Which car for France?

[cl 600]

Here is something for thought and discussion. The answers might save or cause a row betweem my wife and I depending on the results
My wife and I are going to France in September for the Rugby World Cup. We are going to drive from Ireland through Wales and England through the Tunnel and on to Paris. We are staying in Paris for two weekends and in between we are going to head down south to chase the sun.
The question is Which car will we being?
2007 S320L CDI with lots of extras.
2006 ML320 CDI Sports pack no other extras
2002 CL600 Usual CL600 spec
1994 E220 LHD Manual Poverty Spec recently bought as possible "villa Car" for house in Spain. Not sure if I did the right thing. Wife says its a hearse!!
Each car has its merits. Even the E220 is LHD and has lots of room for wine!
I wont tell you any more of my thoughts until I see what you think.

 

[izzi613]

CL600 otherwise you won't look 'right' on the french riviera!

Oh to have the same problems in life as you

 

[cl 600]

Middle aged overweight Irishman with short red haired wife. "Looking right" dosent come into the equasion! thanks for the answer though;-)

 

[moneyman]

For me it would have to be the S Class with all the toys

 

[Eric Tilley]

Knowing the French approach to getting into a parking space I would take the E220 hearse with the Big Bumpers .

 

[Blobcat]

Would have to be the CL600 for me

 

[cl 600]

Oh! no!. I checked for a result of the poll this morning and we have a tie.
It confirms my suspision that this forum is a good healthy mix of petrolheads and banger lovers
I thought about the S class as it has brilliant sat nav, cooling fans in the seats etc etc. It is also diesel and will probably be the most economical but I had a bad experience a few years ago when a young lady in a zara "attacked" my then W220 and I had to have it shipped home on a recovery truck.
No votes for the ML!!
Cl 600. Big, Comfortable, Thirsty, (sounds just right for me!)older sat nav that is poor in Ireland But may be better in France. But the power the fun the prestige. Yes, this will probably be the one.
W124. New to me and not really tested. At home in the yard at the moment refusing to start! LHD and lots of room for wine. No sat nav and no AC. I expected more of the 124 lovers to vote for this one.
Thanks for all the votes and replies, the poll will remain open for a few more days and I will let you know my final decision. Thanks again.

 

[daveenty]

Another one here for the biggie

Just got back from France (though flew over and hired a car)

As mentioned above, parking can be a problem, especially in city centres, but just leave it a bit further away from where you need to be and walk in or get a (reliable) bus or metro.

Think if I were going down for this, I'd probably go in mine just for the laugh.

Just be careful of your speed...It's a (unsubstantiated) rumour that speed checks are being done in between péages. Never been caught by it myself but have heard of people who have.

 

[M30RCK]

Id take the E class, parking & the driving in france is haphazard!!

 

[OlafMaxwell]

Just back from France. Be warned, the parking spaces are small, they park by ear and they drive those little Peugeot and Citroen diesels so you can imagine how hard they have to hit you to hear!! You just find bigger spaces thoguh and the same mentality of keying cars and damaging them does not seem to exist there.

For the drive though, no question, S class or CL. My take is the diesel because it gives good mileage between refullling, good for motorway. The timing at peages is correct, the trick is to stop for a coffee in between to make sure you are clear. There are a lot of speed checks now, and the group of motor bikers parked up 'looking at one of their tyres and chatting' are likely to be highway patrol.....

As for the sat nav, the autoroute and city singage is great, all you need is a short list of cities on your route and you can go one end of the country to the other with that list without a problem.

 

[cl 600]

Thanks Olaf and everyone else that replied.
Its going to be the CL. I'm really looking forward to it except for the driving in Paris part, but if get to the Hotel car parks I will just leave it there untill I am leaving Paris. I will let you know how the trip goes. Thanks again.

 

[Blobcat]

Thanks Olaf and everyone else that replied.
Its going to be the CL. I'm really looking forward to it except for the driving in Paris part, but if get to the Hotel car parks I will just leave it there untill I am leaving Paris. I will let you know how the trip goes. Thanks again.

I've driven through Paris quite a few times in my Mercedes and whilst it is challenging I find driving in London much harder. As for the parking there are many underground parking lots in Paris which are generally quiet as you have to pay for them. One thing is for sure is that you will be parked besides cars worth a lot more than your CL so you shouldn't worry too much about dings.