Value

Value The CLS-Class costs serious money, the kind that will park a wide array of handsome, luxurious, and powerful new coupes or sedans in your driveway.

Our 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLS500 test car came to us in granite gray metallic paint that incorporates a sophisticated new clear topcoat that’s said to help protect against scratches. All the expected luxury amenities are standard, including four-zone automatic climate control, auto-dimming rearview and driver’s side mirrors, built-in universal garage door opener, power-operated glass sunroof, and more.

Tacked onto the car’s $66,920 base price (which includes $720 in destination/delivery fees and a $1,300 gas guzzler tax) was a healthy – but by no means complete – list of options totaling $5,380. Adding the Lighting Package’s xenon “active” headlights that pivot to light the way around turns ($1,220), plus the Premium Package’s ventilated and heated front seats, DVD navigation system, power rear sunshade, and 480-watt, 12-speaker Harmon Kardon audio system with six-disc CD changer ($3,650), and a power trunk closer ($510) brought the bottom line to a sobering $72,300.

That kind of serious money will park a wide array of handsome, luxurious, and powerful new coupes or sedans in your driveway. Which puts the question of whether the CLS500 is a good value or not squarely in the realm of very personal decisions.