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I'll link it one more time to show you the Navigator topped the GLS and X7. https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2020-bmw-x7-2021-cadillac-escalade-lincoln-navigator-mercedes-benz-gls-class-3-row-luxury-suv-comparison-test-review/ "Despite some positives, the BMW X7 just doesn't outride, outdrive, or out-luxe the established players in this segment. It's a good first effort but unfortunately not a great one." "Despite its lack of the premium leathers, woods, and headliners of the rest of the field, the GLS' as-tested price was a group-high $108,135. " "Compared to the BMW, Cadillac, and Lincoln, the Mercedes had the least impressive interior of the lot. Ignoring the aging design—an issue the BMW suffers from, as well—materials on our supposedly luxurious GLS580 left us wanting for more."

We are snowing in the Mountains YAH!!! Rain off and on in the Lowlands, upper 40s today and this weekend. Have started to get the yard going also like @Robert Hall Front Grass is thatched and cleaned up last week, fertilized it, put down moss killer also, right now a nice dark green. Back yard is in total remodel mode, have my garden area, but re-doing the rest to level out the yard, will take some pics and post later.

Or CorEVette to emphasize the EV angle... or something like Corvette Z-0EV

We're currently passing Third Winter. I think yesterday was the last day of 30's and it should be 50's-60's going forward!

Yes happy April Fools day to you and everyone here.

We'll the up-and-coming professional youth in the Tech Industry has spoken, just on a zoom meeting and at the end we as always open it up if there is time for random chat. No one really seemed to have anything to discuss, so I asked if I could ask a simple question that was not related to tech work. What do people think of when they hear Mercedes-Benz? I honestly was not surprised to hear luxury, expensive, German. What surprised me was the numerous comments of why buy old tech in an Auto when Tesla is the luxury leader. That comment that got people really talking surprised me. It was interesting to hear many say they are waiting for Apple to start auto production. I also was surprised to hear folks mention how excited they were for Lucid and Rivian, but a few also said it was awesome to see Hummer back and they were excited to see one and possibly buy one. Yes, I work at a technology company, so it is no surprise to hear people talk about going EV. Yet many like some here said they were holding out till the true $30,000 EVs hit the market by 2025. It would seem there is plenty of pent-up demand for EVs and plenty of people willing to wait out the pandemic with their existing ICE auto till EVs are brought in. I would have to say we are in very fluid times of the auto industry and the customers are going to speak, right now I am hearing lots of folks are waiting for EVs in the lower tier of pricing. Chevrolet could find themselves in a very high demand market share when they deliver the Equinox at the end of this year for production.

My in-laws just picked up a 2017 GL550 for 60k, 36 or 37,000 miles on it. 5 years old and it lost, what, 40-50%? That resale doesn't sound any better than Lincoln's, excluding the Navigator which holds its value extremely well, like all BOF SUVs.

One gripe I did have with Porsche was the rumour and conspiracy theory that Porsche hamstrung the Cayman as to not outperform the 911. But low and behold, they have come up with the 718 Cayman GT4 RS this year (they have put the (911's GT3 engine in it) and the automotive world has gone bonkers for it. They say its the best mid-engined sports car around. And Im not surprised Porsche would do this. Porsche hates being in 2nd place. Ferrari has been pushing upwards. Corvette has been pushing upwards with the C8. Finally, the Cayman gets the proper engines, the proper tuning in suspensions to BE the best. The Cayman ALWAYS had the potential to be the best. Even better than the 911. I still prefer the 911, but with this entry, it makes me respect Porsche even more. And for Porsche-files, they need not have to think about the "what if" scenarios, this car shows them what a mid-engined Porsche could really do. The 911 has a fault. And 911 folk deep down inside KNOW. AWD could eliminate most of those faults. Evolutionary engineering has also eliminated much of that rear engine fault. But the fault is still inherent. The Cayman GT4 RS is truly Porsche's answer. Corvette REALLY needs put out a PURE track oriented C8 . The way the Z06 is gonna be, its gonna be a mix of a pure track car AND a GT car. Too many features on the Z06 that favour comfort cruising rather than tracking. The Z06 will be a killer track car, and it will be track car focused like no other Corvette ever engineered. It will probably have a sub 7 second 'Ring time. It will punch above its price point. But the Z06 will still not be that pure, raw track car. THIS is my wish for the Corvette. To have many many variants for all the flavours. To have a DIRECT competitor with EVERY SINGLE Porsche 911 and Cayman. Yes. I realize that this means 100 versions of the C8. Porsche does it. I want Corvette to do it too. Yes. I realize that Porsche is a company within a company and a brand and Corvette is just one model within the Chevrolet brand within the company General Motors. Maybe though, in an EV world, many variants of a Corvette is not possible as EVs will look liek they will all be the same flavour. Battery on the bottom of the platform in a skateboard platform. Dual, tri motor set-ups. 4 motor set-ups for off roaders. Power in an EV seems to be the same. Software programming seems to be getting to be the same...

That garbage list has the Rolls and Bentley in 11th and 12th places and lists the sub models separately. G550 and G63? GLS Maybach, GLS63, and GLS580? Give me a break. That's no true comparison test and a trash listing, and you know it.

Kind of a guilty pleasure...discovered this new song from 80s-90s boy band New Kids on the Block w/ Rick Astley, Salt n Pepa and En Vogue..I was never a boy band fan, but the 80s references in the video are great...parodying Twisted Sister, Bill Idol, Max Headroom, Flock of Seagulls videos, etc...very catchy been stuck in my head the last couple weeks, get the warm fuzzies for 1989...happy memories of rolling in my 5.0 back in the day listening to 80s music.

BUT THE INTERIORS ON THE EUROPEANS!! ...wait... ?

Those all start considerably higher priced than the Corsair. Corsair: $36,400 Stelvio: $45,500 Grecale: $63,500 Macan: $54,900 GV70: $41,500 X3: $43,700 GLC: $43,900 Q5: $43,300

Crazy, it topped the comparison test here in 2021. Yeah, it doesn't have the newest offerings as the Grand Wagoneer just came out. I'm sure they'll compare all three when they get an opportunity. The Lexus and Infiniti are easily behind all three American-made ones. https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2020-bmw-x7-2021-cadillac-escalade-lincoln-navigator-mercedes-benz-gls-class-3-row-luxury-suv-comparison-test-review/ Two of the four offer plug-in hybrids. The Nautilus is being replaced with an EV and I'm surprised they didn't drop-in the hybrid powertrain from the F150 in the Navigator yet.

I really really respect Porsche. I really really like what they do with the 911 and when they do super/hyper cars like the 959, Carrera GT and 918. They havent always given their sports cars THE best engineering, but it was such a looooong time ago when they were half-assing it. Like @ccap41 said, TODAY, they produce fine and awesome cars. Yeah, even their CUVs and SUVs. (Hating to admit ANY CUV or SUV regardless the manufacturer as a fine product... ??) Their production of CUVs and SUVs have created another fandom and fan base separate from their 911 and their sportscars. Its a good thing for parent company VW, Im not so sure if that is a good thing for Porsche. They better not phoque up the 911 when it (the 911) eventually goes EV because Porsche's true image(that of a no nonsense, pure sports car) will be done for. An EV 911 will be such a different animal from the 911, they better figure out how to accomplish making a heavy EV 911 be nimble around a track. And I really mean nimble. Nimble is different from good handling. Heft is the enemy of nimble... An EV 911 will also have much much different handling characteristics from a classic 911. Normally that wouldnt be a problem, but for the 911 its gonna be huge. Why? Because a 911 has been evolving. And BECAUSE the motor is in the rear, the handling aspect of a 911 is unique. Porsche has carefully perfected the 911 handling over its 60 year history. And its such a unique characteristic that many love. Its 911 DNA. If folk got pi$$ed when Corvette went mid-engine, oh boy the whining of when the 911 goes EV and the carefully crafted evolution of the 911 is going to vanish instantly... Just a thought I had that popped in my head reading this thread.

Tesla does not CARE about interiors like the others. They want to be the Luxury equivalent of a Prius. On that basis, they are quite successful. That does NOT mean that their success will last forever, especially if Tesla does not improve their fit and finish and their self-driving features.

75(14) miles check-in. No issues. It was experiencing a handful of what folk call 'crank/no start' events (cranks on first try but doesn't start, then always starts on 2nd attempt), but it got a software update at its first oil change and hasn't done it since. It was no big deal. No recalls, no TSBs, no warning lights, no noises. Still hitting rated MPG- low 23s on average (rated 22/26). Best MPG to date was 26.4. Have not done a highway-majority tank yet. I filled up 3/24, prior fill-up was 2/28, so I am only 'charging' my truck once a month. I'm at 10 months & 1 week of ownership, only at 7500 miles. Work was slow in Dec-Jan, but I'm back doing 6 days a week now; so I think I'll be 'lucky' to hit 9000 miles by May 20. ?

Getting coffee and eating a donut before getting home, I hear this ... And I remember where I was the very first time I heard this.

And what did their SUVs do? Because Lincoln killed all their sedans, Cadillac is down to 2 sedans, and no coupes, Lexus killed the GS, Acura killed most of its sedans to get down to 1 and the Integra is coming back, Infiniti killed the Q45 and M-line/Q70. About half the car brands are just giving up on sedans/coupes/convertibles.

GM marketing is so bad that they'd name it CorvEttE

Sun's out now, into the 40s...I think after work I'm going to go get grass seed, top soil, and mulch and get started on Spring yard work...then off to mud farming this weekend..

Don't mess with Mother Nature!

Lower weight is only relative to current battery packs. They'll still weigh A LOT more than the current Vette.

35 w/ sleet and snow mix for April fools...yay...was 25 and windy Monday, then 70 and sunny on Wednesday. NE Ohio Spring always up and down, unpredictable...reminds me of this neat list of Midwestern seasons that makes its way around the internets...

So this took me some time as I wanted to confirm facts and I have done that while it has taken some time. Using https://media.mbusa.com and https://www.goodcarbadcar.net/mercedes-benz-us-figures/ Here is how Mercedes has done for the last Decade. Every Dog has it's day and as Mercedes has pushed into the APPLIANCE Market of competing with Chevrolet, Toyota, Nissan, Ford they have diluted their Luxury Status pretty much each year and while we will all agree that the Pandemic of 2020 to 2022 has hit the auto industry in many weird ways, as per your own past statements, SALES is the final fact. Not going to waste time adding in all the AMG variations as their sales numbers are so small and my time is valuable, but looking at the 3 main classes, one can clearly see a long term decline in the Luxury level of Mercedes sales.

What NOT to be on April Fools Day ... or any day: either her or Fred! Happy April Fools Day!

Yeah, like I've already said, it takes a long time to dig ones' self out of where they were. Also, like has been said, it's to be replaced with an EV.

Umm, it is for a VOLUME brand and that is exactly what your favorite brand has become over the last twenty years. Keep deflecting though.

^ Well, of course. Over-saturation and brand dilution.

There is supposed to be something electric but if a Mustang Mach-E is $45-65k range, the Edge is bigger, so do they price that more, or price it the same and just pull back on performance? Either way the Lincoln would be at least $10k more, so maybe $55-75k for a small-midsize crossover? The Nautilus is a bust at $45k, who wants to pay $65k for an electric Nautilus with a new name? People will walk right past that and go get a Tesla for the brand name. I am talking about both sales and critical reviews. If you ran up a comparison of the Escalade, Grand Wagoneer, Lexus LX, Navigator and the Infiniti QX80, the Navigator would finish 2nd to last in from any publication. And most publications would rate the unibody GLS, X7, and Range Rover higher, unless your primary use is towing and cargo hauling. The Corsair is fancy escape at the end of the day, put that against an Alfa Stelvio, Maserati Grecale, Porsche Macan, Genesis G70, X3, GLC, Q5 and that crew will stomp it in performance and Lexus beats it in comfort, reliability, resale, etc. It does take time, but you have to have best in class product for years to overcome the mess Lincoln is in. And they don't have best in class product now, they have terrible resale value, poor image and most buyers aren't even going to give them a look. They could have tried to go a green route and make all Lincolns hybrids as standard, maybe try to steal som thunder of Lexus, but they didn't do that. The brand just doesn't really stand for anything.

The SAAR in 2016 was a record 18.4 million units. In 2020 it was 12.9 million and in 2021 15 million. Mercedes is down 12.1% from their peak while the overall market is down 18.5% from 2016 to 2021. Cadillac is down 35% from their mid 2010s peak. Tesla is probably the only one that is up over 5 years, outside of Rolls or Ferrari that are so low volume.

I don't really want to look up 10 years worth of sales data, so I'll just compare 2011 to 2021 so it is a 10 year spread. 2011: Fast Forward to 2021: GLA: 14,322 R-class: 2,385 GLB: 26,667 GLK: 24,310 GLC 51,805 M-class: 35,835 GLE: 65,074 GL-class: 25,139 GLS: 24,282 G-class: 1,191 G: 8,523 Total: 88,860 Total: 168,873 They nearly doubled SUV sales! Also how is Mercedes not a luxury car maker? And keep in mind the Cadillac XT4, Lincoln Corsair and Lexus UX are priced below the GLA. And nothing at Cadillac, Lincoln or Lexus is priced like a G-glass, S-class, SL, AMG GT, EQS or Maybach. In fact, Acura, Lexus, Infiniti, Volvo, Alfa Romeo, Genesis, Cadillac, Tesla, Lincoln, Audi, BMW and Porsche combined have 5 vehicles with a base price over $100k, The Tesla Model X, the 911, Audi e-Tron GT, R8 and Lexus LC Convertible (the coupe starts under $100k). Mercedes by themselves has 5 starting over $100k, and we have an EQS SUV debuting later this month. And I am using base model price, so like an Audi RS7 is over $100k, but the base A7 is not. If the EQS SUV is over $100k, then Mercedes has more $100k+ vehicles than all 12 competitors combined! And I think the EQS SUV is going to put a dent in the dated Model X, because this interior p vs The 2nd interior could be from a Mazda, with their dinky little tacked on Samsung tablet, doesn't look like a technology leader to me.