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Audi A6, Infiniti M45 ahead of 5 Series?
http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/15/Auto...paro/index.htm
| | Reply » Audi A6, Infiniti M45 ahead of 5 Series? |
Well I guess it depends what you're looking for.
First - what kind of "Terriffic" sedan can I get for $20,000??????
Second - they said the BMW would probably have been first if not for the price. Price is a lot more than sticker price. I am a long time Audi driver who just made the switch to BMW. If you lease your cars like I do, with current residuals and money factors, the bimmer is actaully cheaper than the Audi A6 - I know because I looked at both. Also, Audi no longer includes full maintenance - based on my experience with Audi, thats worth at least $60 - $70 per month over a 3 year lease.
Third - I-Drive - Before I ordered my 5, I took a very limited test drive - I was hooked after about 5 minutes!!! Didn't even play with the I-drive. After reading everything negative I was scared to death about it!!! Well, after a week of driving the car around Germany, I now LOVE I-drive. It takes about 15 minutes to figure it out, and you dont need to move your hand, reach for any buttons, or bend and stretch to get to any controls. The media is so biased against it that they make blanket staements that aren't true. You do not need to touch I-drive for climate control settings - temp, fan, auto, defrost, recirculate, and off controls are all on the dash. The only settings in I drive are the ones you would only occasionally need to set like air distribution or seat heat distribution. In all the years I've had cars with auto climate control I don't think I've ever used anything other than the auto or off seting anyway. Also, you can control most sound system functions from the steering wheel buttons. The other upside to I-drive is that there are not a million buttons and switches to distract you.
Finally - drive the cars - the bimmer wins this test hands-down any day over any of these cars!!! Thats why they have the highest resale values. I would much rather have a 5 year old BMW over a 5 year old Lexus Infiniti or Acura. The Audi might come close in this area, but for me the lack of a manual shift made my choice obvious.
Just my $.02.
| | Reply » Audi A6, Infiniti M45 ahead of 5 Series? |
Two quotes in that review sum it up for me...
"The A6 isn't as thrillingly sporty as the BMW or Infiniti, but for the money, it still proves to be the most complete luxury car."
"The M's exterior is hard to fault, but for such a high-powered sedan, it's also hard to get worked up about-there's little that's distinctive. Inside, Infiniti has raised its game with notably better materials and fit and finish, but there's a gimmicky center console laden with confusing and redundant switches. "
So, in the luxury sports performance category, the winner isn't as sporty as the others, and the runner-up just has OK styling and a messy interior. And the BMW would have won, but for price! Well, isn't it a luxury sport category...luxury costs money!!
FYI - I too was at first scared away by the idrive - but it really is easy to use, and I actually like it now that I've been using it a few days!!
| | Reply » Audi A6, Infiniti M45 ahead of 5 Series? |
Quote: | The A6 isn't as thrillingly sporty as the BMW or Infiniti, but for the money, it still proves to be the most complete luxury car. | This statement sums up what was most important to the writer. I guess him and to a lot of folks this is what they are looking for. How he grades the Bimmer a "6" on "value" is ridiculous . With the highest resale value in class, free maintenance and a performance rating of "10" I would argue this score.
| | Reply » Audi A6, Infiniti M45 ahead of 5 Series? |
Folks, this study was from Money magazine. so of course price and value weighs heavily into their rankings. Also, Audi has slimmed down their maintenance, not eliminated it. It still covers oil, haldex oil, brake fluid, brakes (one time), filters, etc. And like BMW all of the costly service items just happens to be beyond the 50K mark like spark plugs, timing belt, etc.
With the Euro off 10% this year, any chance the BMW will be coming down in price? If so, I'm sure it'll help in future rankings.
| | Reply » Audi A6, Infiniti M45 ahead of 5 Series? |
Still, in my opinion it's not a ranking that any luxury car company should aim for...let's face it, the higher you go up in price the less direct value there really is - is any car "worth" $300K plus?
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Audi A6, Infiniti M45 ahead of 5 Series?