djperez

I bought the 06 GS430 when it first came out and I couldn't be happier. At about the same time, my father bought a CLS500 because he loved the design. Today my dad wants to dump the Benz. What most posters have said here is correct regarding reliability, etc. However, what I think is most significant is that if you are paying an extra $20K for a car, you want to be treated accordingly. You're not going to get that with MB. When you need to get the car serviced you will either: a) Call your Lexus dealer and speak with an advisor who will schedule an appointment for you to take the car OR the advisor can send someone out to your location to pick-up your car and hand over the keys to a Lexus loaner, free of charge; or B) Call your MB dealer, speak with a receptionist who will schedule your service appointment for three to four weeks from the date of your call, go to the MB dealer on the date of the appointment, wait at least one-half hour for your advisor to see you, drop off your Benz, and maybe, if you bought the car at the same dealer where you are taking it for service, get the dealer to spring for a maximum $25/day Dodge Neon or Toyota Corolla from Enterprise Rent-a-Car. If you're paying $80K for a car, you should expect better treatment. On the other hand, I paid $20K less for my GS and I get first class treatment from Lexus. Furthermore, after two weeks of driving the car, my dad ran into a situation where his front headlight became inoperable, he called the dealer using the wrench button on the Command system to report the situation and they told him that he'd have to wait to schedule an appointment for service!!!! He went to the dealer and it was only after much cajoling that he got someone to help him, but even then he had to wait two days for a "cancellation" of an appointment in order to get the headlight fixed!!!! Add to that the fact that Lexus' features are head and shoulders above anything on the Benz. Case in point: the Command system. Putting in an address in the Navi is cumbersome and takes a significant amount of effort, not to mention that the DVD lacks data for newer streets (despite the fact that these newer streets have been in existence since 1999). The closest analogy to the MB experience is going to the doctor; you wait several weeks for an appointment, they never see you at the time of your appointment, you spend hours in various waiting rooms, and you leave feeling worse than you did when you came in. If all that you're interested in is having something to look at, then get the Benzer, but if you're actually going to drive that car, use the features, and eventually take it in for service, there's no question, get the Lexus.