This afternoon I went to three car dealers to test drive competitors of Infiniti G35. Who knows, I might like one more than the G35. The dealerships are for Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus, in that order.
Mercedes
The Mercedes lot was pretty empty, and there were only about 5 C-class cars. A salesman approached my wife and me the moment we stepped out of our car. Unfortunately his enthusiasm diminished when I explained I was in the comparison stage and wouldn’t be able to close the deal today.
Regardless, he let me test drive a C300 automatic with a 3.0 liter V6. Power was easily felt and the steering was light. The interior was well appointed - I think it came with the navigation package. By this time the salesman warmed up a bit and cracked a few jokes. I didn’t try the stick shift C-class though, as I didn’t want to trouble him, who was only lukewarm at best. The salesperson tried to make me stay and negotiate a deal, but the C-class was not that convincing.
BMW
Compared to the Mercedes lot, the BMW dealer next door was vast and full of cars. Guest parking was full, but I didn’t see many customers outside the office. I must have wandered for many minutes before a salesman came out and pinged me to see if I needed help. I said ‘pinged’ because I got the impression he preferred that I refuse his ‘offer’. Maybe next time, if there is a next time, I should suit up before going to a BMW dealer.
Anyway, I first requested to test drive a 3-series with stick shift. The salesperson said they didn’t have one. Further more he said “I don’t know how long you have been in US” but no one drives a stick shift in the Bay Area anymore. Stick shift is dead?! Sure, I didn’t ask for the M3, but this is from a person who works for the company that makes the Ultimate Driving Machine?
I finally got into an automatic 328i. According to the salesman, it had a 2.8 liter V6, although BMW’s webpage claims 3.0. The ride was rougher compared to the Mercedes, and the steering wheel was tons heavier. The turning radio was pretty wide. I could only guess the handling was good, based on BMW’s heritage, but I didn’t go far enough to tell. The 328’s interior was plebeian, but this one didn’t have the navigation system nor the iDrive.
During the test drive, the salesman had an okay attitude. It changed when in the end I said I wouldn’t close the deal today and had to compare more cars. Needless to say I pretty much crossed BMW off my shopping list. I know BMW has good cars, but they are not great enough to sell themselves sitting still in parking lots. They are definitely not good enough for me to ignore the condescension. Furthermore, the 3-series is BMW’s bread and butter model, I would expect at least an acceptable attitude. Mind you, I am a genuine potential buyer right now, even if I couldn’t sign the contract the moment the BMW salesperson throws one at me. I can only guess that the red carpets are reserved for 7-series buyers.
My friend, who bought a BMW 3-series years ago, had a similar experience as well. No one bothered much with him since he was not shopping for the most expensive. I naively thought that things might have improved since the dot-com days when BMW cars were selling themselves.
Lexus
I had the most pleasant experience at the Lexus dealership. It didn’t start that way, as the first salesman abandoned me for someone with more grey hair (and thus potentially more cash in his wallet). The second salesman was friendlier.
The first car I test drove was an automatic IS250 with a 2.5 liter V6. It didn’t feel as powerful as either the BMW or the Mercedes, but hey, it’s only a 2.5 producing 204 horsepower. Steering was light, and so was the suspension. Cabin layout just felt more natural during the drive, and its larger side mirrors were more reassuring than BMW’s tiny ‘dots’. Turning radio was smaller, again beating the BMW’s. Overall, the car was nice, and the labeled MSRP was consistently lower than those for BMW and Mercedes.
During the first test drive, the topic of automatic versus manual transmission came up, so after I parked the automatic IS250, the salesman asked me if I wanted to try the manual. Lucky for me, the dealer happened to have 3, with 2 already sold - apparently the manual IS250s are harder to find among dealers. I waited a pretty long while for the salesperson to go into the back and literally dig out the manual IS250, but I liked the this one more than the automatic. The stick shift car was more alive, as my wife favorably commented. Still, the shifts felt a bit long, and the clutch pickup point was pretty high.
Both IS250s had the remote wireless key, which I found pretty cute. By ‘wireless’ I mean I didn’t have to insert the key somewhere into the car in order to start it. In fact, the salesperson had the key throughout and I never got a glimpse of it.
Through out both of the Lexus test drives, this Lexus salesperson appeared patient and friendly. He did not bash stick shifts when I first expressed interest. In fact, he said he preferred stick shifts as they are more exciting. He added that he came from Brazil where stick shifts were omnipresent. Funny, the BMW guy said he was from Pakistan, which also had tons of stick shifts, but the BMW guy said he was happy not having to use them here.
Now What?
So far I like the manual IS250 best, but I am keen to find out if the Infiniti G35 can beat it in terms of on-road experience. On paper I believe G35 is a better value.
