2011 Gl 350 Bluetec Diesel: Certified Pre-owned At Authorized Mercedes Dealer on 2040-cars

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Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 priced at $48,855, AWD at $50,855

Infiniti's most powerful production model, the new Q50 Red Sport 400, now has a starting price. You'll need at least $48,855 for the rear-drive model or $50,855 for all-wheel drive. (Both figures include the $905 destination charge.) A fully loaded, rear-drive Q50 RS400 with Direct Adaptive Steering, navigation, adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel, and Infiniti's entire alphabet soup of safety equipment, tops out at $57,045. (Again, add $2,000 for AWD). When it comes to rear-drive competition, the closest base price to the Q50 is the 320-hp BMW 340i. This German undercuts the Infiniti by two grand, $46,795 to $48,855. But the BMW outprices the Q50 as soon as you start selecting options. A 340i with similar equipment to a loaded Q50 Red Sport 400 costs just under $60,000. All-wheel-drive German competitors also lose out in the price war. Like with the rear-drive models, the BMW 340i xDrive undercuts the Q50 RS400 by around $2,000. Add the options, and the Infiniti becomes a better value. The other two big German rivals, the Audi S4 and Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG start at a higher price and only get more expensive. Technically the S4 starts cheaper than the Q50, but only with the standard manual transmission. Selecting the S-Tronic dual-clutch model kicks the price from $50,125 to $51,125, and going for the top-end Prestige trim will bump potential Audi owners up to $57,025. Throw on must-have S4 options, including adaptive cruise control, adaptive dampers, and a sport differential and you'll be shell out $64,425 for the Audi. The Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG is the priciest choice in this group, starting at $51,725, or roughly $900 more than a base Q50 RS400 with AWD. Options, again, are the downfall here. Building a C450 to match a loaded Infiniti will drive the Mercedes' price up to $64,315. While it occupies something of a weird space relative to these vehicles, it's also worth mentioning the Cadillac CTS VSport. It's the only car in this impromptu pricing comparo that can outgun the Q50, with its 3.6-liter, twin-turbo V6 good for 420 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque. It also starts at $60,950, although that includes plenty of standard equipment. All this means that the Q50 Red Sport 400 represents a relative value. It packs more power than the Germans – 80 more than the 340i, 67 more than the S4, and 38 more than the C450 – and a more comprehensive list of options, too.

Recharge Wrap-up: Honda Grace hybrid goes on sale in Japan, Daimler spends 100M euros on batteries

The Mercedes-Benz S-500 Plug-In Hybrid has earned an Environmental Certificate from the TUV Sud technical inspection authority. The award is based on a lifecycle assessment of the vehicle. This includes the ability to reduce CO2 emissions by 43 percent through charging, and by 56 percent if charged using hydroelectricity. Read more in the press release below. Daimler is expanding its production capacity for lithium-ion batteries. The company is investing around 100 million euros in its subsidiary Deutsche ACCUmotive, who will provide batteries for the electric Smart Fortwo and Forfour, as well as various Mercedes-Benz models. By the end of the construction, Deutsche ACCUmotive will have quadrupled production and logistics space since 2011. Read more in the press release below. Honda has begun sales of its Grace hybrid sedan in Japan. The Grace is based on the Honda Fit and uses the automaker's Sport Hybrid i-DCD system. It comes in front- and four-wheel-drive versions and uses a seven-speed DCT with built-in motor. The Honda Grace starts at the equivalent of about $16,500. Read more in the press release below. Honda has begun operation of its wind farm in Brazil. The farm consists of nine wind turbines, expected to produce about 95,000 MWh of electricity per year, which is on par with Honda's consumption for automobile production in the country. Honda is aiming to cut its CO2 production by 30 percent by 2020 compared to 2000 levels. Read more in the press release below. Toyota has won the 2014 World Endurance Championship's Driver and Manufacturer categories with hybrid technology. Toyota celebrated the win after the final race in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Toyota uses the same hybrid technology in its racing cars as it does in its production vehicles. Read more in the press release below. Controlled Power Technologies and other groups are calling for an international 48-volt electrical standard for vehicles. The groups called for the standard at the International Conference Automotive 48 V Power Supply Systems, saying that the 48V standard for mild hybrids would help make the systems more affordable. This will make it easier for automakers to meet the more stringent CO2 standards anticipated in coming years along with the introduction of the World Light vehicles Test Procedures. Read more at Green Car Congress. The world's first certified three-litre luxury saloon: S 500 PLUG-IN HYBRID receives Environmental Certificate Stuttgart.

This or That: Mercedes S-Class 350SD vs. 2003 Jaguar XJR [w/poll]

Budget. It's a wretched word, whether you're going out to eat, shipping for a new outfit or, more relevant to today's discussion, buying a car. Massive marketing machines have convinced us, as a population, to buy the best you can afford, repercussions be damned – If you've saved up some money, spend it! All of it, on whatever it is that currently sits atop your personal Amazon wishlist, be it a Timex that takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin', a $17,000 Gold Apple Watch or a $60,000 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona. But what if the best you can afford is... say, $12,815? For that price, you can buy a brand-new 2015 Nissan Versa (including destination), assuming you're happy with zero options and a manual transmission. For that price, you'll get standard air conditioning, a CD player and... well, a warranty. Pretty sensible choice, Captain Frugal. But also ridiculously uninspired. And so that brings us to today's edition of This or That, in which two Autoblog editors pick differing sides of an argument and duke it out to see which one of us can convince you, dear reader, is better. Or at least less wrong. You be the judge. As a refresher, I'm two-and-two on these challenges, having lost the first and second editions before storming back in rounds three and four. Today, as alluded to above, we decided to throw our collective brainpower (oh lord, what have we done?) at what may be the single most difficult question currently confounding the best minds our planet has to offer: What is the best used used luxury car you can buy for the price of a 2015 Nissan Versa? Shall we meet our contenders? Allow me to introduce you to the most perfect luxury car money can buy (assuming the amount of money you're holding is equal to the amount of the cheapest new car currently sold in America, the Nissan Versa). My pick is the 1991 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Not just any S-Class, but the legendary W126, which was produced between 1979 and 1992. And not just any W126, either, but one powered by a 3.5-liter turbodiesel engine. And with that, I send the argument to my esteemed colleague, Associate Editor Chris Bruce. Bruce: Jeremy, we had over $12,000 to budget for this challenge, and the best you can manage is a 24-year-old diesel Mercedes? I love oil-burners as much as any other auto writer with their mountains of torque and huge cruising range, but you're making this too easy on me. Also, you're really choosing a brown, diesel, German luxury sedan?