Irv, there's a lot more to cars, at least for some of us, than some data points about two individuals' experiences regarding reliability. I've driven a Genesis 5, and I wouldn't own it if someone gave me one. The latest Mercedes aren't my taste, frankly, but I completely understand her perspective. The Mercedes (a C-class, I assume, for $50K) is a much more satisfying drive. Most people don't have problems with them. We all have different priorities and are more discerning in some areas than others. For some people cars are appliances, and I think that's fine for them, but not for me. Cars aren't status symbols either; I don't care what anyone thinks, but I am discerning about handling and feel. Or is your sister just a status-seeker?
It is the same with Emotiva. With the exception of their basic amps I wouldn't own them. Not because they don't perform, they do, but my experience with my own CD player, a friend's DAC, and another's pre-pro, is that I'd rather pay a lot more to have better ergonomics and parts choices. I despise cheaply-made products of any kind.
Hey you sold that cd player to me, whats wrong with it.. lol I don't even have it anymore I sold it a while back, I think it went for $100 more than I paid, but then ebay and paypal fees and my time, I obviously didn't prfit anything, but resale value is there with emo gear...
ANYWAY... Back to the cars, she has a E class I belive its a 350.. I know my sister is buying the car as a status cymbal {audio forum}, no doubt about that.. I went through that phase, I had a benz or two, a few bmw's, ferraris, cadilacs, ect... Its a HUGE WASTE {with the exception of the cts-v, what fun that was}.. We pay taxes on vehicles year round here, so you buy the vehicle and pay 7% sales tax, then you pay property tax every year on that vehicle, a nice car will cost you $2200 year one, 1900 year two, 1650 year 3 until you dont own it anymore.... I am over that part of my life, I want VALUE vs Flash.. In my yard we have a 2013 jeep rubicon 4 door wrangler, one of my service trucks {which ever I take home}, a 2012 toyota tacoma {I keep this because its good on fuel and handy to have around, although we dont use it much it has under 3K miles on it}, my wifes Prius {the hospital she works at is 50 miles from our home, parking is scary, its not worth taking anything fancy there, plus she loves that car for some reason}, and thats it {besides the 3 motorcycles}, nothing flashy or fancy, I learned they are just cars.. If I am going to spend $90K on a car its going to be something that is going up in value not down, hence the classics and hot rods in my "toybox" {thats what my wife calls my detached garage}....
But I drove my sisters car and I drove in that hyundai, the hyundai is FASTer, roomier, Sportier, cheaper, has a better warranty, ect.. I dont see the value in the benz, I owned a couple, one was a preowned diesel eclass {bought it with 198 miles on it from a friend who needed to sell it fast} and it was terrible I would need a lot of your time to explain all the bad about that car, then I must not have had enough because I bought another one {gas this time} and it was again a Horrid experience...
I am now the type that if I have good luck with something I stay with it, My company service trucks are all gm's {have had awesome luck with them}, toyota has treated me good, Jeep {eh' not the best experience but mostly because of CS, the vehicle is solid}.. Emotiva, cs treats me good, the products make me smile, and the prices are really attractive...
I understand about cheaply made products, and if it was a breathing machine for my son, or an alarm system for my home, price would be less of a concern for me, but with audio gear, its just a hobby of mine, and I have many, it actually ranks quite low on the hobby scale, The least expensive of my 3 Blaser rifles cost 2-3 times more than every speaker, amp, tv, pre/pro, ect I own, and I really want this one
BLASER R93 IMPERIAL SAFARI,416 REM ( ON SALE) : Bolt Action Rifles at GunBroker.com, but can't bring myself to pull the trigger so to speak.... So I try to be as thrifty as possible, I am still a business man and I think of everything in dollars and cents, so when I buy a $90K coronet or $80K rifle, I know they are not going to lose much if any of there value, most likely they are going to increase in value {the first high end rifle I bought is now worth more than twice what I paid}, my Ruth baseball {$17K after all the buyers fees, certification, and shipping} is now worth almost double, but the say $25K in audio gear I have bought is worth about $5K if I am lucky...
So when I think about buying gear, I want it on sale, or a super value for my money... I have no problem spending money, BUT when a can get an amp for $800 that does the same thing as an amp for $8000 I try to figure it out as a business man first...
My $800 amp has a 5yr warranty, in 5 years it will still function and I will sell it for $550, in 5 years i will sell my $8000 amp for $1400, they are going to do the same thing except one is going to cost me $250 to own and the other is going to cost me $6600 to own for the same amount of time.... Same thing with speakers, I love how the Amati Futura sound and the style and finish imo {either of the 3 colors although the red is sick} make them the best looking speakers I have EVER seen!!! But they are $35K, I honestly thought about buying them, but then my douche bag business side talked me out of it, When I am sick of them or want something different I wont get $15K for them so it will be $20K to won a set of speakers for a few years, to me its crazy...
but obviously to others the audio hobby is higher on their lists, I like too many things, Baseball memorabilia, comic books, Guns, motorcycles, hot rods, boats, juke boxes, audio gear, tools, ect...
Plus my wife comes with me to different audio shops and she knows what speakers cost, I didn't think we would ever argue about money UNTIL I spent $20K on a juke box which was identical to one I already owned, she was PISSED!!! But mostly because I just refused to loan her sister money so she didn't loose her house, in my defence, she had no plan, 6 months behind on the mortgage and she had no plan for after I bailed her out, so in another 6 months she would be back in the same position except she would owe me 12K and the bank another 12K on a house that was worth $100K less than she owed on it, long story short, I told her to get an apartment{and I would let her borrow the money to move and get an apartment, at the time I was just finishing up a gorgeous 7 unit place} and walk away from the house, I in turn was the BAD guy, everyone was mad at me. like I was just trying to get a "tenant", so they banded together and bailed her out, then 4 months later she lost the house and came to me for an apartment, with 0 dollars, so I still didn't learn my lesson and told her NO, then my wife called me and she now lives in one of my units that I normally collect $1680 for but rented it to her for $900 with no deposits or anything like that and the first month free, she now hasn't paid me more than $300 a month for the last few months and I am still the bad guy... I can't win..
Anyway I forgot what we were talking about, I apologise, I am over tired and rambling, I had a rough day with my wife, we got good news day before yesterday so we celebrated and all was good, then today Bad news, so that equals no sleep followed by no sleep and tomorrow will probably be... no sleep....
