If you have to do a lot of long journeys then you want to be comfortable, safe, and most importantly you want to arrive at the end of each commute feeling refreshed.
The big leather seats, the airy cabin and climate control found in the S-Class make a good start. Cruise control, speed limiter and majestic 3.0 litre diesel engine more or less do the rest. This is a very relaxing car to drive on the motorway.
The most tiring aspect of being an S-Class driver is in town where people really don’t want to let you out or even let you have your share of the road. Drive something larey like a Vauxhall Murano or VXR and people wave you through either because you amuse them, or they want the lunatic out in front where he can’t hit their car.
But in an S-Class, almost everyone wants to bring you down a peg or two and make you wait; to run you so close to the parked cars that you have to turn the air conditioning down to combat your rapidly forming beads of perspiration.
As you would expect from the Mercedes flagship, as well as being very refined and laden with gadgetry (including the best TV of all the Executive limos), it offers some pretty fair performance too.
The handling feels light, like an Audi, but nonetheless poised and clear. There is a slight delay for kick-down with the automatic, followed by the big Mercedes engine surge kicking in, which makes it hard to be smooth and brisk.
All that feels perfectly reasonable – this isn’t meant to be a sports car. I would give it top marks if it weren’t for the fact that the Audi A8 (just) and the Jaguar XJ (by some way) have raised the bar. They both manage to give a better drivers experience without compromising the refinement or smoothness for passengers.
But, because the XJ feels too much like a Limo and the Audi doesn’t quite have the brand gravitas, the Mercedes remains firmly in the battle, in particular on the used market where the purchase prices are so tempting – especially when the running costs are so reasonable; the 3.0 litre diesel achieves 37 mpg, which is refreshing in any large car.
What’s the market like?
New, the S-Class 350 diesel is £57,000+. But after 3 years, with average mileage of just 35,000 you can buy them for £25,000. We’ve seen some for as little as £21,000 with 74,000 miles on the clock.
And over the next two years, if you only add average mileage of 15,000 a year, it will only lose about £5,000. This may seem like heavy depreciation for a Mercedes, and it is, but its the category of car that creates that and in no way should it be seen as a negative reflection on Mercedes.
The S-Class’ rivals are the BMW 7-Series, Jaguar XJ and Audi A8. There are fabulous savings on all these cars, as they have similar price points throughout their life.
Summary
The S-Class is exceptional value as mile cruncher that is surprisingly affordable.