Odd Washington Post article re Equus

[dg_moore]

Warren Brown - whose car columns I read every week in the Post and whose opinions I generally agree with - has a column today that strikes me as a little peculiar: http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...p-its-no-bmw/2011/10/11/gIQAV8HrjL_story.html.

In brief, he has many good things to say about the car, but the articles stresses more than once, "...but it's not a BMW." Seems to me that if you want to spend Equus level money but want a BMW you could just buy one. I don't think most Equus buyers really wanted a BMW but instead settled for an Equus. I owned one BMW, purchased new, that was constantly in the shop and incredibly expensive to own. I think I put more miles on loaners than on my own car, and I swore I'd never have another one.

 

[Mark_888]

He likes that one can "feel" the road on the BMW but still have a comfortable ride, whereas the Equus isolates one from the road wth little or no road feel. This is an accurate observation.

However, the Equus is really in competiton with Lexus LS, not BMW 5. He is making the mistake of comparing two cars with similar price tags, even though they don't really appeal to the same buyers.

 

[cschuler]

Well, the reviews of the article were mostly negative. As one put it, who wants to feel the rocks in a luxury car?

 

[Mark_888]

Well, the reviews of the article were mostly negative. As one put it, who wants to feel the rocks in a luxury car?

People who drive BMW 550i's do (at least some acknowledgement of the road without being jolted).

Again, do not classify cars by their price. The Equus is a luxury cruiser, and the 550i is a sports sedan. Just because they are close to the same price, does not mean that they necessarily have the same target audience.

 

[tompass]

I am with dg moore-When my 740il was running right, there was not other car like it. However the car required plenty of attention. My Genesis is not a BMW and does not handle nor ride like one. But it is a wonderful car. Just drove from NJ to SC today and thoroughly enjoyed the ride!

 

[hwks1]

The comparison is wrong - Genesis competes with 5 Series.... Equus with 7 Series.

I will say that my brief time in the Equus (for me) showed little to gain for the money. Not impressed with the air ride suspension.. thought I was driving a bigger Genesis, thats all. I was also not impressed with the interior materials for $60k.... Equus is not an upgrade (other than size) to the Genesis

 

[acoga]

The comparison is wrong - Genesis competes with 5 Series.... Equus with 7 Series.

I agree with you, in terms of the Equus being in the same class as the 7 series. But that doesn't change the conclusion at all. If you are looking for a BMW-ish ride/handling mix you'll be disappointed in Hyundai; really it's the Lexus LS that the Equus is gunning for.

 

[6789]

The comparison is wrong - Genesis competes with 5 Series.... Equus with 7 Series.

........

I know that's the conventional wisdom, but in reality, i suggest 12 Genesis RSpec performs _much_ more similarly to S-Class/7 Series/A-8
than does Equus. Concluding that the _price_ of the Equus qualifies it an S-Class contender is i believe far off the mark.

When someone comes into our store asking about our entry into S-Class/7 Series/A-8, I show them RSpec sedan, not Equus.

Just my $.02.