ccap41

It's only like 3 years old..

*and a Chevy Bolt* Full size SUVs and a Chevy Bolt* The way things were worded they sounded like you think those are what makes a luxury vehicle a luxury vehicle and are necessary to be considered luxury.

You insinuated they are necessary. There is absolutely more room for improvement and I bet Ford, Ram, and GM are loving that there is still even more room to move them up market if these do well. If these do well and sell at nearly 100k... add those features for the hell of it and charge 110k.

Then why do trucks need sedan features? That's what he's getting at.

Correct, as it should be done. But his 'Slade could not go there, where any of road vehicle could go. As with any comparisons you have to put the driver skill at an equal level otherwise it's a pointless argument as I could say "Yeah well with X driver I could go places in my Escape that Y driver couldn't in a Wrangler". So, back to where we were, equal driver skill and the G owns it off road. This should be a no-brainer. You literally said that you'd put your money where your mouth is. I can swap our words with your literal own words in saying that nobody takes G Wagens off road. Yes, there are always going to be stupid people taking their pavement queens off road, as you've shown examples of. TFL has videos of them with an Escape like mine as well.. doesn't make it off road worthy.

Must not have too steep of approach and break-over angles as your vehicle is 80ft long. Way to move the goal post there, brother. This started as a: and now it becomes a value debate? It isn't a monster off-road because the people who buy them? Why do people buy Escalade...hmmm.. label and prestige that rarely go off road, just like a G? But the G is based off of and has real of road capabilities the Escalade doesn't and never will because there's no point in that. Was the Escalade ever a military vehicle? Has the US military bought any in the past? "Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, Austria. ... The G-Class vehicle is now regularly used by more than 63 armies worldwide and this includes the German Armed Forces, Canadian Army and also the US Marine Corps.Mercedes has actually guaranteed production of the standard G-Class for use as NATO support vehicles up until 2025." Their sh!t is built for off-roading.

Jesus, I don't think you're even watching those videos. The first one(I watched earlier in preparation for this) and he walks ahead of an area because the Escalde couldn't make it though. If you saw it, any off road vehicle could make it around that bend and down the hill. The second video is the most impressive one you've posted and who would have thought... it was a modified one. Look at that ride height. And because it doesn't have lockers, it almost gets stuck. Something the G(or Wrangler) would do in its sleep.

Exactly. The Wrangler is the only thing that will beat it off road that isn't a Rover. Okay, that's probably not accurate anymore as there are Power Wagons, ZR2s, TRDs all out now that weren't at one point.

1st video: You must not have watched because that didn't highlight anything about going off road. 7 inch ground clearance, massive wheels... 2nd video: It's nice it can go through some water but maybe make the vehicle water tight? 3rd video: 1: did some thing that the G could(go down a hill and wade though water) but slower. 2: gets stuck on a muddy path LOL (I can only wonder why they didn't show them getting out of there... )

lol that's not a MB production video. It literally has the company name at the beginning. Do you need more? There are a ton of videos of G Wagens off roading. Most will have aftermarket tires at least though. So show us what a first gen 'Slade can do off road. Let's see your money in that mouth, sir. Take that 'Slade through more than a dusty trail.

As long as they don't drop the gas engines in one year I could see that. If they all of a sudden dropped gas engines their sales would absolutely not surge going 100% EV over night. That would be a terrible move.

LOL 90's GM quality? plastic much? The G would out due all of those off the beaten path with it's solid axles, locking front, rear, and "mid" diffs(locks front and rear together), low range transfer case, and then it's smaller than those too to fit into more places. Watch some videos on the ole YouTube of what a stock G Wagen can do. Show us what an Escalade can do.

Well, they have cash because they're analysts probably saw that it wasn't worth the millions upon millions to update said Sequoia. Even if they updated it 100% to a brand new vehicle 5 years ago would that have tripled their sales to make it worth it? doubled? quadrupled? The Tacoma is still competitive with their "all new" in 2016(not so much with the Tundra). The Colorado does some things better and, if I'm not wrong, Toyota said they were working on updates to their Tacoma because of the recent competition with the Colorado and upcoming Ranger. Remind me some time to check the gf's. I'm curious if she has mismatching screws to go along with the sweet-ass cup holder and the hatch that doesn't have a light when you open it. I never would have thought that was something I'd consider in a vehicle but when putting sh!t in their at night and you open the hatch and there's no light..you notice real quick how annoying that is. In all fairness, nobody who isn't showing a car would care if they had mismatching screws. They still have a more solid build feel than anything from the US that I've been in.

If you do some serious commuting it would be one hell of a car. I'm not sure if the diesel engine is worth the premium if not trying to extract a long term savings or not but I do know the low end tq of a diesel does suit my passive driving style. Which is why I find it ironic that I'm a Mustang guy yet the LS/LT engines in the Camaro produce all of the low end grunt that I really like.

But seriously, this is such a poor design in a 15k car let alone a Mercedes priced at 110k(at least when this was new. I think they're like 115k or 120k now). Yeah I'm fine with the evolution of the muscle cars. I like that they're taking cues of their elder siblings. I'd be very intrigued with a modern New Edge mustang in the future. It's hard to believe they'd go small again but if they did i'd be throwing money at them. i loved that gen because they were the last before going overly electrified and larger. They were still a smaller car and I loved that. I hadn't thought about the designers moving from one company to the other. It makes sense. i just find it funny that no matter what the vehicle looks like people seem to find the smallest things and say they stole it from XYZ manufacturer.

Did you look up the resale on any Mercedes vs US trucks?

Those trucks have a MUCH larger % resale value after 1, 2, 5 years down the road. Look those numbers up.

See now I can see wealthy truck buyers wanting to fork out the cash but I don't see them cross shopping with a 7 Series or an S Class at the 80-100k price bracket. People underestimate who has money just because they decided to spend 60k on a truck and not on a car.

I can't see too many scenarios in which an S Class buyer is debating if he/she wants that or an F350 Limited.

I LOVE the look of the 7.

But you cannot focus on both the road and something 18 inches in front of you. Regardless your eyes are not paying attention to the road perfectly so if I'm taking my focus of the road for a second I don't see why I should pay that premium. What's that package cost in an Escalade? I'd assume it is part of a multi-thousand dollar package. But, with that said, I may very well want other things in said package and get it anyway. I haven't used a modern HUD but I just don't find a real value to it. The last HUD I used was my mom's '02 Grand Prix. It's neat, but seems quite gimmicky, if you ask me. After looking at some pictures online they seem to be cramming more and more information into the small display on your windshield and it almost seems cluttered. I mean what they do is cool and all.. but no thank you. After looking at some random HUD pictures online some seem much cleaner and simpler than others. I'd assume the clean and simple ones are the least distracting ones. Those ones wouldn't bother me at all. I still don't see the value in paying for that but if it is part of a package, I wouldn't be upset.

That's a great report for GM.

I'm fine w/o HUD. It isn't something I would pay extra for. It seems like one of the most gimmicky features on the market. Regardless you're refocusing your eyes on something different for a second or two.

I find it "funny"/ironic/comical/interesting when every single new car comes out everybody screams that it isn't original, it's derivative, copy cat, and that nobody is original anymore.. I honestly just think there are too many brands out there. Somebody harps on one new car saying it's a copy of X brand.. Almost everything has cues of another car somewhere in it. The only cars that genuinely seem unique are the muscle cars(Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger). And even those are stealing cues from their original siblings...

If AWD isn't a necessity how about a Focus hatch? I love hatchbacks. I'd suggest a Golf as well but you want American.