 40K easy. I would sooner buy a lesser car with all the bells and whistles dad wants, rather than a stripped high end model.

Does dad want bells and whistles, or a fancy badge on the hood?

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

$35k will get you a nicely optioned C300 or 325I.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

A friend of mine has a 2008 STS+4 with the DI V6. Zero problems with any part of the car and the 300 HP engine has plenty of power.

For 30k, I would look at a fully optioned Honda Accord V6.

I second that! Nice cars!

With the V6 they are fast to!

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I was going to suggest Lincoln Town Car since I had one for about five years and it was a great car, but I see they want like $45k for a new one. How about a Mercury Grand Marquis? Available from $25k on up. Built on the tried and true Panther platform. Plenty of power. Roomy in front, a little tight in the back (there are other Panthers that address this, but none of them Mercury), reliable and efficient (for the size of car) 4.6 mod motor, easy to work on as far as new cars go.

My mom has a 2000 Grand Marquis and as Borat would say NICE

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Well, what hes lookin for, is ride quality, smooth has too have same or better then his 1994 E420. Uhm...how all the controls feel, do they feel cheap or solid. things like that. No badge really doesnt matter. but if it did have a star on the hood, or like a cadillac emblem on the grill that would be a plus.

The CTS won't ride as soft as an E420. It's a Performance Luxury sedan. However, it's a premium chassis and feels very solid. It's not going to beat you up either.

Don't get me wrong, I love the new C-Class, but from experience the CTS is going to be a much more trouble free car in the long run. The only real way to make the decision is to get him into these vehicles for a test drive.

If your looking at a new E-Class, they ride really well, and the DTS is a closer competitor.

Also, I've seen some great deals on 07 CTS and C-Classes, if there are any left on the lot.

Generally these luxury makes have their own niches. BMW is pure performance oriented, MB is pure luxury, and Cadillac sits right in the middle.

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Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section