Yeah, I cannot stand piano black; my RR has it and I would kill for a nice woodgrain replacement, but it's an absurd amount of work to swap it all over, not to mention cost. As for the purple lights, I believe that's the ambient lighting colour which should be adjustable by the driver.
Yes, all the ambient light can of course be disabled. Nobody's are as extravagant as Merc but every car in this class has ambient light now, and nobody's can't be disabled or reduced to be effectively invisible... so the ambient light is really a non-issue overall.
Personally I'm a fan, but again for me it's like... there's really only two options now for a new lease going forward - M240/440 and this. This looks significantly better.
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I've set mine to that indigo colour that Table 5 hates so much, but when I put the vehicle into Dynamic mode, the gauges and the ambient lighting change to red.
Never mind 'vehicles in this class', nearly every f-cking Kia comes with it now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sliver
I went to the Merc builder to build out a CLE this morning. You can option in wood grain and option out piano black.
There's even an option for lunatics who want to add MORE piano black (wtf).
If I was a dangerous individual who associated with other dangerous individuals, I might want more piano black. "Why yes, I do want my vehicle to act as a forensic investigator's wet dream so they can find the fingerprints, dead skin, and hair follicles of everyone I've ever met with in case I die under suspicious circumstances...."
I went to the Merc builder to build out a CLE this morning. You can option in wood grain and option out piano black.
There's even an option for lunatics who want to add MORE piano black (wtf).
The real piano black is lacquered wood trim which is typically an option on higher end BMW, Mercedes, etc not the cheap black plastic we have seen across most of the industry.
"Real" piano black or not, I still see fingerprints and dust on the center console in the above video.
It's a trend that really needs to die already (frankly, I'm surprised it's lasted this long), especially in cars that tout their luxury. There's nothing luxurious about materials that remind me of my 10 year old tv from Best Buy.
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No, gloss finishes are fine; choose wood, carbon fiber, white ceramic, whatever. Just not piano f'cking black.
Matte and satin finishes may hide dust reasonably well, but they still show fingerprints except they look like grease spots which is arguably worse, and you can't polish those surfaces either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
The real piano black is lacquered wood trim which is typically an option on higher end BMW, Mercedes, etc not the cheap black plastic we have seen across most of the industry.
I have real piano black, it still sucks. Actually it's worse some of the time in that the lacquer can crack.
Though at least with the real stuff, you can polish the lacquer to restore the look.
There's vinyl kits you can get to cover the interior gloss black areas. I obviously agree that it shouldn't have to come to that, but it's a fairly easy issue to deal with.
I will say this as a guy who owned a very nice Genesis: I liked it in every way. Impossible to love, though. Something just falls short owning one irl even though on paper they check more boxes than their competitors. Something soulless going on there.
I would recommend them to someone who likes cars and wants a really nice one with some excellent perks and more options than other vehicles; however, they are just not for car guys who want to love their car.
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The Korean cars are all great value buys. You buy value, you respect value, but nobody falls in love with "value".
To fall in love with a car, it needs to have some personality or quality that makes you feel something more. Often that means a narrow use-case where the car does a few things exceptionally well, but many things terribly. It often means having some flaw or weird design feature, that don't make sense to others but does to you. It's a car that may be a pain to own, but when it hits right, is pure magic.
I think Genesis makes great looking cars...but it's a bit akin to looking at a flawless AI-generated supermodel, where everything checks out, but the soul is missing.
Having said that, the cars that we inevitably look back on with fondness are the ones that help us create memories...if you have a great road trip with your kids in your Genesis, it probably means you will have great memories of that car. But it wasn't because it was a better value, or had more buttons, or did a fantastic job pairing your phone.
Kias/Hyundais/Genesis...those are all great cars I like to recommend...to other people.
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That's my opinion on many of the early era EVs too. Probably a key reason why I haven't made the leap yet. Something I might like, but not love. More appliance than machine. More transactional than something I'd want to develop a bond with.
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She's had a
AMG 350 from 2005 until 2015
Then a Chevy Tahoe
Then a Volvo xc90
Then a Tesla X
Then a Yukon
Now a AMG GLE (or GLC, i cannot remember)
The Benz' were always head over heals above everything else. I actually drove the 2005 AMG until about 2019 when it got too expensive to maintain; and that thing still looked and drove like a million bucks.
Her new Benz is super slick and i love the drive.
The Volvo was an easy number 2. I took that on a few long roadtrips and loved it.
The Tesla was, in my opinion, the worst vehicle she owned. I remember being excited for it, and outside of some cool features, i thought the Volvo (her most recent vehicle at the time) was better and cheaper
Those original Model Xs were janky AF. But at that time you were still kind of supporting a start up and most people went into that purchase knowing there were some warts. I mean, remember the panel gaps and stuff on those? It was nuts, but EV choices were limited and it's kind of fun being an early adopter of things. Most buyers wouldn't have been expecting the kind of quality you were going to get from an established brand, but the 'cool factor' was there for a time.
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Too wagony not enough S/CUVy, probably. NA is death for anything wagon-like. Europe gets so many more cool vehicles than the garbage we get here. Well, at least in the Wagon and Hot Hatch departments.
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Those original Model Xs were janky AF. But at that time you were still kind of supporting a start up and most people went into that purchase knowing there were some warts. I mean, remember the panel gaps and stuff on those? It was nuts, but EV choices were limited and it's kind of fun being an early adopter of things. Most buyers wouldn't have been expecting the kind of quality you were going to get from an established brand, but the 'cool factor' was there for a time.
I think Genesis makes great looking cars...but it's a bit akin to looking at a flawless AI-generated supermodel, where everything checks out, but the soul is missing.
Yeah this G70 Shooting Brake looks kinda cool but is 4,200 lbs and a 2.5L 4 cyl.
That's doesn't sound like a very engaging driving experience at that price point.
So I'm considering getting rid of my 2023 GMC 2500. I think it was built on a Friday, because it's been nothing short of an absolute POS since day 1.
Something went on the engine about 5000k in which resulted in a 2 month stay at the dealer. Followed by the transmission control unit (another 3 months waiting for parts), DEF injectors, and now wiring harness issues. Jack Carter is hilariously overpriced for service and even warranty work is a PITA.
90 000k on it so it seems like it's the time to dump it.
What are the opinions on the new 1/2 ton diesel trucks? I see Ram is coming out with some kind of diesel hybrid but I've never owned a Dodge. I like the idea of a high torque diesel V6 with electric efficiency (as well as the smaller footprint) but I'm afraid of MOPAR. I generally stick to Toyota for price and reliability but they seem to be having problems now too, along with price creep. I LOVED my 2008 2500 GMC but holy hell are the new ones ever terrible.
I drive a lot, tow trailers for work and pleasure, and also have a sled deck (2 up). Payload isn't a major concern, but I would like to have something capable of at least one sled, as well as the ability to pull around 10 000lbs.
Also loads of hiway driving so fuel efficiency is important. The 2500 is surprisingly efficient without a load in the bed or when pulling a trailer. Self driving would be pretty awesome but not a deal breaker.
I'm open to suggestions here.
With that amount of usage you should look at single rear wheel one tons, more stability for your sled deck. The mileage can be comparable depending on driving habits.
Too wagony not enough S/CUVy, probably. NA is death for anything wagon-like. Europe gets so many more cool vehicles than the garbage we get here. Well, at least in the Wagon and Hot Hatch departments.
This isn't true though, is it? I mean Subaru has done fine with wagony things, Volvo has done fine, Audi...
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Actually it's worse some of the time in that the lacquer can crack.
