wow i didn't know this was an r class hate theard or should i say forum?
anyways, i see it as a tall wagon. this is really a subjective matter beside insurance institute and car reviews consider R class as an tall wagon.
For your information, R class isn't a minvan and i seriously doubt minivan buyers can even afford or willing to pay for an R class.
No offence to anyone but seriously do you think a car that cost 60k+ and with options that can hover around 80k+ is targed to a minivan buyer?
Ummm....yes.
It's targetted at people with lots of money who want three rows of seating. Those are the same people who typically buy the high end minivans. Like, say, the Siena AWD. They aren't cheap, either.
All this R class is, is a humongous station wagon. Just like in the 70s, when you had the little jump seats in the back.
I don't know why all the pretense and 
, trying to pretend it's something it's not.
first of all, a high end minivan sounds like an oxymoron, no actully it is an oxymoron..
whats the next hadline? Toyota sienna takes on the German's top 3 high end brand?
because it has an AWD??? and that R CLASS is not made off road??
the whole idea of an minivan started as a practicality, versatile and affordable people hauler,
which chrysler's first minvian was
however, as time pass auto maker added more option
to appeal broader audience and to look more upscale and elegant with options like leather, better tire,nice stereo,advance safety feature etc etc....in the end it comes down to the same damn body shell with bunch of damn options which is where all the profits lies anways.
the best example would be a toyota camry/lexus ES. shove all the option in a base camry and voila! you have yourself an high end lexus ES(fatten camry) and realibility rox cause its so damn uninspire to drive it.
sooo who's the real pretender?? a minivan like sienna awd trying to fit in a high model??? btw sienna is nothing close to high end model in price and ofcours in quality and i seriously doubt a person that can afford an 70k-100k car would buy a sienna because it fits 7 people.
On the other hand, there is a model like R class which shares alot of comman parts with ML,GL and not some cheap body parts that comes out from a base sienna which cost like 28k.
anyways, i don't know how many of you had any long term driving experince with any of the mercedes line up like ML,GL or even R Class but one thing for sure, it doesn't compare to a SIENNA.
if design and style is what your bashing then well, i can't say much about that since its a SUBJECTIVE matter.
one last thing, how many people out there do you think would give a rat about reliablity rating of an mercedes, reallly when an oil change would cost you over $300 and 20k km maintaince will set you back to about $700-$1000.
Beside mercedes has an excellent loaner service and also some service which they would pick up and drop off your car to your home/office.
3 pointed star really means german engineering,service and convinience.
