C240
#2
03-31-2003, 04:44 PM
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#3
03-31-2003, 07:40 PM
Re: C240
For the price, there is really no comparison to the G. There are only two "real" arguments. First, you just might not like the styling of the G. I love it, but the way a car looks is such a personal decision that it's a good reason to buy or not buy a vehicle. The second reason would be the mercedes nameplate. Kind of shallow but there is a certain "prestige" factor in owning a Benz. Especially depending what age group you fall in. Driving a new Benz between the ages of 24-29 will definitely get your friends talking!
I'm 32, and I did exhaustive research before I bought my G sedan. Trust me, unless you don't want the infiniti for one of the two reasons I listed, it's the very best sub 40grand car available (brand new)
Here's a list of cars that I "compared" my G to. In no particular order:
Lincoln LS.......have to upgrade to V8 to even come close to power of G, Styling is ok, but my granddad has a Lincoln so count me out
Jaguar X-Type....Decent styling but low on power, I love the leaping Jaguar on the hood but unfortunately that's the best part of the car!
Acura TL Type S....Finally a car that has a little juice, but I'm not sure there is any car with more boring looks, and the inside is average at best
Lexus ES300....Ummm, I dare somebody to tell me this isn't a Camry with slightly larger, more bubbly headlights!! To this day, unless I look closely, I think every Camry I see is the Lex and vice versa. And forget about horsepower.
Audi A6...yeah, don't even bother comparing it to an A4. That would be like Mike Tyson vs my wife. Anyway, the A6 in the 2.7 trim is an ok car, but I challenge somebody to find it under 40 grand with all the options I have on my G (including Nav), plus you still get a extra 15 ponies with the infiniti.
Beemer 3 series, another shocker but the G is a far better value. Way more horsepower (unless we are talking M3, which is way more $$$). I do like the looks of the BMW though. Although it doesn't change much over the years. I have a friend with a 1994 3 series and one who just got a 2003. Cars are almost 10 years apart and look practically identical. BMW had better stop resting on it's laurels and give us some horsepower and styling changes or they will never get my checkbook. Plus those beemers are really a dime a dozen and rarely turn heads anymore. Most of the time I don't even notice them.
Cadillac CTS....Hmmmm, interesting. You might love the way it looks but will it still be a cool, "cutting edge" look in 2005? I doubt it. It will probably just look silly then, and again the power is way under the G, although I've hear rumblings about a "suped" up version for next year.
I didn't bother looking at any pontiacs, mazdas, volkswagons or Hondas. I knew I wasn't interested in those makes. So my last stop was the Benz dealership. I immediately started drooling over the CLK's and I must have ran 3 dozen different sets of numbers in my head to try to figure out a way to afford it. I figured if I worked nights and weekends, then skipped eating meals on Mon, Wed, and Friday, I'd just be able to do it!! In other words, forget it. So the C-class is what they showed me. Not bad on the eyes, and it may even come in around the same price as the G, depending on options, but alas the best they could offer was the C320 sports sedan with a paltry 215 horsepower. No Thanks. How's it gonna look when 245 horsepower Altimas driven by housewives are beating me off the line!
So I ran straight to my Infiniti dealership and bought my G. One last note to this rather long post. I'm not an impulse buyer but I cry myself to sleep each night cuz I got my sedan last May before the coupe was out and unless I'm gonna eat the "upgrade" cost I'm stuck. THE COUPE IS AWESOME!!
But you can't go wrong with the sedan either. Ok, enough from me. Remember, these are just my opinions, so if you happen to own one of the cars I spoke of, I meant no disrespect. Let me know what you all think.
I'm 32, and I did exhaustive research before I bought my G sedan. Trust me, unless you don't want the infiniti for one of the two reasons I listed, it's the very best sub 40grand car available (brand new)
Here's a list of cars that I "compared" my G to. In no particular order:
Lincoln LS.......have to upgrade to V8 to even come close to power of G, Styling is ok, but my granddad has a Lincoln so count me out
Jaguar X-Type....Decent styling but low on power, I love the leaping Jaguar on the hood but unfortunately that's the best part of the car!
Acura TL Type S....Finally a car that has a little juice, but I'm not sure there is any car with more boring looks, and the inside is average at best
Lexus ES300....Ummm, I dare somebody to tell me this isn't a Camry with slightly larger, more bubbly headlights!! To this day, unless I look closely, I think every Camry I see is the Lex and vice versa. And forget about horsepower.
Audi A6...yeah, don't even bother comparing it to an A4. That would be like Mike Tyson vs my wife. Anyway, the A6 in the 2.7 trim is an ok car, but I challenge somebody to find it under 40 grand with all the options I have on my G (including Nav), plus you still get a extra 15 ponies with the infiniti.
Beemer 3 series, another shocker but the G is a far better value. Way more horsepower (unless we are talking M3, which is way more $$$). I do like the looks of the BMW though. Although it doesn't change much over the years. I have a friend with a 1994 3 series and one who just got a 2003. Cars are almost 10 years apart and look practically identical. BMW had better stop resting on it's laurels and give us some horsepower and styling changes or they will never get my checkbook. Plus those beemers are really a dime a dozen and rarely turn heads anymore. Most of the time I don't even notice them.
Cadillac CTS....Hmmmm, interesting. You might love the way it looks but will it still be a cool, "cutting edge" look in 2005? I doubt it. It will probably just look silly then, and again the power is way under the G, although I've hear rumblings about a "suped" up version for next year.
I didn't bother looking at any pontiacs, mazdas, volkswagons or Hondas. I knew I wasn't interested in those makes. So my last stop was the Benz dealership. I immediately started drooling over the CLK's and I must have ran 3 dozen different sets of numbers in my head to try to figure out a way to afford it. I figured if I worked nights and weekends, then skipped eating meals on Mon, Wed, and Friday, I'd just be able to do it!! In other words, forget it. So the C-class is what they showed me. Not bad on the eyes, and it may even come in around the same price as the G, depending on options, but alas the best they could offer was the C320 sports sedan with a paltry 215 horsepower. No Thanks. How's it gonna look when 245 horsepower Altimas driven by housewives are beating me off the line!
So I ran straight to my Infiniti dealership and bought my G. One last note to this rather long post. I'm not an impulse buyer but I cry myself to sleep each night cuz I got my sedan last May before the coupe was out and unless I'm gonna eat the "upgrade" cost I'm stuck. THE COUPE IS AWESOME!!
But you can't go wrong with the sedan either. Ok, enough from me. Remember, these are just my opinions, so if you happen to own one of the cars I spoke of, I meant no disrespect. Let me know what you all think.
#4
03-31-2003, 08:23 PM
<font color=red>GSM</font color=red>
#5
03-31-2003, 09:38 PM
Re: C240
I test drove 9 of the 11 in Road & Track's 'Super Sedan' comparo (July 02) back in April last year. I ended up with the G and never regretted it.
Even independent of price, the G is a great buy. My 2nd choice would have been the 330i, but it's smaller and I couldn't justify spending the extra $12K CDN for one equivalently equipped.
The C classes are very solid feeling, but under powered until you go to the C320 Sport.
Automobile Mag's Feb 03 4 Season Test reported many disturbing quality issues saying "<font color=blue>...it doesn't have the interior quality of a Volkswagon.</font color=blue>" They also had numerous problems with some of the electronics including faulty turn-signals, seatbelt retractors, and especially the door locks which were replaced because of intermitent operation. After replacement, they sometimes had to lock all the doors manually from the driver's side and then lock the driver's door with the mechanical key! And we complain about our Gs?[img]/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
<font color=green>GG</font color=green>
Even independent of price, the G is a great buy. My 2nd choice would have been the 330i, but it's smaller and I couldn't justify spending the extra $12K CDN for one equivalently equipped.
The C classes are very solid feeling, but under powered until you go to the C320 Sport.
Automobile Mag's Feb 03 4 Season Test reported many disturbing quality issues saying "<font color=blue>...it doesn't have the interior quality of a Volkswagon.</font color=blue>" They also had numerous problems with some of the electronics including faulty turn-signals, seatbelt retractors, and especially the door locks which were replaced because of intermitent operation. After replacement, they sometimes had to lock all the doors manually from the driver's side and then lock the driver's door with the mechanical key! And we complain about our Gs?[img]/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
<font color=green>GG</font color=green>
#6
04-01-2003, 01:08 AM
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Re: C240
I've read through the replies posted here and they all make very good points. I don't want to take this discussion "off course", but I believe a very important point has been overlooked... when you consider Infiniti/Nissan vs. MB (or vs. BMW or vs. Audi), consider safety as well.
The roads in good ol' USA (and I assume Canada) are not very safe vs. other industrialized nations (tons of statistics to prove that), and frankly speaking I would rather walk away from as many accidents as it takes (I've had my share of stupid accidents, and I've had my share of stupid people making sure I had an accident). I trust MB and BMW to get me through any accident in the best way a car of their specific size can, I believe it's very difficult to beat these two on crash safety because they have focused on it for so long. Not so sure about Audi, although they have made great strides in the recent past with their build quality.
Unfotunately there's little to no data about G35 crash test worthiness, so I admit I'm taking a bit of a gamble here.
chackout: http://www.hwysafety.org/
(also, but not as accurate) http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/
Unfortunately, in the past Nissan/Infiniti crash test have not held upto the MB/BMW standards, the latest Altima body being the best crashing Nissan in quite some time, per hwysafety.org
I can only hope the G35 fares better than the latest I35 tests done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Don't get me wrong, the G cars have great safety potential, with good size, weight, number of front/side/curtain airbags, stunning breaks, all part of the reason I took the chance and got a G vs. MB vs. BMW. But you just don't know how it will turn out until it's tested. Now that the Gs have won MT Car of the Year, maybe they'll get off their butts at the Institute, grab one off the lot, and get us the test results pronto. (Apparently the Skyline platform, the original G platform in Japan, was crash tested in Japan and received high marks, but I don't read Japanese and have been unable to confirm this).
Long story short, aside from MB's recent quality problems, which I would pin on Chrysler getting its hooks into Daimler (but that's just my ranting, of course), I would trust MB C-class, or E-class, or anyother class to get me through any collision as best as a vehicle of that size could, and hopefully let me walk away from my misfortune. Just one more fact to consider with all the other excellent feed back so far.
"There's no replacement for discplacement, but forced induction can sure help".
The roads in good ol' USA (and I assume Canada) are not very safe vs. other industrialized nations (tons of statistics to prove that), and frankly speaking I would rather walk away from as many accidents as it takes (I've had my share of stupid accidents, and I've had my share of stupid people making sure I had an accident). I trust MB and BMW to get me through any accident in the best way a car of their specific size can, I believe it's very difficult to beat these two on crash safety because they have focused on it for so long. Not so sure about Audi, although they have made great strides in the recent past with their build quality.
Unfotunately there's little to no data about G35 crash test worthiness, so I admit I'm taking a bit of a gamble here.
chackout: http://www.hwysafety.org/
(also, but not as accurate) http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/
Unfortunately, in the past Nissan/Infiniti crash test have not held upto the MB/BMW standards, the latest Altima body being the best crashing Nissan in quite some time, per hwysafety.org
I can only hope the G35 fares better than the latest I35 tests done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Don't get me wrong, the G cars have great safety potential, with good size, weight, number of front/side/curtain airbags, stunning breaks, all part of the reason I took the chance and got a G vs. MB vs. BMW. But you just don't know how it will turn out until it's tested. Now that the Gs have won MT Car of the Year, maybe they'll get off their butts at the Institute, grab one off the lot, and get us the test results pronto. (Apparently the Skyline platform, the original G platform in Japan, was crash tested in Japan and received high marks, but I don't read Japanese and have been unable to confirm this).
Long story short, aside from MB's recent quality problems, which I would pin on Chrysler getting its hooks into Daimler (but that's just my ranting, of course), I would trust MB C-class, or E-class, or anyother class to get me through any collision as best as a vehicle of that size could, and hopefully let me walk away from my misfortune. Just one more fact to consider with all the other excellent feed back so far.
"There's no replacement for discplacement, but forced induction can sure help".
#7
04-01-2003, 10:26 AM
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Re: C240
Thanks for your replies.
First of all, the reason i asked is because my brother bought a C240 recently instead of the G35. I checked it out last weekend and the only thing i like about it is the wood trim. Other than that, this car is really no comparison (imo) to my black on black G35. The homelink had already failed on his brand new C240.....
First of all, the reason i asked is because my brother bought a C240 recently instead of the G35. I checked it out last weekend and the only thing i like about it is the wood trim. Other than that, this car is really no comparison (imo) to my black on black G35. The homelink had already failed on his brand new C240.....
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#8
04-02-2003, 04:39 PM
Re: C240
Hello all, I'm one of your newest members. I like what I see here. I just picked up my G35-S yesterday morning 12:00am after haggling for a few hours. Anyway I have a C-320 wagon, it's not hardly slow, I'm sure now the G will pull away but the C will at least initially, give it a run. C's are solid and we haven't experienced any problems with the exeption of rotor issues early on. No biggie because that's happened to me in Bimmers that I have owned in the past as well. The car (mostly driven by my wife) has only 12k and we bought it new in Sept. "01" and nothing to report.
Previous to C we had a 98 5-series sport, prior to that a slew of 3 series sports. The G in my opinion captures the essence of the 3 & 5 series at an extremely attractive price. The only 5 at least accleration wise that will give the "G" issues is the 540 which is in a whole different tax bracket. 530-I sport will make you sweat in the turns though - believe that. Why compare the 5? Because the 3 is much smaller. As far as the C sedan goes your giving up room and obviously hp to the G. E- class again - a whole different level The driving charateristics of the C are totally different. G is instant, to whereas the C you have a split second of lag and the pickup becomes strong and linear.
I'm new to the board but I will say this Nissan/Infiniti is back and you better beleive the other manfacturers are scratching their heads. How can they compete at this price point?
"03.5" G35-S Ivory Pearl Sport/Premium/Aero-RS
"02" MBZ C-320 Sport Wagon Brilliant Silv/C-2
Previous to C we had a 98 5-series sport, prior to that a slew of 3 series sports. The G in my opinion captures the essence of the 3 & 5 series at an extremely attractive price. The only 5 at least accleration wise that will give the "G" issues is the 540 which is in a whole different tax bracket. 530-I sport will make you sweat in the turns though - believe that. Why compare the 5? Because the 3 is much smaller. As far as the C sedan goes your giving up room and obviously hp to the G. E- class again - a whole different level The driving charateristics of the C are totally different. G is instant, to whereas the C you have a split second of lag and the pickup becomes strong and linear.
I'm new to the board but I will say this Nissan/Infiniti is back and you better beleive the other manfacturers are scratching their heads. How can they compete at this price point?
"03.5" G35-S Ivory Pearl Sport/Premium/Aero-RS
"02" MBZ C-320 Sport Wagon Brilliant Silv/C-2
#9
04-02-2003, 06:14 PM
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Re: C240
Well said. Your post is a very mature and fair comparison between the various makes and models.
The G35s is, by far, not the best nor the fastest car out there. It's probably the best car for the money. Many of my friends think the G35s costs in mid 40k range. I bought it because i just fell in love with the car. And you all know, love can be blind......
The G35s is, by far, not the best nor the fastest car out there. It's probably the best car for the money. Many of my friends think the G35s costs in mid 40k range. I bought it because i just fell in love with the car. And you all know, love can be blind......
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