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Priced at over $130,000, the CL550 occupies an interesting place in the market with no direct competitors. The BMW 6-series and Lexus SC430 are significantly less expensive and also smaller; the SC430 does, however, share some nautical styling, its designers claiming to have spent a year on the Riviera doing "research." On the other hand, cars like the Aston Martin DB9 and Bentley Continental GT are significantly more expensive without offering much more in terms of equipment or technology.
It's important, too, to compare the CL550 to discretionary purchases that aren't cars. As often as not, buyers purchase a big Mercedes coupe not instead of another car, but instead of a piece of art, a shiny bauble, or an expensive vacation. Judged on that basis, well, you get a lot more metal in the CL550 than you do in, say, a Patek Philippe perpetual calendar watch; you get more functionality than you do in a static mural that merely hangs on a wall; and you can drive this big, boat-like car for a whole year for the cost it'd take you to fill a Wallypower 118 with jet fuel for a two-week trip on the water.
None of this makes the CL550 an actual good value, but it does put it in context a bit. Unlike other luxury cars - and indeed, even other expensive Mercedes - it's a truly indulgent, personal purchase - one that can't really be justified by any logical imperative. As a car, it's truly a boat - but oh, what a boat it is.
LuxuryCarCanada - 2007 Mercedes-Benz CL550
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