Considering Lexus 400

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Originally Posted by CadillacSTS2003

the Lexus while being more reliable and cheaper to maintain
is also by far much more bland imho

Nobody's gonna argue that.

Originally Posted by turnne

I can understand that coomment...having owned a 140 S class for several years...those repairs can be a nightmare...I was lucky that 80% of mine was done under extended warranty.....about 15K the warranty company paid on that car

Oh shit, I thought mine was bad....$4,000 in repairs and maintenance since August. About 60% of that were repairs covered under my warranty though.

What all did you have go on yours? What year and model was it? How long did you own yours?

[CadillacSTS2003]

Originally Posted by EDBSO

I recently purchased an 03 Toyota and compared to my 2001 Eldorado the Toyota is so very totally boring. Why only today I checked the oil for the second time and found it boringly down a whole 1/8 of an inch after 4,000 miles of boring driving. And it still is clean. Driving the Eldorado is never boring. You constantly have to watch the temperature gauge with every mile you drive for fear of severely overheating it. You get lots of exercise lifting that big hood to check the oil level and it never gets boring pouring quart after quart of oil into the N*. There is the constant adrenaline rush from the Eldorado when it is cold and there is steam in the exhaust. You sweat bullets on a cold day thinking another head gasket has bit the dust. Cadaiiacs are never boring. Thank goodness the Toyota is very very BORING, I can't stand the constant angst of the non-boring Cadillac.

thats not being a owner...
thats called being paranoid
its your own fault not the cars fault that you spent too much time worrying about the car to enjoy it...
ive had HGs blow and i still bought another Cadillac...
if you cant afford the cost of ownership you have no right purchasing an expensive car.

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Originally Posted by CadillacSTS2003

if you cant afford the cost of ownership you have no right purchasing an expensive car.

Well I don't know if I'd say that. If money is tight, buy a luxury car that's not as costly to own...ie an older OHC Cadillac, or an OLD LS400 or a Park Ave or something of that nature. Shit, you can get a fairly nice '92 Q45 for like $3,000 nowadays.

[CadillacSTS2003]

cost of ownership
and cost of being the owner are two different things Chad

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

How so?

[CadillacSTS2003]

cost of ownership is everything
purchasing of the car, maintenance, fuel cost, registration, insurance etc etc etc...

cost of being in owner is just the purchasing of the car

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Ohhhh ok, gotcha. Your wording had me confused there for a second.

[roger greeb]

i think i'd move down south and forget about the snow!

[Jesda]

The LS400 is not exciting, but its very, very, very, very good.

It didn't really satisfy me emotionally, but made up for it by being swift, silky, and supremely comfortable. It even smelled nice! And the Nakamichi sound system was amazing. I didn't have too many kind things to say about it when I let it go, but in retrospect it was an excellent car. It might have been the most comfortable road trip vehicle I'd ever enjoyed, with the Navigator a close second.

I wish the LS400 was more interesting to look at and drive, otherwise its perfect.

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

In terms of excitement and fun to drive, I wonder how an LS stacks up against my car, or V-8 powered 140?

[Yaemish]

Going to stir the pot a little more... Got the Lexus, still have both Caddys. Intellichoice.com gives a good comparison for total cost of ownership between cars.

[ted tcb]

In post#9, it looked like you were shying away from the LS400.
What changed your mind?
Did you end up with the 2000 LS?
After spending some time in the Lexus, how does it compare to your STS?

[Yaemish]

I'm not getting rid of the Caddy.

There are pros to each car. You know how you feel the jump in quality from a Chevy to Cadillac? There is a similar jump from the Caddy to the Lexus, at least in terms of the interior materials. Though this jump is not huge. i like the rear wheel factor, the car handles like Seville would had it been rear wheel. You can feel the power difference, I'm guess it has to do with there not being as much a drop in power in the rear wheel configuration. I the SRX is 320 rear wheel, and the 290 in the Lexus is close but not quite there. More than the Seville though.

The cockpit feels more like it is geared towards the driver, just in terms of how it fits around you. it does a good job isolating you from the outside world. Its about as smooth as the Seville (once I put my regular tires back on) and drives the same on the highway. It is a little quieter and you can't hear the engine at all. They are still comparable cars and I haven't yet driven the new CTS but if future Cadillacs are built as well as the reviews say... The Cadillac will be on the same plain.

All things considered, I don't have the same pride feeling when driving the Lexus. That may be in my head though. I also think the styling of the car leaves something to be desired.

[turnne]

Originally Posted by I~LUV~Caddys8792

In terms of excitement and fun to drive, I wonder how an LS stacks up against my car, or V-8 powered 140?

Not even close...the 140 chasis Benz is like no other in build quality
It has a spare no expense type of aura about it...and with that comes some very scary repair issues when you have to replace those items

In regard to the question earlier about what my 1992 140 had that was repaired

Mine was a turbodiesel...and the Mercedes had some internal engine problems with the 90-95 3.5 liter turbodiesel engine..namely the connecting rods would bend and cause internal wear...the fix was a new short block and piston set..or a MB offered a remanufactured long block

repairs done during the 100K miles I owned the car

evaporator core and dash push button unit $5100.00 ( 100% warranty)

door/trunk closing assit pump $850( 100% warranty)

replaced engine( remanufactured unit with MB 40 mo 5 year warranty) $13000(100% warranty)

Alternator( rebuilt unit) $800( 100% warranty)

All the work was done at my local MB dealer

there were a few other minor ones done that I cannot remember


Getting back to the Lexus...its actually closer in feel to the STS than it is to the Mercedes...and much more realiable and has better resale than either one


Warren

[chubbyranger]

Originally Posted by Yaemish

All things considered, I don't have the same pride feeling when driving the Lexus.

Maybe because its a ricer?