2009 Maybach 62

• Overall
• Prices
• Performance
• Exterior
• Interior
• Safety
• Reliability

Interior - What the Auto Press Says

Maybach executives like to point out that those who choose a Maybach often compare it not to other cars, but to other forms of luxury travel, like private jets. The Maybach 62 is intended to compete with such purchases, offering luxury amenities like few other automobiles. The two-passenger rear quarters feature fully-reclining, power-adjustable massaging seats modeled on those found in private jets, and such standard amenities as power window shades and an integrated refrigerator, bottle chiller, and adjustable folding tables. Each passenger has an independent climate control system. The front seats are luxurious as well, but the emphasis is on the rear compartment -- a separate speedometer, clock and outside temperature gauge are displayed on the roof for rear passengers.

• "Based on buyer wants and what Maybach will do for a future owner, there are 2 million variations in which a Maybach might be outfitted. This ability to customize comes with a cost and time premium: If you choose a truly bespoke car, its gestation can take nine months from conception to delivery." -- AutoWeek
• "As many as 100 items inside the Maybach are trimmed in exotic woods." -- Cars.com
• "The interior, naturally, is swathed in leather from top to bottom. Said leather comes in many colors and three grades, depending on the usage. The seats and dash have enough nappa and grand nappa hide to reskin a herd of cows while the nubuck (a sanded leather that feels like suede) is reserved for portions of the door." -- Edmunds
• "The car's vibe soaks into my skin. The French cherry woodwork, as fine as Chippendale marquetry. The piano-black switches. The quiet like cotton in the ears. Overhead, three aircraft-style gauges keep the passengers informed of speed, time and temperature. And thus in this gondola of privilege we cruise." -- Los Angeles Times

Seating

The front seats of the Maybach 62, reviewers say, resemble those of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, with finer surfaces and a softer grain of leather. The rear seats, however, are where most owners will spend time. They are derived from first-class airline seats, able to recline fully, and each feature separate climate controls, with 10 separate fans integrated into each seat to provide ventilation. An integrated massage function is standard. Rear passenger space exceeds even that found in the Rolls Royce Phantom.

• "The interior's highlight, though, is assuredly the 62's incredible rear seats. Best described as opulent versions of first-class airline recliners, the longer Maybach's backseats stretch out enough to let a jet-lagged auto critic fall asleep almost instantly, even at 120 miles per hour. Contributing to their easy-slumber nature are protective headrests covered by suede-textured down pillows, a substance Professor Hermann Gaus, head of the Maybach division, claims is the best vibration-damping material in the world." -- Edmunds
• "The Maybach 62's signature feature is the two first-class airline seats in the rear cabin. The seats themselves are kinematic wonders, reclining to 47 degrees and equipped with thigh and foot support, multiadjustable headrests, seat heating, ventilation through the perforated leather upholstery and lumbar massage, and all of it wrapped in grand nappa leather softer than a rabbit's nose. But for all its size and cost...the thing that would most attract me to the Maybach is something you won't find in its multivolume owner's manual. Privacy." -- Los Angeles Times
• "A cross between a small hotel room and a corporate jet. Two absurdly adjustable seats were divided by a console containing a small refrigerator and two push-button drawers that extended silently, one with standard cup holders, the other with a three-hole setup meant to hold a chilled Champagne bottle and two silver Champagne flutes. The legroom was endless." -- New York Times
• "I have to admit the back seat of the 604-hp Maybach 62S is a pretty nice way to travel. I'm practically lying down in a gently massaging, leather-lined recliner that La-Z-Boy would eat its heart out for. I'm able to fully stretch my six-foot-two frame, and my feet are up." -- Car and Driver
• "The 62, as opposed to its tinier Maybach 57 brother, is a high-speed Uberlounge on wheels that allows six-foot-two-inch passengers to lie completely horizontal in back, if they so choose, and still nestle their heads on the softest pillow on the planet." -- AutoWeek 

Interior Features

The list of available features for the cabin of the 2009 Maybach 62 is nearly too long to repeat. Suffice it to say, the car comes with a pair of champagne flutes in hand-polished 925 sterling silver by Robbe & Berking. The company that provided those left nothing out. If, by some chance, a buyer wants an option not yet offered, Maybach will develop and build it, for a fee.

The fine leather can be tanned in an array of colors, with contrasting piping available. An array of exotic woods are also offered. A signature Maybach touch -- an opaque roof that turns transparent at the touch of a button -- is standard.

• "Yards of buttery leather and sensuous suede and layers of carbon fiber and piano lacquer inlays along hard surfaces, rather than wood trim. Still, if you are a traditionalist who wants natural material, you can get poplar wood in anthracite gray". -- AutoWeek
• "Buyers can mix options with the immense standard-equipment list in numerous combinations to suit specific tastes. Available accessories include a luggage set, a sterling silver champagne goblet, a humidor and a golf bag, among other amenities. Buyers can choose from six Grand Nappa leather colors and three types of wood." -- Cars.com
• "The only faults I could find being chauffeured about in the 62 were the champagne flute holders, which were occasionally reluctant to release (perhaps they were trying to tell me that I'd already had enough) and some electronic switchgear that was tough to decipher." -- Edmunds
• "One of the most fascinating devices onboard is the panoramic roof that switches from transparent to a kind of milky opaque at the touch of a button. Also, the panoramic roof has a kind of inner eyelid that, once closed, glows with electro-luminescent ambient light." -- Los Angeles Times
• "A tasteful bit of music, pumped through 21 Bose speakers, filled the Maybach's interior, as a DVD played on two screens set into the back of the front seat. Diffused light from the liquid-crystal roof panel filled the interior, as gauzy curtains, at the touch of button, closed over the rear and side windows. I was shocked to discover a leather pouch that did nothing except hold papers. Surely it should copy and collate." -- New York Times