C300Kid

I honestly don't believe that current Audi reliability is drastically different than MB.

Micropower..excellent choice. Still would've gone with the S5 but im guessing you need the 4 doors for practical reasons.

Like I said before I despise Lexus and the 3 series is as bland as a Civic, so I think you made the right choice.

micropower99

Thanks man. Yeah I totally agree. I was definately looking at the S5 but I needed the 4 doors as I use the back seats quite often.

Good idea. Thanks for the advice!

BerBer63

s5 is overpriced POS....take the s4 or isf. or if your not worried about warranty 335 and mod it

C300Kid

How is the S5 a pos when it's basically identical to the S4? The only difference being the S5 uses the old V8 and the S4 has the new supercharged 6 (and I assume the S5 will be getting the new engine for 2011).

BerBer63

s5 fully loaded is the same price as my c63 was fully loaded for half the car...that's why its an overpriced POS. For 8-10k less might be worth it.

MB_AMG

ISF is garbage, C63 can totally kill it. Even the new S4 can almost keep up with it given the fact it has a huge motor and a big price tag.

FrankW

the S5 is around $65k loaded while the C63 pushes $72-73k msrp. it's almost a $10k difference. totally different purpose of a car tho.

i'm not quite understanding what you are saying. even phil/nlpamg who has an M5 was impressed with the IS-F performance, but he said he like the C63 more only for the fact that it sounds insane. IS-F right now is pretty cheap btw last I checked they were around $54k OTD it's around the same price as the S4.

BerBer63

in 2009 fully loaded was 68.5k about and s5 was 62-65k as you said, most of us got cash off msrp (2k personally) off our C63s, regardless they were only a few k difference, not 10. Plus the audi dealerships in LA think they have the best european car on the market and wouldn't let me test drive without talking numbers first. Far from the truth, they are still in BMW and MB's shadow. They don't give deals on them at least here and to top it off they are overpriced - 62-65k is about 8k too much. The difference in purpose of these two cars is not as great as you make it sound. They're both performance oriented cars and model competitors considering audi has nothing else, well only 1 is really.

FrankW

if comparing the car by cash off msrp then there are a lot of cars that will make any car seems like a overpriced POS. There is a $15k off msrp on the C63 at one of the socal dealership btw. price also reflects on market demand...and this pretty much tells you which one the general public like/want more. I think you can get discount on the S5 too, but haven't look into how much. There's always certain dealership that's willing to give bargain.

the service difference between dealership is negligible since there are always bad dealerships out there just depends on where you go. I've been treated badly by all three at different locations.

I just don't think they're overpriced since for MB, BMW, Audi, the coupe version of something has always demanded a higher price. for comparison, E550 coupe is about the same price as the S5 and that is really the real comparison for the S5. I really don't think people that are considering about the S5 would care to shop the C63 vise versa, unless you did it. I'd only look at C63/M3/ISF/CTS-V if it's me. If i'm considering a coupe then it would be between S5 and the e92 M3 for a performance coupe that is. lol

too bad the RS5 is not available in the US otherwise it would've give the C63/M3/ISF a run for the money.

C300Kid

Well it may be overpriced but I didn't question that..I asked why it's a pos.

Sportstick

I am not debating my belief versus yours.....this is large sample data, reported by owners, and which trumps any individual personal opinions.

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings...remium-vehicle

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings...ry-premium-car

BerBer63

Weak v8, sub par performance in its category, horrible handling and 8k too expensive.

C300Kid

Does it handle worse than an S4? I've driven an S4, never an S5..I just assumed they were basically the same car.

FrankW

never been in one, but should be the same.

as far as the "sub par performance in it's category"...like i've said before...Audi didn't market it as a C63/M3 competitor but rather a CLK550/E550 and some what a e92 335 competitor.

Peabody

You know, I didn't even think to post the car that came in #2 in my car buying dilema.. the Jaguar XJ Supercharged.

This sticker price is marked at like $76k but when I walked into the dealership for the first time, they offered to order one from the factory for $54k, so the markdown is impressive.

Apparently, there's been a dramatic shift in pricing between the '09 and '11 model. The XJ Supersport, which has the 510 hp engine I was looking at, is base priced at $110k. I wonder if there's still such insane price flexibility or if they've adjusted their production and tightened their inventory. The nice thing about the jag was that there's no need to put in a bunch of options, it's base model has pretty much everything you need.

C300Kid

I find it interesting that the domestic cars (Cadillac CTS, Lincoln MKZ, and arguably the Saab 9-3) did so well in the dependability study. Most people here are quick to write them off as crap.

micropower99

Sad thing is you only see those kind of discounts and markdowns in the states.

Sportstick

Exactly!! That is why, while everyone has an opinion, data has meaning. Factors such as perceived status, social pressure, defending one's own decision, and reaching the "POS" conclusion on other factors than reliability, such as 0-60 times, etc. are involved. Some can't let go of historic opinions on imports vs. domestics, even as the world continues to evolve. In this thread, some condemn a car, and then justify their position because another car is faster.

An Audi purchase could be based on the personal importance of TGR (Things Gone Right) being more important than TGW (Things Gone Wrong). These are metrics which assess how delighted one may be with a car, versus actual quality failures. If you are sufficiently delighted with a car, history shows you will be more willing to put up with its problems. For others, where the importance of avoiding TGW is more important than TGR, some in the extreme just buy Toyotas. For most of us, there is a balance we each need to find. We just should have the best info available to make that choice.

FrankW

one thing i don't like about jdpower is that their survey are pretty vague which can be skewed somewhat.

for example, one mechanical inclined and the other is not. both owns the same car. the former would most likely put off a few things that he knows how it works and how it broke or not working as it should until he can get it to a dealership. however for the not so inclined he would complaint about it until dealership fixes it. the inclined guy would probably say the car is great except few minor thing that's not that big of a deal, but the not so inclined guy he would probably say the car is a POS that has issues. AND those that are taking these surveys 90% of the time are those that are not.

Peabody

Making a car is that does not break down doesn't make it not crap. It's about the feel of the car, stuff like how the doors close, where they use sound deadening material, the craftsmanship of little thing like interior buttons.

For example, I can't imagine sitting in this car and not throwing up. I don't care if it's all made from white gold and baby seal hides, it's simultaneously hideous, oppressive, and boring.

Sportstick

Two points:

Response bias is distributed across segments, and within segments with similar psychographic profiles, would especially be a "wash". Quota sampling ensures a proper distribution in the respondent population.

A lot of this conversation is evolving into what constitutes "crap". The answer varies widely among different groups of people. The first issue is "does it work", and the second is "do I like it" which includes all those intangibles of how does it feel? Only you can decide how to balance the importance of those two. No surprises that "do I like it", or as I wrote above, TGR, is supremely important on an enthusiast forum. As Peabody indicates, no amount of perfection would let him sit in the car he showed as an example. That might make that car subjectively "crap" to him. So, how much Audi-love is going on to offset the demonstrably higher likelihood of visiting the service department?

C300Kid

I was referring to people commenting that the domestic cars were crap specifically because theyre unreliable.

And Peabody that's not the current MKZ interior, that's an old pic. Still, I agree the car sucks.

micropower99

I finally made the choice. I traded in my C for a 2011 Audi S4! Thanks for all the tips and comments guys I really appreciate it. I'm picking up the new car on Wednesday so I'll definitely post pics then. In the meantime, I won't be parting out of the mods EXCEPT (lol) for my MBArts Strut bar. I would prefer to sell it locally but if I have to ship so let it be. Make me an offer. PM me or reply in this thread. I will sell it cheaper to a local if I can find a buyer.

Thanks again guys!

C300Sport

I don't think too many people care for Lincoln's interiors these days. Have you driven a new Buick or Cadillac? Very, very nicely done with good materials and a solid feel. It really comes down to each and every car these days and you can't completely write off most any brand as most have a least one or two really nice models.

zankok

congratz on the new car