Should you buy?
There is no bad car among the full-size premium luxury sedans. The segment focuses on the S-Class, Audi A8, and BMW 7 Series, extends to cars in the general price bracket with less space (Maserati Quattroporte, Porsche Panamera) and down in price and possibly prestige (Acura RLX, Hyundai Equus, Jaguar XJ, Lexus LS). The buying choice might hinge on styling or exclusivity. If you can afford a $1,000 monthly lease payment, maybe $2,000 is possible and an entry Bentley or Rolls-Royce is do-able, especially pre-owned. Cadillac said it will not build a $100,000 halo car but Volkswagen just announced it's taking another stab at the US market with its premium VW Phaeton. (Phaeton 1.0 departed the US seven years ago when buyers realized you could get its sibling, the Audi A8, for the same money.)
The 2014 S-Class arrives first in September as the rear-drive, V8 Mercedes-Benz S550, followed in November with the 4Matic, all-wheel-drive, S550. Best guess is $95,000-$99,000 for the S550, another $3,000 for the all-wheel-drive model. That's $5,000-$15,000 more than BMW and Audi competitors, although a higher price in this category isn't always a terrible thing. Expect Mercedes to bring to the US within 1-2 years a six-cylinder diesel that gets real world highway economy beyond 35 mpg and a six-cylinder hybrid, both for about $1,000 less. With the diesel, the attraction in a high-end car is not so much saving a few bucks on fuel, but the ability to drive 700-800 miles between fill-ups. There will also be AMG models for more performance and exclusivity in the $140,000 range.
To get the real technical wizardry behind the S-Class, add $17,000. Start with the Premium 1 package at $4,500 that will be on most cars (and a required building block for other options): parking sensors, heated and ventilated front seats with massage, and keyless go. Add the surround view camera, $800. The driver assistance package, $4,500, takes the car from safe to ultra-safe with Distronic Plus (stop and go adaptive cruise control), blind spot detection, active lane keeping assist (self-steering), front and rear collision mitigation system. Night view assist plus is $2,260. The split view center front display runs $710. Magic body control is $4,450. Other Mercedes-Benzes have some of these features, including the midsize E-Class, but not all of them.
For ultimate comfort, there's the air balance package, $350, with perfume, filtration, and ionization. Warmth comfort, $2,350, warms and cools the rear seats, heats the front and rear armrests, heats the steering wheel. The premium Burmester 3D sound system is $6,400. Rear seat entertainment runs $2,650.
For the executive seating in back, you need the rear seat package, $3,000, with active seat belt buckles and airbags in the belt webbing and an electric footrest on the right rear side. The executive seat package that reclines 43.5 degrees adds $3,500. Folding tables in back and two- not three-person seating adds $1,950.
With Designo (de-zeen-yo) premium leather seating, a sport package, and a refrigerator box in back, and all the other options, the sticker price will be in the neighborhood of $150,000. One reason for the fully optioned S-Class is to fill the niche left by the $400,000 Maybach, a sibling brand that sold about 3,000 vehicles in the past 15 years.
As to whether you should consider the new S-Class: If you want the most technology, safety, entertainment and passenger comfort in one car, the S-Class is the clear way to go. At the same time, the sixth generation W222 of 2014 looks not unlike the fifth generation W221 S-Class of 2005-2013. If you do buy, commit yourself to mastering the features and technologies of the navigation, infotainment and seating systems. If you don't, you'll whine about the car being too hard to use. As with MyFord Touch and Cadillac CUE, the richness and complexity of technology means the driver must prove himself worthy of the car's many features. That's not the way it should be, but that's the way it is with the very best car ever made — so far.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-