ORIGINALLY very expensive executive cars are not for the faint hearted.

They are usually thirsty, always expensive to insure and you need a mortgage to fix them if things do go wrong.

But such boardroom expresses usually have an excellent reputation for reliability and the Mercedes S-class is not the least among them.

Few are swisher and older models are very reasonable giving excellent value for money.

If this is your kind of car, you'll get superb comfort and excellent handling, with surprisingly good road holding for a big car.

There is a huge range of engines - petrols from 2.8 and 3.2-litre sixes to V8's and a 6.0-litre V12, plus a 3.2 diesel.

All have an auto gearbox, and high specification as standard. Refinement is marvellous and even with the smaller engines, performance is more than enough for most people.

But never buy without full service history. You need to know it has all been carried out to the letter and then high mileage is not usually a problem.

The inside is not as special as a Jaguar, often rather sombre and dark, or occasionally with a very odd, almost orange leather.

Most will have leather, aircon, electric seats and many other little luxuries. All are very safe and have loads of electronic wizardry to keep you on the straight and narrow.

: Audi A8, BMW 7-series