The newest edition to the stable...

nooshinjohn

As many of you know, I have been searching for a new vehicle for some time now, and just a few days ago, my wife said to just go do it. My current car is a 2004 Jaguar XJ with just 70k miles on it, while my wife drives a Mercedes C300 that is pushing 100k. Knowing a Corvette or other sports car is out of the question, I started looking for an SUV for the family. My search led to me abandoning the notion of replacing my Jag, and instead we will be replacing her car with this...





It is a 2017 Mercedes GLC-300, and is loaded with every available option, including the Burmester surround audio system, and all the safety gizmos. This will be her car, and preserve my choice of car at a later date...

indyhawg

Nice ride John!

audioluvr

With twins coming I'd have thought something like a Hyundai Sonata...

nooshinjohn

audioluvr wrote: »

With twins coming I'd have thought something like a Hyundai Sonata...

We lost one of them... and the other seems to have stopped growing as well.

FestYboy

nooshinjohn wrote: »

audioluvr wrote: »

With twins coming I'd have thought something like a Hyundai Sonata...

We lost one of them... and the other seems to have stopped growing as well.

my condolences.

Kex

A very solid choice, John, congratulations! It shouldn’t be a big change from the C-300 sedan (and that’s a good thing). Beautiful color scheme, nobody has better seat controls or cruise control. Things like heated seats and heated mirrors just work the way they should IMO.

The transmissions tend to favor comfort over responsiveness IMO (compared to BMW or Audi in particular) but they are very smooth, and have probably improved a lot from the ones I’m familiar with.

Mercedes-Benz is one of those brands where you don’t know what you don’t know IMO, even in comparison to pseudo-luxury brands like Lexus or Acura. They are not nearly as expensive to maintain as some would have you believe, if they are well maintained from new.

charley95

No offense to ya Noosh, I hope you have good luck with the new ride. Hands down it's nicer styling and beautiful interior and exterior vs. other competitors. But, Kex could not be more wrong on his last statement on costs to maintain vs. Lexus & Acura.

Tony M

Sorry to hear that John.

boston1450

nooshinjohn wrote: »

audioluvr wrote: »

With twins coming I'd have thought something like a Hyundai Sonata...

We lost one of them... and the other seems to have stopped growing as well.

John my prayers go out to you & Nooshin & family. My condolences to you both

charley95

My condolences too Noosh.

rooftop59

So sorry to hear that John. Grace and peace be with John and your wife.

Nightfall

Oh, man, John. How are you guys holding up? I can't even imagine.

maxward

John, I am sorry for your loss. At the risk of appearing rude, I am interested in how you like the new ride after spending some time in it. Take care.

nooshinjohn

rooftop59 wrote: »

So sorry to hear that John. Grace and peace be with John and your wife.

I had my moments of grief over this, but Nooshin seems to be ok. She saw my mom in her dreams the other night, which never happens, and afterwards, her sadness was gone over it. It is because of all she has been through that I surprised her with this, instead of choosing a new car for me... no more about that.

As for the GLC, we take delivery tonight. It is being detailed and prepped today, and tomorrow I will be putting a ceramic coating on it.

tonyb

charley95 wrote: »

No offense to ya Noosh, I hope you have good luck with the new ride. Hands down it's nicer styling and beautiful interior and exterior vs. other competitors. But, Kex could not be more wrong on his last statement on costs to maintain vs. Lexus & Acura.

Gotta agree here. What MB does well is the creature comforts, no arguments there. Good news is, most luxury brands have some pretty stellar CPO programs. Good luck on the new ride John, and sorry to hear about the other, prayers my friend.

Milito

Very sorry to you and your wife about the loss of your twins.

Congrats on the MB.

Kex

Actually, @tonyb & @charley95, I may have not been clear in my post. 🤔

I wasn’t comparing maintenance costs (I don’t precisely know the maintenance costs of Acura or Lexus), but stating that they are not nearly as expensive for MBZ as some would have you believe.

I do much prefer MBZ styling and road manners.

audioluvr

Sorry to hear that John. Everything happens for a reason. Only God knows how our future plays out.

verb

OMG John! I am so so sorry to hear this! My heart truly goes out to you and your lovely wife and family.

I am so struck. With anguish and sorrow. All my love for you brother, and your wife, and son.

My deepest prayers for you and the family during this time. I hope and pray that you can find peace.

nooshinjohn

Again guys, my thanks over the expression of support, but I really would like to turn this back to the car and not about our loss. We are both ok with it as we realize it is a better outcome for her health, and for our family. By that I mean the only reason they were unable to make it to this world is that there was likely a genetic cause for them not to continue to grow.

Yes it hurts, but my faith tells me they will be the very first to greet me when the veil is lifted and I cross to the other side.

verb

Always wanted to get my ears on some Burmester stuff! Had my eyes on a CD player not too long ago, opted for the EAR instead. They look amazing! All that chrome!

nooshinjohn

My understanding is that Burmester EQ’d the system. I will give you guys my impressions of the sound when I get it set up. I like that I can plug in a hard drive with my music on it and play it in the car.

maxward

John, since this SUV is pretty different than what you were originally considering, IIRC, did you look at others (X3, Q5, XC60, etc.), or did this one just call out to you and that was that? Reason I’m asking is I’m considering a CPO of one of these, or possibly the upcoming Mercedes GLB, to replace my wife’s Countryman when the time comes.

nooshinjohn

This particular GLC was built with a few options reserved for the S Class, so it was a special build, and MSRP’d north of 60k. It has 26k miles on it, and simply nothing else competes for the price. I considered Jaguar F-pace, which in supercharged v6 form, is an amazing drive. If it were for me, I would have taken that one. Subaru Outback 3.6r is the same price as the Benz, and nowhere near it in terms of value. BMW took one look at my ratty t-shirt and jeans, my old Pontiac Sunfire and everybody scattered.

The Buick GMC store was closed on a Wednesday and locked up. Their service manager offered to give my information to their sales team when they got back from their day off. I told him they don’t need my business if they can’t be open on a work day.

Ultimately the GLC represents the best value and my wife loves it.

charley95

Kex wrote: »

Actually, @tonyb & @charley95, I may have not been clear in my post. 🤔

I wasn’t comparing maintenance costs (I don’t precisely know the maintenance costs of Acura or Lexus), but stating that they are not nearly as expensive for MBZ as some would have you believe.

I do much prefer MBZ styling and road manners.

I agree on styling and road manners. What do you mean by not nearly as expensive?

Kex

Geez... I guess it depends on what your expectations are, but reading some of the opinions around CP is as if any MBZ owner should be anticipating a doomsday scenario at any time with the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads permanently. That has not been my experience, even beyond 100K miles or ten years.

Sure, it costs more to maintain a vehicle that requires 8.5 quarts of synthetic oil and special fleece filters. Also, more exotic accessories like a panoramic sunroof or powered blinds on rear and side windows might require some additional maintenance, or even fail.

Basically, there are two service schedules. Service A and service B. They occur once a year or every 10K miles. Service A is under $200, and service B is under $400, so that averages out at $300/year. Assuming that holds for the first five years, after that, expect additional maintenance items such as rotors, brake pads, spark plugs, tires, or a transmission service.

IMO, the best way to maintain any vehicle, regardless of brand, is to know a good mechanic who specializes in that brand, and who is in possession of the appropriate diagnostics computer (STAR for MBZ).

nooshinjohn

My '04 Jag stays because I know how to diagnose, and in may cases, fix the car on my own. Last year, the intake manifold failed, and I chose to have it done elsewhere because I didn't have time to work on it, but the parts to fix came from Land Rover and were a couple hundred bucks. Jaguar would have insisted I buy the whole intake @2k... labor was about 500 bucks.

It needs brakes/rotors/LOF and tires now and I may get this done on Monday, while we still have her old Benz...

Kex

Love the old Jags John, like the XJS, especially Vanden Plas. Hate the new ones... not sufficient British pedigree for me 😂

P.S. I’d never work on a Mercedes-Benz myself. Gets complicated fast, and so much that can’t be done without STAR.

nooshinjohn

I love the XF/XJ but fear they have lost their way forever by following Tesla. The next XJ will be a battery powered golf cart with a 100k price tag.

Kex

Don’t even know who they make these cars for, John... looks like a Hyundai to me 😞

Jaguar for sale

charley95

Kex wrote: »

Geez... I guess it depends on what your expectations are, but reading some of the opinions around CP is as if any MBZ owner should be anticipating a doomsday scenario at any time with the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads permanently. That has not been my experience, even beyond 100K miles or ten years.

Sure, it costs more to maintain a vehicle that requires 8.5 quarts of synthetic oil and special fleece filters. Also, more exotic accessories like a panoramic sunroof or powered blinds on rear and side windows might require some additional maintenance, or even fail.

Basically, there are two service schedules. Service A and service B. They occur once a year or every 10K miles. Service A is under $200, and service B is under $400, so that averages out at $300/year. Assuming that holds for the first five years, after that, expect additional maintenance items such as rotors, brake pads, spark plugs, tires, or a transmission service.

IMO, the best way to maintain any vehicle, regardless of brand, is to know a good mechanic who specializes in that brand, and who is in possession of the appropriate diagnostics computer (STAR for MBZ).

Any modern car is expensive to maintain. You can perform all the PM's on any modern Mercedes,BMW,Audi and they're still gonna bite ya if you're keeping it for the long haul. Audi's... of yesteryear going 2-300k are not the case with the modern ones. Most people driving the modern higher end imports are usually leasing or trading in 3-5 years anyway.

I'm the exception owning 2 newer Lexus's and hope to get 15 years of service out of them with proper PM's of course. Ya never know, one or both might not make it that far, but I have a better chance vs. the other luxury competitors. Too many people rely on ad agencies like JD Power,Consumer Reports... to make their decisions on their new car purchases. I've actually read that some will tell ya that a Fiat or a Mini Cooper is the way to go.

I come to places like this if I'm purchasing HiFi since I don't know a transistor from a diode. I spend enough time on forums like this and conclude who the seasoned veterans are to steer me in my HiFi purchase. In the car world, appliance world... it all boils down to planned obsolescence. Some just make a better mouse trap than others.
Some people just don't know what they don't know!!!