Well guys, it was a beautiful sunny SoCal day yesterday, and I’ve been meaning to get my front passenger door looked at since the courtesy light keeps shorting out. Yesterday being a Sunday, I did not realize the service center was closed, so I figured I’d go dealer hopping.

1st Stop: The Jaguar dealer.
As soon as I entered there was a pristine White ’09 XF. Gorgeous. I walked around and inspected every inch of that car. Very kit. But what surprised me was that the also had an ’10 XFR in black with 20 inch Nevis (I think that’s what they are called) wheels. It was evil and aggressive. The interior is even more ridiculous than the white Premium, with cinnamon leather and orange stitching on the black leather portion, with smoke gray wood. The Bowers & Wilkins sound system was crisp and powerful. Overall fit and finish: very, very good. I overheard the rep say something that perked my ears "all the 2010 XFRs are spoken for and sold-out" That put a smile on my face since I have a soft spot for Jags. I thought seeing the XFR was the highlight, but, au contraire, for this particular dealer was also an Aston Martin dealer! Unfortunately I could not sit in any of them, but it’s alright. But it get’s even better, while I was chatting with the Jar rep, which, by the way, are extremely courteous and genile, I see peeking in the back area…..a D-B-S!:icondrool I asked if I could go back and look at it, and the rep was more than happy to oblige. It was in this dark gray color called "obsidian" and it certanly looked like an obsidian rock…polished and deep and lustrous. The rep and I talked for what must of been 10 mins about the car, clearly he was as taken aback as I was. After that he left to tend to some clients. I swear, I must of just stared at that car for 10 minutes straight. Going over the same details at least 5 times. Every detail on that car is just absolutely perfect. Elegant but aggressive. Subtle (compared to other supercars) but downright special. That is probably my favorite car now….Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and all the other showy cars (except Pagani), IMO, have nothing on this car. As I walked out of that dealership, I still felt flabbergasted.

2nd stop: BMW.
My main point was to see if the new 7er was there, and it was. They had an F01 and an F02 there, both in black. The F01 had the 19" Style 252 wheels, and they are gorgeous in person. The interior was was the oyster leather with the ash grain wood. Very nice, but I’d prefer the matte fine line wood. THe interior is definitely well crafted, but I do have a complaint: the storage lids are flimsy. The glove box, I thought, would have a bit more substance, but that’s not the case. Also the little compartment by the driver’s left knee is extremely flimsy, something you’d find in a late 1980′s era GM. Ok, it’s not that bad, but definitely not what I’d expect from a German car that’s a few grand shy of six figures. The F02 had the fine line gloss wood with black leather with the ceramic option, which looks quite unique in person. The wheels were the Style 235, to me, nothing terribly special, but neither was it offensive. Also present was the new Z4 in white. I don’t think white suits that car too well, because I thought I’d be smitten. Smitten I was not, rather underwhelmed. Also they had a Silverstone II M3 coupe with DCT. I love that car, except the interior is rather industrial looking for a car that’s 70K. I’m not looking for pizzazz, but a bit carbon fiber trim could also be applied to the center console and wou;d do wonders of breaking the drab monotony inside. Just something in the interior that would make it a wee bit more special than your run-of-the-mill 3er. Also the rep at bimmer dealer was rather nice and patient, esp. since he could tell I could not afford any of thse cars. He was kind enough to provide me with some brochures (as did the Jag rep). The 7er brochure is like hardcover coffee-table book. Definitley a keeper!

Last stop: M-B dealer.
Very large dealer with a line of shiny SL63 out front to ogle at. Lovely. I walk in and, to my left, you standard Benzes. To your right, a cornucpia of AMG delights! They had a C63, CLS63, CL63, and a S65. Also they had a SLR roadster and a SL BS. In case you did not catch that, a SLR roadster and SL Black Series! Lovely machines. Absolutely lovely. My initial objective was to check out the new E. I asked the rep if they had the new E, to which he said they had one, only on display outside. As I went outside, I found out it was the E coupe, not the E sedan. I was a little disappointed, but oh well. The front in pics looks well-sorted, but in person I was not impressed. Maybe having seen it often on these forums has dulled my impression. The interior is quite nice, but that gear shifter in the coupe seems too tall and out proportion. I could not spend much time inside since I felt I was getting the bum’s rush by the rep. Granted I hadn’t anticipated going to these dealers today, so I was dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, and an untucked collar shirt. I asked if they had a sedan to look at, to which he replied "We don’t, but next week, we’ll have 14 in stock, come in next week." Resigned, I went back inside to ogle some more at the AMGs. Upon exiting the building, what do I see… a gray E350 sedan! Either the rep lied to me (I would not be surprised due to his slight hasty demeanor, especially compared to the other reps from the previous dealer), he did not know, or it just arrived. I went in for a close up look. The front was,again, under-whelming for me. And this puppy had the AMG sports pack on it! And the side seems pudgy despite its more angular looks. The rear looks fantastic. Which is odd, because in pics, I thought it looked derivative. Although, I could not sit in it, I peered in the window, and the quality looks pretty good. Could not tell what kind of wood was in there due to the lighting, but the leather seemed to be something unique…something orangy-tan, almost akin to the leather in the XFR, but lighter. Conservative this was not. I guess I’ll stop by again when I get a bit more time to myself and have a proper look at the E sedan and coupe.

Unfortunately, I had no time to test-drive these lovely machines, nor did I get a chance to peruse an Audi dealer since there isn’t one in this autopark. I would like to get a close-up of the new S4. I guess there’s something for next time.

I just want to leave you with this parting thought…..the DBS is :bowdown:.
Wow.

:t-cheers:

PS: I apologize for the lack of personal pics, I was not prepared, plus it’d look a bit tacky snapping pics at a dealer.