I seem to recall this 5-series sized vehicle was about 5 grand when bought at 3 yrs old ?

That's a big enough saving to pay for crummy pads every year ;-)

Good quality aftermarket pads may be better than manufacturer's own spec, although heavy FWD autos do eat pads with start/stop running.

Thank you for the responses. It cost £6,891 but was a gamble as there is no local support - two dealers in the whole of the UK.

This said, having it serviced locally the costs are reasonable. The front pads cost GBP 60 inc VaT and were then done for one hour's labour so not too bad. The 17.5 k miles is lowish but the car weighs 1,700 kilos so their life expectancy may be shorter anyway.

Swings and roundabouts against the purchase price - there's still the risk of a technical problem and no support.

Bought a 56 reg 3.6 Sport Elegance [blue/cream] with 9k on the clock for £8k in Feb and have done 4000 miles since. Not sure whether that was a particularly good price, but its a fine car, with no problems whatsoever so far.

Likes:

Creamy engine, absolutely solid interior [no creaks or rattles]. Feels completely planted [and quiet] at very high speed cruising speeds[as good as my old Alfa 166 V6, which was as good as gets in this respect, unlike say a Merc E-series, which wander about especially if its windy]. Lovely steering feel. Excellent seats, with quality leather. Lights very good. Bose sound system as good [if not as loud] as Shaker 1000 in my previous Mustang. Climate control [why can't European manufacturers get even close to US systems in performance or ease of use?].

Dislikes:

Manual for SatNav is about 200 pages long - I just can't be bothered with it. Parking brake [yes, you don't need it to park, but would be nice to put it in neutral in traffic and take your foot off the brakes (not least for the guy behind)]. Collar operated light switch [easier just to leave them on Auto which also avoids the "lights suggested" message when a cloud appears]. Transmission a bit jerky on downchanges at slow speeds. You can't have the stereo on and screen off [or if you can I don't know how to do it].

My local Perrys will service it if I supply parts [I go to US quite a bit where filters, pads and stuff are cheap as chips].

I don't feel any difference in ride quality compared to a Merc E series [last version] so I don't really understand what reviewers are going on about when they say it suffers compared to German Execs [I've never driven a BMW 5 series so don't know about them, and to me an Audi A4 is worse as they pitch too much on braking if you're driving hard].

As long as you accept the poor fuel consumption and high tax, and that its going to be worth nothing in 3-4 years, I can't think of any saloon car which comes close in terms of comfort and speed.

There have been a series of exec saloons over the years which have depreciated massively for no good reason, and as long as you don't buy them new at list they have all been great cars to own and drive.

Mine have been Alfa 90, Renault 25 Turbo [ok, that was dodgy], Lancia Thema, Alfa 166. This Cadillac follows on from that noble line.