Hi all,
Figured I'd close the loop on this in case anybody is curious how it turned out. I made the Luxury SUV reservation, and flew in to SAN on Thursday night (before Presidents' Day Weekend) at 9pm. Off the bat, they offered me a QX80 -- exactly what I didn't want. (There were about 5 of them lined up on the SUV row). I politely said "No way," but the only other thing they had was a QX60. I asked about convertibles (totally sold out) and luxury sedans (one BMW 3-series in the lot, being held for a Luxury reservation), and even walked the ES and EA to see if something was hiding (about 200 mid- and full-size sedans).
In the end, I took the QX60 -- because it was literally the only thing they had other than Fusions, Altimas, etc -- along with an offer to come back in the morning and try for an exchange. The QX60 is okay, but it's basically a plush minivan with a fairly powerful engine. Very comfortable seats, good acceleration, but drives and feels kinda like a truck.
We came back early the next morning for an exchange. Still nothing in the lot, but after I pleaded with the attendant, she made a call, and said they could bring an XT5 or a GLC300 around. I bit on the GLC300. Took about 15 minutes to bring it around, which earned me a free tank of gas from the attendant.
After 3 days and 1360 miles, I returned the GLC300 a happy customer. For a grand total of $53.60 (free days), it was a fun and comfortable drive! En route from San Diego to Medford, we cruised down bumpy national/state park roads to see attractions, crossed the Sierras via Lake Tahoe, and enjoyed the winding curves for the entire length of US 1 from the Golden Gate Bridge to Crescent City. Yeah, a Miata would have been more fun on the curvy bits (and there are a lot of them!), but it wouldn't have taken the bumpy roads nearly as well. And I'd have worried about the possibility of snow in the mountains (although the weather was perfect). The only real downside to the Mercedes was visibility -- it doesn't have a great windshield, and this one didn't have any kind of moonroof. But the adjustable driving dynamics (including suspension) was fantastic -- I dialed it to "comfort" for freeways, and "sport+" for the coastal slalom.
However... I do have one regret. When I showed up at SAN, they had a prominently displayed Maserati Levante for a $60/day upgrade fee. I reflexively balked at the upgrade charge... but realized later that this was the
perfect opportunity to get a bucket-list driving experience. For $240 total, it would have been worth it. Oh well -- the GLC300 was just fine!
