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| 2019 Mercedes-AMG E53 Cabriolet |
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in partnership with A Girls Guide to Cars, and Car-Ed. I was tasked (okay, honored) to a full day of driving the 2019 Mercedes-AMG E53 Cabriolet from Palm Springs to Los Angeles, where I spent another night and morning scouting locations, shooting, and filming. There will be a full gallery and video coming soon – this post will be updated with more about my drive experience. For now, I want to introduce you to Car-Ed.
Meet the 2019 Mercedes-AMG E53 Cabriolet
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| Enjoying the view with the 2019 Mercedes-AMG E53 Cabriolet |
YES, I drove a 2019 Mercedes and YES, she became my new best friend ever on 4 wheels. But who knew we’d hit it off so well? Car-Ed knew.
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| We even wore matching colors for a night on the town! Photo credit: Kymri Wilt |
Full credit (or blame, if you ask my husband) goes to Car-Ed. Thanks to them, I’ve been inspired to test drive some dream cars, and to give some serious thought to brands I hadn’t considered before. While I’m not in the market for a new car, I was glad to learn that when my family and I are ready, Car-Ed is a great starting point.
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| And so began our morning in Greater Palm Springs! Photo credit Kymri Wilt |
What exactly is Car-Ed?
Car-Ed is an online resource to help consumers discover what cars might best match their everyday routines, behaviors, and needs. Searching online brand websites almost always demands that you enter your personal information – so your local dealer can pester you follow up. Walking on to a new car dealership lot, you meet a total stranger who tries to convince you why you might need a particular model. This is both intimidating and a waste of time. With Car-Ed, you can quickly and easily narrow down your search and save valuable time.
Can you answer 12 Questions?
If you say yes, that’s one down. Now just 11 questions remain between you and your best matches for your next set of wheels. Go ahead, take the quiz. I’ll wait.
Would my Family’s Results Match?
I have a pretty good idea of what cars I would want to test drive. But my husband? His approach is to look for the deals, then think about test-driving the car. We do manage to meet somewhere in the middle about every 10 years. Now, we have a newly-licensed 16-year-old daughter. She will be ready for a new car within a couple of years, and has already eyed a few. I got to wondering if we might all find some middle ground before shopping for our next car. So I sent them both to Car-Ed to take the quiz, and asked them to screenshot and send me their top results. I did the same for myself. Here are our best matches according to Car-Ed.
My Results
What I drive: 2016 Prius 4 (Premium/Touring), sometimes 2002 VW Passat (Turbo) wagon.
I found my top choices to be pretty close. I wasn’t at all surprised that luxury class vehicles made a strong showing, and popped up first. A few Mercedes Benz in the mix. I had to scroll down to find the more mainstream matches. No surprise, most were hybrid, electric, or highly fuel-efficient. I drive a Prius, but not a single Prius showed up in my top results, so they missed the mark on that.
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| First page (Luxury) matches |
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| Mainstream matches |
My Teenager’s Results
What she drives: 2006 Prius, sometimes 2002 VW Passat (Turbo) wagon.
My daughter sent her results first, by text. Also, strong showing for luxury, with a few Mercedes Benz in the mix. Her text message read: “These were my top matches. The cars it gave me are really ugly. I only like the Audi.” Oh such a picky teen! She drives an unpretentious older Prius, by choice, and no Prius showed up in her mainstream results either.
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| First Page (Luxury) matches |
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| Mainstream matches |
My Husband’s Results
What he drives: a bike; sometimes the 2006 Prius.
Here came the real test, my husband’s results. Let it be known, this is the guy who refuses to upgrade from the perfectly functional iphone 4 (thus the tiny screen shots). He commutes by bike to/from work, and isn’t a big fan of freeway driving and traffic. Predictably, his first screens showed almost all hybrid and electric mainstream options. Then, below the fold, the luxury brands, including Mercedes Benz. So in his case, the environmentally-friendly options were spot on, but still, no Prius in the top matches.
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| First page top (Mainstream) |
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| Luxury matches top |
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| First page bottom (Mainstream) |
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| Luxury matches bottom |
So the most glaring common thread for all of us is that we need to look beyond our Prius-vision realm. And clearly, we need to consider more Mercedes Benz models!
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| Top down on a beautiful sunny Los Angeles day! |
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| Loading the boards is easy with the top down. |
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| Ready to hit the waves with my brother! |
Watch for this post to be updated soon, with a video edit from the full 48 hours of driving and shooting the Mercedes Benz E53 Cabriolet!
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| 2019 Mercedes-AMG E53 Cabriolet |
To be honest, Car-Ed shares credit (or blame) with my parents, who taught me to drive in a Mercedes-Benz. I actually took and passed my first driver’s test in a 1970 MB 280 SEL. Oh, but that’s ancient history, and many years have passed since I’ve sat behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz. I’m well overdue, and thanks to Car-Ed, I’m looking….
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| Looking good in every light! |
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