Mercedes E class coupe/cab (Now Audi A5/S5 content)

The A5 is overpriced, i was looking for a 3.0TDI, trying to find one with MMI-High, B&O and a few other essentials for reasonable money was very hard indeed.

Again the S4 is too much money imho, 20k for a facelifted old car.

No thanks.
 
Its all well and good saying don't spend so much on a dated car, but what else is there to choose from? The things hang onto their value, as can be seen from the pricing.
 
I wasn't aware the S5 was so dated?!

Let's open this up to suggestions then, the requirements are:

  • Something with a lot more grunt & power than my current 182. I was out in BennyC's 335i a couple of weeks back and that was fab
  • Somewhere with a nicer cabin, nicer place to sit etc
  • Music is important, so a good setup like Harmon Kardon/Bang & Olufsen
  • Doesn't have to be practical so Z4 etc are fine
  • Vehicle would be financed so I'm not sure on budget really
 
[TW]Fox;26169414 said:
So the 2007 shape A5 is the only car worth a buying for 30 to 40k? I somewhat doubt that.
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Who said spend 30-40K I was saying spend mid 20-30...

If the budget is 30-40K then that opens up a whole field of options.

Boxster S, Cayman S, 435i, 335i, C63 AMG Coupe/Saloon, RS5 etc etc
 
Maccy said:
I wasn't aware the S5 was so dated?!

Let's open this up to suggestions then, the requirements are:

  • Something with a lot more grunt & power than my current 182. I was out in BennyC's 335i a couple of weeks back and that was fab
  • Somewhere with a nicer cabin, nicer place to sit etc
  • Music is important, so a good setup like Harmon Kardon/Bang & Olufsen
  • Doesn't have to be practical so Z4 etc are fine
  • Vehicle would be financed so I'm not sure on budget really
Click to expand...

Porsche Cayman S if practicality aint a problem : http://ucl.porsche.de/ucl/plsql/uk/...801SRRBAC2PUHWVRJJ10YY&pnr_=1&lnr_=4&caller_=

In budget, nice place to sit. 320 BHP, has Sound package (only Approved used I saw with BOSE were the 295 BHP). And being approved used comes with 2 years Porsche warranty.
 
I don't know anything about the running costs of a Cayman or XKR, I doubt they're comparable to a v6 S5 or z35i though?
 
A Porsche from an OPC will come with 2 years warranty - which basically means you'll pay no repair bills for 2 years. Once the 2 years is up renew the warranty for another 2 years for around £1.5k and you'll have 4 years of no repair bills.

Servicing is every 2 years / 20k and not that expensive (£600 for the 'big' service).

I would guess an OPC Porsche would have smaller or similar running costs to a S5 or z35i (ignoring depreciation which you would have to work out on each car obviously).
 
Porsche warranty is pretty comprehensive to be fair, and 2 years of it is almost as good as buying a new car just one year short, obviously. So that only really leaves fuel and servicing costs. Fuel consumption will be similar to an S5, and maybe slightly more than the 35i, but not a huge amount.

Servicing costs are pretty reasonable, considering. £480 for minor service and £610 for a major service. Probably one (minor ) service required in the 2 year period as they have a 2 year / 20k service interval, should just be serviced when you buy, and should just have had the major service going by age (4 years/40k then 8 years/80k).

So if you can't afford a £480 service, you can't really afford any of the motors your considering. And is probably VERY comparable to the Audi or BMW to be fair.

EDIT: Beaten to it ^^^ by an actual Porsche owner no less...
 
But the Cayman S at that price is an older than the S5 so why would you spend that kind of money on it...
 
J1nxy said:
But the Cayman S at that price is an older than the S5 so why would you spend that kind of money on it...
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I bought a 3.5 year old Porsche from an OPC for £22k~ and ran it for 3 years without spending a penny outside what I expected (warranty extension, insurance, MOT, 1x service, tax).

My Boxster S was stupidly cheap to own for the 3 years I had it.
 
J1nxy said:
But the Cayman S at that price is an older than the S5 so why would you spend that kind of money on it...
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Because it's a Porsche not an Audi A5? It's an actual sports car not simply a warmed version of a conventional car. It'll have massively better residuals, other than 1984 944's and 18 year old Boxsters you don't get bonkers cheap Pork.

I'm not being anti-Audi here, I've voiced the same opinion in the past when somebody considers blowing £30k on an E92 3 Series or something for exactly the same reason.
 
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Peerzy said:
I bought a 3.5 year old Porsche from an OPC for £22k~ and ran it for 3 years without spending a penny outside what I expected (warranty extension, insurance, MOT, 1x service, tax).
Click to expand...

There was a serious amount of irony in my post based on some earlier comments...
 
Because its a Porsche Cayman S, not an Audi S5.

The S5 will NEVER be an RS5, so it's not like it's the top A5. And so will depreciate a bit faster. The Porsche Cayman S is the top Cayman.

If we take the rrp of a basic new model for each today,

Cayman S : 48,800
S5 : £43,300

So around £5,500 difference. Equivalent age / mileage S5 on Audi Approved Used is £26,800 (http://www.audi.co.uk/used-cars/use...rsfield/604311617-46362.aspx?srcmdc=se_na_re_).

And is the 4.2 V8 (The cheapest 3.0T on Audi Approved comes in at £35k and is only 21 months newer). And only £3200 cheaper. And only One year warranty.

It's not exactly as stupid a suggestion as you appear to think it is.
 
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I don't believe it was a stupid suggestion in the slightest, just fed up with the "don't spend x on x" statements being trotted out on every thread where a half decent car is mentioned...
 
J1nxy said:
just fed up with the "don't spend x on x" statements being trotted out on every thread where a half decent car is mentioned...
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I'm sorry to hear that but frankly as long as this remains a discussion forum for peoples opinions I'll continue to express my opinion that if you've got a large car budget you should make the most of it and not buy the same thing you could have bought 7 years ago (minor bling facelifts and engine revisions notwithstanding). If you ARE happy with what was around 7 years ago save a packet and bag a nice 07 plate V8 S5. If you want to spend a huge amount of money on an ordinary car (ie, not a Porsche or something, and thats no offence to Audi, I'm happy to admit BMW's are ordinary too) make sure you get something bang up to date for your big budget.

You are as entitled to disagree with me as I am to disagree with you :p

There are loads of examples of really expensive but actually really quite old cars around. 63 plate 1 Series Coupe's are another great example, £30k cars that are fundamentally the same as the 1 Series sold 10 years ago. It's useful to point these cars out to people so they can make an informed decision about whether this is something that bothers them or not.

Look, a nice Audi Approved Used S-Tronic S4 3.0T for £23995 before haggling, surely a better buy than £30-40k on an S5:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...earchad/used,nearlynew,new/model/s4?logcode=p
 
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