Personally, class aside I'd go with a Lexus IS-F or a M5, 760i, or similarly-specced Audi.
The M-series is luxurious, but it certainly is more a sporty thing than classy. Out of my picks the 760 is the classy one.
Personally, class aside I'd go with a Lexus IS-F or a M5, 760i, or similarly-specced Audi.
The M-series is luxurious, but it certainly is more a sporty thing than classy. Out of my picks the 760 is the classy one.
you missed lexus
Meh Lexus is just a polished high priced toyota not what I would call classy
mercedes and BMW are german taxis... not what i would call classy either, but the fit and finish of any lexus is the best in the world, hence why they keep winning quality tests, you can also get your Lexus washed and detailed for free when its under warranty
I agree. Lexus may not have the street cred from thousands of "badge buyers" and acquired over many generations, but it is an infinitely better finished car. The fit and finish of low-end Bimmers is not as good as the MPS6 which is 1/3 of the price, nor are they as reliable, and service costs are usurous. The M series Mercs are made in the US and the finish reflects it. Just rubbish. The Germans have conned too many of the unaware for far too long with the myth of "German engineering" and "reliability". It's just that - a myth. An old Toyota Corona demonstrates a better history of reliability than any Merc I've ever known. A few friends of mine have had Mercs for years and gave up on them due to crap service, prohibitive running costs and doubtful reliability,and have switched to Lexus' and have never looked back.
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I beg you to line up a Maserati or a Lambo or something of that stature up against a Lexus, totally different league of build quality...I totally agree though, BWM and Mercs are nothing these days
I prefer both worlds
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Most lexux drivers I have seen are middle aged women who probably couldn't even tell you what car they were driving. People buy Lexus' because they are a good car that works and is comfortable, but they are not something your really proud of, if that makes sence.
I think thats very different from a bentley, a maybach, BMW M5, Audi A/S8, Roles Royce etc
Last edited by Lachlan; 24-08-2010 at 10:47 PM.
Lachlan, Hi. So - your point is? Think again how many of your "middle aged/elderly" (presumably suggesting inept and unaware) Rolls, Merc and Bimmer drivers do we see, and how many might buy for the image but would barely know what makes the car go or how to drive? The GS4300 Lexus is a pretty fast car off the mark. And I see plenty of Maseratis in my suburb (they really are like fleas there now - but really nice fleas) driven by folks who are old enough to have accumulated enough money to afford one, but use it as little more than a shopping trolley. Two classic "dumb blondes" in their mid 30's turn up every day at my supermarket in a Lambo Gallardo convertible and load the shopping into it. I don't think it goes much further than than. In short, it's hard to generalize.
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Yeah Doug, I know I was generalising, and I do agree with you.
There will always be people with wonderful unique cars who dont know it/dont care; and yes there nice Lexus', I have nothing against them, They just dont seem to have the same flare that the others do. They are not like the ludicrously opulent Bentleys, RR's or Maybachs, nor as awe inspiring as a top end M5 or Audi. They don't ooze money and class like the others, they just seem a little dull.
Saying that, If I had the money, i would be quite torn between the Lexus LFA and an Aston Martin DBS, so they are doing something correct there I think.
Also, where do you live to see Maserati's all the time...all I see in canberra are heaps of STi's and the occasional M3 or porsche. your lucky
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Hi Lachlan, I've owned three myself, all earlier ones - a 1968 Quattroporte, a 1972 Ghibli and a 1963 3500 GT Sebring, as well as a 1972 Iso Fidia. But my suburb in Perth is almost clogged with "modern" Astons and Maseratis, and a few Lamborghinis thrown in for good measure. I don't mind Lamborghinis but I take the view that even God wouldn't arrive in a conveyance quite as radical as some of them, namely the delightfully extreme Countach, which is getting pretty old now. A few of the local spivs have Porsches and there is the odd Ferrari, but they seem to project a different image.
In fact I do agree with you and think think that while the Lexus is a very competent and well-built car, it does not seem quite "pur sang" when compared with the others we are are discussing. A shame really, for I can assert from experience that one should never put an exotic on a pedestal. Like a beautiful woman, they almost all have some shortcomings that reveal themselves in due course and one can grow tired of them or at least be forced to view them in a new light - not intended to be a sexist or mysoginist comment at all, but just for the purpose of simile, and I admit the reverse gender applies too.
The Lexus has fewer shortcoming than almost all the others, hence why my friends who have bought them have breathed a sigh of relief at no longer being faced with stupid bills for servicing so-called "quality" cars like Mercs and Bimmers and Jags. I used to get charged $600 every service on my V12 Jaguar Sovereign and V12 XJS just for replacing the air-con dryer!! They cost more than my plane to service!!
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I formed a deep seeded hatred for all German cars during my first 2 years at uni when I had to drive for over an hour in peak hour every morning. I associated pig headed selfishness on the road with the kinds of cars people drive and surprise to nobody; BMW drivers are by far the least considerate of the bunch. Mercedes are not much better and I started to dislike Audi as well simply by their association with the other 2 (As I like to call it, the spawn of Hitler)
It is this (justified) prejudice the precludes me from ever considering German saloon cars to ever be "classy" The glaring exception here is VW, mainly because they arent pig headed overpriced rich persons cars like the other 3.
For me, "Classy" means Jaguar & Aston Martin, Rolls Royce & possibly Range Rover as well. In other words; British. Often Sh itty unreliable piles of junk from a technical standpoint. But classy nonetheless. Volkswagen get an honourable mention from me as well, every time an R32 drives past me I feel like tipping my hat.
Unfortunately, the only country that knows how to build cars properly (Japan) just doesn't have any cars in this league. Lexus come close and do understatement very well, but they are just a bit too sterile to be classy for me.
Last edited by Reedy; 26-08-2010 at 05:42 PM.
Range Rover - Really? It's almost as 'classy' as a hummer. The car of choice of the 'obnoxious rich kid', the 'overpaid sportsman' and the 'wannabe outdoors type'.
R32.....big smile :-D
These two cars are fast, but come slow but they certainly have a very noticeable presence - for what I'm talking about.
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REEDY, quite well said. I never got off on German cars much either. Compared with Italian cars, it's a case of Vivaldi or Wagner? - passion or practicality? I admit VW are not only one of the major manufacturers now, and produce a few decent cars and all are well assembled, but I will always find it hard to drive a Volkswagen, the Kraut name for "People's Car".
German cars are soulless things, with maybe a few exceptions, although I'd say their soul would come by the addition of some noisy HP - as in AMG 6.3's. They all have sterile pressed steel panels under the bonnet with silly German long guttural words on them like "auf" and "gang" and "nurfurgerfingerpoken".
Nothing so romantic and reminiscent of real driving as the Italian cars smelling of wood and leather and guages marked "benzina", "acqua" and "temperatura" and the howl of a 400HP Maserati 90 degree alloy V8 born straight out of the Le Mans 450S or their wonderful 3500 litre straight six Sebring and Mistral engines coming on song in a long tunnel in the alps. My 4.7 litre Ghibli used to sound like a cross between the Mersey Power station and all the flume gates from the Hoover Dam being opened at once. It was a totally unique sound that I've never heard since.
I am starting to breathe a sigh of relief that Beetles are slowly dying a death. "Hitler's Revenge", I call them. And have you ever notice that at the head of every slow queue of cars there is a VW Kombi. Together, those models should all be put in a huge heap and incinerated. At Auschwitz! That'd be symbolic.
VELOCITY RED, glad to be able to keep you amused ;-) .... One does one's best.
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