thenit

I've been looking for a mid-sized size car with AWD and decent sized trunk that will hold a couple of sets of golf clubs. The other caveat is that my wife is 5' 2" and seeing that this will be a highway cruiser (and hopefully a little fun to drive), she needs to be able to drive it comfortably. I've eliminated various cars such as the Lexus GS350 (bad driving position for short people), Infiniti (small trunks), BMW 528i Xdrive (too expensive with AWD), Acura TL SH-AWD (poor visibility), Volvo S60 (wife couldn't reach the pedals) and the Hyundai Genesis (wife couldn't see over dash in passenger seat). We were set on the A6 2.0T but we decided to look at the MB E300 which we thought we would dislike. After we got over the creepy feeling of entering a Mercedes dealership we ended up test driving the E300. Amazingly we found it pretty nice. My wife, who doesn't particularly like the MB image, was actually disappointed that she really liked it because of the visibility and she didn't have to sit dangerously close to the steering wheel. It's not as fun as the A6 but it is a solid car. With the current promotions with MB (1st 3 months financing covered by MB), the price of the 2 are about the same.

Anybody have any thoughts on or experience with the 2 cars? There isn't much info on the E300 on the internet because it is not available in the US and the A6 2.0T hasn't been out long enough (with AWD) for much feedback.

stevem

I just got an A6 2.0T, coming from an A4. My wife is 5'-2", and she doesn't have an issue driving the car. I'm not a big MB fan -- my parents have one, and it's a so-so drive. The E is a nice car - but in it's current form, I don't find it quite as good looking as the Audi. The interior of the Audi is great -- and the 2.0T is plenty fast. For me, it would be an Audi hands down -- the Merc has been Chryslered in my opinion. My theory is that Daimler bought Chrysler to find out how to make less expensive cars. My parents had an old E, and that thing was a tank. Their new C is remarkably banal, and not all that impressive for the money.