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Posted 08.17.2010

Executive wheels: a marvy Mercedes

Beemers beware!

By Jeff Rundles

2010 MERCEDES GLK 350 4MATIC

As I have said many times over the years, the world is divided into two distinct groups: Mercedes people and BMW people. Mercedes is elegance and class with performance, while BMW is performance with elegance and class. The order of these traits matter because it is the former that drives people into either camp, with the latter the add-on that satisfies. Count me as a Mercedes person. I like performance as much as the next man, but I don't crave it. On the other hand, I want to be swaddled in class, and just about every Mercedes I have ever driven does just that.

Especially this GLK 350, the line's smaller SUV that debuted with the 2010 model I test-drove and continues now with the same edition for 2011. Not only is this a classy vehicle, it may just be one of the better values in any vehicle and in any line of automobiles on the market today. Before it gets too popular and the price inevitably rises, go test drive one yourself, and buy it. I am making the recommendation right up front before any of my experiences because I have rarely been more wowed.

As a car reviewer now for more than 25 years, people are always asking me what is the best car I have ever driven, or more pointedly, what is the best car on the market these days. For many years now my standard answer has been the Mercedes E Class - starting with the E-320 a few years ago, and now on the market as the E-350.

I would choose the car with the 4Matic all-wheel-drive option, and I have driven it over the years several times, in good weather and bad, up in the mountains, out on the plains, and in the city, and I can personally attest that it is a classy, well-built car, perfect in the snow (a tank!), roomy, comfortable, powerful, with wonderful handling, and one that will hold its value over time. I wouldn't hesitate, for instance, to buy an E-350 or E-320 4Matic that is several years old in the used car market. Indeed, I have made this recommendation to friends and acquaintances many times, a few times successfully, and these people still thank me.

Readers Respond

I would argue that there is a third camp - Ferrari Passion, Performance and Class all without compromise. My ride falls into the "affordable" end of this camp - A Ducati Superbike.

By Bill Windsor on 2010 08 17

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