Drove a $110,000+ car today

[wuzzzer]

My boss owns a 2009 Mercedes SL550 Silver Arrow- 1 of 550 made. He asked me to make a delivery that was about an hour and a half away. 90 degrees, sunny day, superb convertible, who would say no???

I've driven every car he's had previous to this one but this car by far is much, much nicer than any car he's owned. It was the first time I drove the car. Most of the drive was 70mph freeway driving but the last 10 miles or so was on a twisty road along a beautiful lake.

Its amazing how Mercedes can engineer a car that has such low profile tires and yet the ride is so smooth. And its not like a big boat car smooth, its very controlled.

The brakes are crazy - they have to be around 14" that are cross-drilled from the factory with Mercedes-Benz stamped calipers. 19" AMG wheels. I believe the car has 392 horsepower.

Everything about the car felt perfect - the acceleration, braking, handling, seat comfort, visibility, controls.

I drove it a total of about 4 hours today because the traffic coming back was horrendous. Had the top down the entire time. I'm definitely more tan than I was before!

Interestingly enough, when I drove my Fiesta home tonight after work I was very pleased at the solid feel and build quality it has. Significantly better than most cars in its price range.

[HokieBill]

Your boss is either crazy or very trusting. On second thought he just has to be crazy. First for spending 5x what our Fiestas cost and second for letting someone else drive it.

I can believe it was great, but I would have been sweating bullets driving that thing.

[wuzzzer]

He's definitely not crazy, he's very trusting. He once let me take his Range Rover on a trip to visit my girlfriend who was living a few states away. My car broke down and was in the shop and I didn't have any way to get there.

He knows how much I love and respect cars.

[HokieBill]

Nice boss!

[aspitaletto]

Originally Posted by HokieBill

Nice boss!

Its crazy how good cars can be when they are not made to be driven by the general public.

[BondiBlue]

That car is awesome. I'm jealous.

[Audrey]

I'm not a Mercedes fan, sorry. If I was going to drop that kind of money on a car (which you'd be hard pressed to get me to do) it'd be something much more interesting. I'd not turn down driving one - I'm sure the experience is incredible, but it just isn't my idea of automotive beauty. I've never even been in a convertible with the top down while driving, so I imagine that would be fun either way. (:

[oracleguy]

Nice.

The Top Gear episode a few weeks back had a segment where they bought cars that originally cost around 100k for about 7k. (I'm talking GBP). So I was curious if the same massive deprecation has occured on this side of the pond on those kinds of cars and it has. For example, I was able to find several 2002 CL600s for around $20k and I even found a 2003 (which was the first year they went up to 500hp) for around that price.

[wuzzzer]

Originally Posted by Audrey

I'm not a Mercedes fan, sorry. If I was going to drop that kind of money on a car (which you'd be hard pressed to get me to do) it'd be something much more interesting. I'd not turn down driving one - I'm sure the experience is incredible, but it just isn't my idea of automotive beauty. I've never even been in a convertible with the top down while driving, so I imagine that would be fun either way. (:

I agree with you, Audrey. It was/is a superb car but I'd have a LOT of other cars high up on my list if I ever spent that much money on one. Audi R8, pre-owned Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc.

[billnchristy]

For 110k I would be trying to get into a Tesla.

Or I would put 70k down on the model S and install a solar array at the hizzy.