Which car would you pick?

I would pick the Chevy Cruze.

The Cruze has many luxurious features for 2011, The Mercedes is 10 years old and outdated so your naive friends are just going by brand, not product quality.

are your friends going to pay for maintaing the benz when something breaks? Didnt think so get the brand new car that has a full manufactor's warranty. Why get a 10 year old car that yes it is/was a luxury car but with all the new technology that a 2011 model has in it, it should be very comparable to the old benz. Besides I just looked up the cruz ltz on chevys' website its MSRP is a little over 21K so why the hell would you even consider a 10 year old car which is 1/3 of the price of the new car especially since your not paying for it?? NEW CAR NEW CAR its that easy. No matter how much that benz sat in the garage at 10 years old something is going to break or need to be replaced soon. And if you were my kid and you do decide to get the benz when something breaks i would just tell you. That sucks it more than liekly would have been covered under the warranty of the new one or never would have happend.

Go with the Chevy and enjoy your warranty. The Benz will kill you with maintenance and repair. But what do I know, ive only owned a 93 and a 94 Camaro.

Take the Mercedes.

It is not good to buy the first year of a car NO MATTER the MAKE and Model. There are always bugs to be worked out.

If you really want a car in that category get a Subaru Impreza, it has AWD when all competitors have 2WD for the same price. That is 50% more car for your money, that is a good deal.

Get the Chevy.

take the chevy