Have you guys seen the new E-Class commercial? It talks about LKA and Pre-Collision System. Neat commercial. It's too bad the Prius lacks a decent marketing department to capitalize on the car's tech.
I don't know who copied whom but the rear end looks much like the Toyota Camry. Mercedes builds a really great car. However, an extended warrantee is a must.
I second the need for an extended warranty for MB autos. We've owned both an E320 and an ML430 and both developed expensive problems just after the 4 year/50,000 warranty was up. Both were very nice cars until the problems came up. One of my neighbors leases two Mercedes and both models (C350 and GL450) are constantly in for repairs. I can only say great things about Porsche. My Boxster is 6 years old and 35k and hasn't seen a problem yet (knock on wood). Also funny thing about that ad is that at the end it says that the new E Class starts at $48,000... but with the new safety features it's probably more like 56-68k.
It isn't as if the Prius are jammed up on the sales lots and nobody is buying them. Over 10,000 sold in May alone and the E-Class sales were? In reality, the E-Class is in competition with the Lexus, not the Prius (as flattering as that may seem.) Bob Wilson
My point is that the Prius could've made a very similar commercial to this, and it would've freakin' rocked! It would help the Prius become more mainstream and even luxurious (in technology features at least). I might get laughed at for this, but it would even help the Prius enter into "chick magnet" territory with such safety features becoming common knowledge. People would talk. Maybe they didn't want to get future Lexus buyers looking too hard at the Prius, but those buyers are now looking at the Mercedes. Poor strategy by Toyota if you ask me.
What's great is in a few years all cars will come with these. Remember when airbags and ABS were the province of the ultra expensive cars? Now Corrollas have them! Same with TPMS and ESP/VDC.
indeed. The Mazda3 is already leading the way. I'm not sure how it's equipped in the US but in Canada, you can get: power seats with 3-way memory HIDs nav smart key BOSE stereo auto headlights rain-sensing wipers LED taillights automatic climate control power moonroof Our Corolla LE is also similarly equipped (but no JBL audio or leather). It has as standard equipment: SKS, auto-climate control, 16" alloys, Brake Assist and opt. power driver's seat with driver lumbar support and a power moonroof.
VERY TRUE! We own 2 Mercedes E-Class vehicles and talk about EXPENSIVE repairs! Thank goodness we added the extended warranty on the E500. Scott
Lexus' new dedicated hybrid. It's a FWD "economy" hybrid (unlike current Lexus hybrids which are 'performance' hybrids) that will use the same setup as the Camry Hybrid (so 2.4 litre mated to HSD system) but with the updated features found on the 2010 Prius and RXh (such as exhaust heat recovery system)
