[VW2010]

If VW offers 2 + 2 year warranty on that Phaeton with 25L discount, the Phaeton appears a very good deal.

Also the car is just amazing.

Does an Audi A8 fit the bill by any chance?

[Ricky_63]

Phaeton = No way....the discount may be tempting, but it has no sale the world over. VW is a good car maker. But it overstepped it's territory by trying to eat into the BMW / Merc / Audi pie...BIG mistake.

Stay away if you want no headaches, and more so no heart aches when you sell it ! The Toureg is a better option any day.



Cheers

[Aditya666]

Close your eyes, and buy a Grey color ML350 Grand Edition. It looks sickk!!!

Personally, we have a ML350 2009 model in Dubai. Good car, and quick too. Comfortable for 5 people, and you can even order a 7-seat option. Lots of safety features which the Jap rivals lack. 7-speed gearbox versus the 5-speed of the Prado, etc. Start looking, it becomes more and more of a delicious deal.

Prado? At that price, if you're getting a Merc, would you even look at a Prado? Well, it may be capable off-road and all, but on road is a whole different story.

RR Sport may be in your budget. And an extremely good car too. But it can be a pain to maintain/repair at times due to parts availability, etc.

Or, on second thoughts, go to your Merc dealer and buy a pre-owned S-Class.

[troublemaker]

Simply looking at the sales numbers worldwide, I think, there is no competition. ML350 is a very successful vehicle while Phaeton is not.

Also, if I have to choose between a Merc and VW, I would definitely go for a Merc - without any doubt.

My 2 cents..

[shuvc]

If the badge and segment is not a big criteria, then for quite a bit less than your budget you'd get a very capable vehicle in the Montero. Mitsu has a dealer at Coimbatore too, right?

[NeedaUsername]

The Pheaton wins the battle here hands down. The amount of gadgets it has and the way that car is engineered is simply mindblowing. In fact, try sitting in a Flying Spur and then immediately after, sit in the Pheaton. You will notice that both are basically based on the the same platform. Of course, you dont get the badge value that the Mercedes will carry, but then you will be owning a BETTER automobile in every sense. And for the current discount thats on offer, it is a steal. And AFAIK, you can have an extended (2+2) year warranty on the Pheaton. That will take care of the after sales isuues, if any.

[varunrdas]

Originally Posted by VW2010

If VW offers 2 + 2 year warranty on that Phaeton with 25L discount, the Phaeton appears a very good deal.

Also the car is just amazing.

Does an Audi A8 fit the bill by any chance?

@vw2010 - the phaeton comes with a 2 yr unlimited warranty, 6 year paint warranty and a 12 year interior warranty. Also you can get the car to be 'bumper to bumper' insured which is good considering the kind of traffic we have at the moment.

Originally Posted by Aditya666

Close your eyes, and buy a Grey color ML350 Grand Edition. It looks sickk!!!

Personally, we have a ML350 2009 model in Dubai. Good car, and quick too. Comfortable for 5 people, and you can even order a 7-seat option. Lots of safety features which the Jap rivals lack. 7-speed gearbox versus the 5-speed of the Prado, etc. Start looking, it becomes more and more of a delicious deal.

Prado? At that price, if you're getting a Merc, would you even look at a Prado? Well, it may be capable off-road and all, but on road is a whole different story.

RR Sport may be in your budget. And an extremely good car too. But it can be a pain to maintain/repair at times due to parts availability, etc.

Or, on second thoughts, go to your Merc dealer and buy a pre-owned S-Class.

@aditya- I did test drive a metallic silver ML350 Luxury version. Really looks polished. With regards to the Prado its cumbersome though off roading capabilities are excellent.

As for the S Class, i would prefer a new one than a pre-worshiped certainly.

Originally Posted by NeedaUsername

The Pheaton wins the battle here hands down. The amount of gadgets it has and the way that car is engineered is simply mindblowing. In fact, try sitting in a Flying Spur and then immediately after, sit in the Pheaton. You will notice that both are basically based on the the same platform. Of course, you dont get the badge value that the Mercedes will carry, but then you will be owning a BETTER automobile in every sense. And for the current discount thats on offer, it is a steal. And AFAIK, you can have an extended (2+2) year warranty on the Pheaton. That will take care of the after sales isuues, if any.

@Need - the car is from drusden so i wouldnt have any qualms about it, but one thing certainly is the possibility to test drive one. Without a hands on demo, am not sure it is possible to decide it. I believe only one unit has been booked (or is being under consideration) so far in this region. Hence, can't be too optimistic about it.

I am also thinking of installing the DRC package. Does Airmatic provide the same level of Suspension Comfort? I did feel a bit of jerks even though I was driving in the sport mode.

[Aditya666]

@varun. Regarding the airmatic, yes, it does change suspension settings when in sport mode. Though sport mode primarily changes the throttle response and gearshift points. On cars with Airmatic, it lowers the car and stiffens it up. Couple that with the 18/19' rims you have on the ML and you've got yourself a pretty bumpy ride quality.

[haldar_siliguri]

Originally Posted by varunrdas

I am going to buy a vehicle within the 60-70L budget where i have lined up the ML350 and the VW Phaeton. Also, am considering the Range Rover Sport and the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado VX

Man, if you have 70 to spare, just go for the Range Rover Sport TDV8 which is ex-showroom around 70 lakhs, don't even think about anything else. Oh, that is considering you have a Land Rover dealer close by.

ML 350 is a fine off-roader, but then again don't know why Merc never fixes its stupid mistakes, no proper passenger-side rear-view mirror, idiotic Multi-Media interface, it just has a good engine thats it.

A LC Prado is a far better buy than a Mercedes.

As for the Phaeton, Im confused, do you mean the Touareg or the Phaeton, because all your other choices are Luxury SUVs and the Phaeton is a Saloon.

My preference would be:
RR Sport TDV8>LC Prado>ML350

[julupani]

The Range Rover Sport doesnt get the 4.4L TDV8, it only gets the 3L TDV6. In fact as of now only the Range Rover gets the TDV8 engine.

But even the TDV6 model cost close 75 ex-showroom, which means final prices will get pretty close to 90, a good 20laks over budget.

From the LR stables, a Disco 4, with the same TDV6, is still a very good buy, and would be in my view a better choice than the Prado, or any other soft/off roader. It also happens to give you the full 7 seats.

[varunrdas]

Originally Posted by haldar_siliguri

Man, if you have 70 to spare, just go for the Range Rover Sport TDV8 which is ex-showroom around 70 lakhs, don't even think about anything else. Oh, that is considering you have a Land Rover dealer close by.

ML 350 is a fine off-roader, but then again don't know why Merc never fixes its stupid mistakes, no proper passenger-side rear-view mirror, idiotic Multi-Media interface, it just has a good engine thats it.

A LC Prado is a far better buy than a Mercedes.

As for the Phaeton, Im confused, do you mean the Touareg or the Phaeton, because all your other choices are Luxury SUVs and the Phaeton is a Saloon.

My preference would be:
RR Sport TDV8>LC Prado>ML350

@haldar - I meant Phaeton and not Touareg. The choice came due to the price variation which came about due to the discount and considering the performance (narrated by my dad), i went to see that.

With regards the the RR sport, highlighted by the gentleman above, it does go beyond my budget unfortunately and it has been ruled out. Now under consideration are the ML350 (was suggested a ML450 as well), The Phaeton and the LC Prado.

Considering i can get to test drive the latter two within the next week possibly.

[VW2010]

The choice came due to the price variation which came about due to the discount

So whats the on road price on Phaeton after discount. Any Idea?

[julupani]

Originally Posted by varunrdas

@haldar - I meant Phaeton and not Touareg. The choice came due to the price variation which came about due to the discount and considering the performance (narrated by my dad), i went to see that.

With regards the the RR sport, highlighted by the gentleman above, it does go beyond my budget unfortunately and it has been ruled out. Now under consideration are the ML350 (was suggested a ML450 as well), The Phaeton and the LC Prado.

Considering i can get to test drive the latter two within the next week possibly.

Why not taking a look at the LR Discovery 4, its one big brute of a machine.

[varunrdas]

Originally Posted by VW2010

So whats the on road price on Phaeton after discount. Any Idea?

@vw2010 - the on road price comes close to 62L where the Ex showroom price comes to 52L (after the 25L cash discount).

Originally Posted by julupani

Why not taking a look at the LR Discovery 4, its one big brute of a machine.

@julu - dont have the showroom any where near, need to go to Cochin if am sure where there's a dealership (Marikkar Motors possibly). Would certainly prefer it if i can try in the first place.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by varunrdas

@julu - dont have the showroom any where near, need to go to Cochin if am sure where there's a dealership (Marikkar Motors possibly). Would certainly prefer it if i can try in the first place.

I think there are LR dealerships in Bangalore, Kochi and Chennai. Though it would be better to contact them before making your way there. This is the link to the page where you can find details.

In India at least, Land Rover is a more exclusive badge compared to the Merc, VW or Toyota.

The only advantage for you is that the Merc dealer is in your town. But in my view when you are spending the sort of money that you are looking at, you shouldnt limit yourself by which dealer is present in your town.