Penthouse Living at Ground Level: We Compare Large Luxury Sedans From 2000

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5GCovidInjection@reddit

It’s funny to imagine the Lexus is probably the only one still on the road.

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ztman@reddit

Definitely still see that generation S class pretty frequently

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Only_One_Kenobi@reddit

My mother had one. Sold it at 450000kms. Still looked really good.

They were great cars, but not without reliability issues. Especially the door locking systems and suspension.

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ScienceMechEng_Lover@reddit

Wasn't that generation of S-Class famous for electrical issues? The general perception was probably worse at the time because it succeeded the W140, which was basically bulletproof.

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The late W140s were incredibly reliable. I tell customers to avoid the W220, they can be good cars but the door locks, suspension, and electrical issues can be tough and expensive to sort out. I still see tons of them and plenty with high miles though.

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FourEyesAndThighs@reddit

There's a one owner 1999 S-Class for sale near me for $10K, If I had the cash burning a hole in my pocket, it would be in my garage right now.

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pursuer_of_simurg@reddit

Ironically I never saw that generation of LS as It was not sold in Europe (at least not where I am from) but older S classes are dime a dozen.

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auron_py@reddit

Same in South America, the only times I've seen a LS400 was when someone went through the trouble to import it from the US.

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durrtyurr@reddit

The W126 and W140 were the hot cars for high school students when I was still in school. I almost bought a 560SEL for my first car, it was between that, a Jaguar XJ6, and the Cadillac Sedan DeVille that was my first car. One of my classmates who lived in the same neighborhood had a 560SEC and another had an S320.

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k0fi96@reddit

I wouldn't say frequently but I've seen the Jag still cruising around.

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salvibalvi@reddit

The Audi is a rare sight, but I would say all the others are still fairly common sights given their age.

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bschmidt25@reddit

I still see some E38s on the road. Always really liked them. Especially the 740i (short wheelbase) Sport

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zkinny@reddit

I have the a8, lots of them still around. The first versions of the 4.2 through the nineties are pretty much bullet proof. Lots of other common faults with the cars though.

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cannedrex2406@reddit

I dunno about you, but the E38 have a genuine cult following and so I see a LOT of them on the roads, actually even more than the Lexus.

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lifegoeson2702@reddit (OP)

The S Classes & Jags were reliable if they were maintained well

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Routine_Lobster9920@reddit

The jag looks a decade older than everything else there.

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HeyyyyListennnnnn@reddit

It's a classic design. The problem is that most people wouldn't be able to pick it from a first or second generation XJ despite being an all new design. At that end of the market, no one wants their brand new car to be mistaken for a 30-year old model.

Jaguar then compounded that error by making the X-type look almost identical. Audi made "Same car in three different sizes" styling fashionable later, but at the time, the X-type eroded the XJ's prestige. It didn't help that everyone knew the X-type was a dressed-up Mondeo.

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kstetter@reddit

2nd best headlights in the picture

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lifegoeson2702@reddit (OP)

It’s classic

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DevilishRogue@reddit

Considering it is a design evolved from the 1968 William Lyons original design that's actually pretty good - and it looks so much better than the other four.

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Routine_Lobster9920@reddit

I’m partial to the E38 but it’s certainly a looker

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Capri280@reddit

Each to their own, while I find the original XJ (Pininfarina's series 3 update in particular) a great design, I've never warmed up to the ford era jags with their contrived retro looks.

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testthrowawayzz@reddit

The interiors look lovely and luxurious compared to the modern default trend of black on black on black

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crunchynibbas@reddit

It's kinda funny to see the S Class described as an "imposter, a Lexus masauerader". Shows the impact that Lexus had. To say that the stalwart old guard was possibly mimicking the brand new upstart brand, sheesh.

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turb0_encapsulator@reddit

I can't believe how bad the skidpad figures are by modern standards. acceleration is pretty bad too.

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Audiarmy@reddit

It’s funny all the booming dot com economy talk when this came out 4 months before that bubble burst

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CapitalTipp@reddit

Curious if Car and Driver will put out a similar article today and reference the “booming AI economy”…

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Aforementionedlurker@reddit

"...the Dow was over 50,000..."

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bullseye717@reddit

My mom came home in 94 with a brand new Lexus LS400. I never heard of Lexus at that point. She drove it for 7 years and put 90,000 miles on it. Around 2001, she shipped it to Vietnam so my dad could be chauffeured to his various businesses. That thing soldiered on for another decade driving around Hanoi and the north Vietnam countryside.

If you were in Vietnam at the time, a lot of those roads were rough as hell. A lot of dirt roads and ferries where they lay down flimsy boards barely the width of the tires. When they got rid of it in 2011, the interior was still immaculate and it ran with zero issues and over 300,000 miles.

I saw first hand what beast Toyota built.

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V8-Turbo-Hybrid@reddit

LS400 in Vietnam in that time should be considered a privileged person model there, as many people weren't that wealth.

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bullseye717@reddit

Absolutely. My parents were pretty wealthy at the time by American standards so that's the only way they could afford to ship it back then. I believe it was a 100% tariff on it.

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astrograph@reddit

My uncle bought one in 1995.. it was a lightly used 1994 LS400. They moved from Minnesota to florida in 2004 and that car was finally sold in 2016 with 290k miles.

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throwaway_philly1@reddit

A car like that would be the epitome of class in Vietnam during that time, navigating narrow streets surrounded by Honda Cubs, sitlos and the splattering of taxi cabs. Truly a different era.

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bullseye717@reddit

Saw a lot of Matiz but the vast majority were practical Japanese motorbikes from Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki, probably Kawasaki but memory is fuzzy on that one. Occasionally you'll see a rich girl ride around in a Vespa.

I saw more Cubs in the countryside than the city. By the 2000's, the vast majority of the city dwellers rode automatics or semi-automatics and the manuals were much more of an enthusiast choice or if you couldn't afford a new bike.

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SkellyJelly33@reddit

Wait... did they adjust the prices to what they would be today based on inflation? $70k in 1999 would be just about $140k today

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strongmanass@reddit

Luxury cars have gotten a lot less expensive although inflation deniers don't like to acknowledge it. Unfortunately they've achieved that through cost cutting.

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niftyjack@reddit

European cars have gotten way, way cheaper over time. An E class was $33,900 in 1986 or $103k today for a base model. A BMW 325i convertible was $40k base, $90k today. The higher end ones got even crazier, the Merc 500E was $83,000 in 1994, $189k today.

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uberdosage@reddit

They were 70k in 1999

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JALbert@reddit

Multiple interiors are criticized for too many buttons, and the Lexus is praised for simplifying this with a touchscreen. Oh how the turntables...

This minimalist approach is carried throughout the interior. It's not a busy place, not overly festooned with buttons, not in your face with gizmos. This particular example did have the optional GPS navigation system, which complicates the dash somewhat, but its touchscreen control greatly simplifies operation.

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strongmanass@reddit

The fundamental issue is balance. Lots of cars from that era are examples of the pendulum too far one way, and we're arguably in an era where it's swung too far the other way.

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cannedrex2406@reddit

I mean, you can definitely have too many buttons. The X308 was a big example of this. It's just a mess of badly implemented buttons that don't even feel that premium cause they were just stolen from Fords part bin

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JALbert@reddit

Oh for sure, especially in an era where full phone keypads were being used.

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adamosity1@reddit

And Honda Civics are now faster than any of these cars.

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nsfdrag@reddit

These cars were never about 0-60...

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kstetter@reddit

Jag abandoned racing a long time before these cars

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airfryerfuntime@reddit

Engine technology has improved over almost 30 years? Who would have knew?!

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kstetter@reddit

Most of these were using small engines back then too

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xt1nct@reddit

This 7 series was peak for me.

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bschmidt25@reddit

Hard to believe we went from this to the E65 rolling prototype computer on wheels.

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strongmanass@reddit

As someone who's come to really like that category of car recently I'd have the E65 over the E38 every day of the week.

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Fiasko21@reddit

When I had a 2010 Suburban and it needed work done, my mechanic gave me a 96-97 Jag XJ to drive... I couldn't believe how bad the built quality was, it was embarrassing what they were trying to pass along.

It was legitimately worse than the Suburban, and the suburban GMT900 is known for being CHEAP quality.
My dad's 1997 Volvo S70 felt like a tight tank compared to the Jag.

I traded that Suburban for a Lexus GX and I was in AWE at the quality..

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