2010 Mercedes-Benz R Class - Page 1 Review

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Shopping for a 2010 Mercedes-Benz R Class? MSRP: $49,300 - $50,800

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If car companies treated their products like TV families, Mercedes-Benz would have a Brady-style dilemma on its hands with the R-Class. It's such a Jan-the obedient, plain B student unfortunately born between two cuter, smarter, more talented siblings. The R-Class all but disappeared in the shadows of the five-seat ML-Class and seven-seater GL-Class sport-utes from the day it was born in 2006, and it hasn't made a dent in the luxury-crossover market since, even though a diesel engine makes it the most efficient vehicle of its kind. Radical change isn't coming any time soon, either. For 2010, the R-Class gets very few tweaks-the biggest one in name only-and soldiers on with a price tag of about $50,000. The crossovers it gets jealous of? The big and bawdy Lincoln MKT, the lean and sophisticated Audi Q7, and the poster child for the bling generation, the Cadillac Escalade.

The R-Class is sidelined most, we think, because of its inflated proportions. It's the rare car that looks bigger than it is. We don't find anything wrong with the details of the R-Class, but it tries to fuse a sport-ute personality on a minivan-sized body and misses the mark. As long as an S-Class and as tall as some SUVs, the R-Class just can't hide its bulk behind the mom-jeans effect of a low, aerodynamic nose. Worse yet, at first glance, you might mistake it for its old corporate cousin, the Chrysler Pacifica. Inside, it's plainer than you might expect, and the R-Class dash reads more "utility" than it does "luxury." Wide bands of wood trim dress up the gray plastics well enough, and gauges have cut-tube styling that's trendy and handsome. It's the big stack of controls between front passengers and the oddly retro chrome trim on the steering wheel that dial back the luxe look the most. You'd find the same shapes in minivans of a lesser price point.