Hi All -

Recently traded our ‘20 Audi Q8 Prestige for a near new (3,600 mi, 7 mo.) ‘24 GLE 580 CPO, beautiful Twilight Blue with brown leather interior. We were looking to get a new 450 or 53 but couldn’t beat the deal on this loaded 580, almost 20% off sticker! This will serve mainly as my wife’s DD, but I get some weekend V8 rumble seat time. The (lack of) gas mileage will be interesting, so looking forward to those prices going down soon &#128521.

My in-laws have a ‘22 GLE 450 so I’m familiar with the platform; it’s been solid for them, plus more space than our Q8. I owned a ‘20 GLC 43 a few years back which I loved but Mercedes begged me to sell it back to them during COVID for more than I paid; didn’t need a second SUV so off that went. My daily is a ‘21 Audi RS5 Sportback Ascari Launch Edition…LOOOVE IT!

Cheers!

 

Great looking GLE 580!! Curious to know your thoughts on the Q8 vs the MB. I'll be looking to replace our GL450 next year with either a GLE 450/580/53 or a Q8.

 

Gas mileage isn't great locally but highway it's great (good enough) for a V8TT. Looks nice and sounds like an excellent price. CPO too. Congrats!

 

I have a 24 and that's my biggest gripe is the gas mileage. Otherwise love it. I had a 2020, 2021, 2023 GLE450 prior..

 

How bad is the gas consumption 450 vs 580?

 

I get 15 overall where I used to get 19 or more. Highway is better like 21 vs 25-26.....Highway numbers for me are effected by driving like 80 most of the time.

 

I get the same overall. Unless there's traffic, I lean towards a spirited driver. I also typically stay around 80 on the highway and get around 21mpg. I stay mostly in Comfort/Curve.

 

Hey thanks!

The Q8 was my wife's dream car after she saw it at the auto show year's ago, so after I took on her daily '20 GLC 43 (she said it was too sporty and loud for her) we found a loaded Q8 with a decent discount. It's quite attractive inside and out and well equipped with dynamic air suspension, rear wheel steering, adequate turbo V6, etc. and surprisingly roomy for a coupe style SUV. It's a heavy beast for being almost entirely made of aluminum, but a really well handling tank just the same; it is a much better handler than our softer riding and steering GLE 580 (I think the steering in sport mode is too loose my wife prefers comfort over sport) but the fuel consumption is only slightly better than the 580. The Q's rear seat has as much legroom as the GLE but it does steal from the cargo (you can move the rear seat forward and back to help). With that, and the sell for the GLE, the Q was a bit tight in the cargo for all my wife and daughter's horse riding gear... The headroom is fine (I'm 6'1") but our great dane much prefers the taller GLE as he insists on standing on the seat from time to time :\ . The infotainment and switchgear is functional, visually attractive and software is snappy, but I wasn't as much of a fan of the all touchscreen layout as she was, much preferring the GLE (and my former GLC and current RS5) toggle switches and hard buttons. We did have some lingering electronic gremlins with the central locking system managing the soft close doors - after nearly 4 years and multiple trips to the shop, they finally resolved by replacing some module and right rear door mechanism (just a few months ago). At around 70K miles I started detecting an engine ticking at idle as well, so the writing was on the wall. The big Audi quattros are also hard on rear brakes and rear tire wear. Overall a solid more sporting mid-sized SUV if you don't need the GLE's space and don't mind the all touchscreen user interface, and definitely get the extended full warranty unless you lease. If interested, I'd look to test drive an SQ8 with it's V8 turbo if you can find a good deal; the V6 turbo is only just adequate for the curb weight and only slightly more fuel efficient.


My 2020 Q8 55 Prestige S-Line
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As for the GLE 580 vs. the 450 and 53, we know the 450 well having driven my in-law's 2022; really like it when well optioned and had planned to buy one this round. I personally wanted the 53, but then I prefer the sportier performance including louder exhaust, but it's her daily not mine. We honestly weren't looking to get into the 580 with it's expected guzzling V8, but the deal offered for a practically new fully equipped version with great color and interior spec was hard to resist, especially since it undercut a new 450 we built by over $5K (we paid $85K CPO, the MSRP was $101K). Oh and the V8 turbo really is a smooth premium experience and rapid performing when asked (though too quiet for me, but she won't let me delete the resonator).

 

Thank you, we love it so far!

 

Yep, my wife doesn't dog it like me, so we're expecting 19-20 for her daily mixed drive and mid 20's for highway trips, comparable to our former Q8.

 

Wow, this blue is my absolute favorite color. In my 450, I got the interior color that I wanted, but could not find a single unit with the blue exterior, anywhere in the vicinity, when I was buying mine.

 

Nice looking 580. Tell us more about your thoughts about the RS5.

 

It seems I've been lucky with my 63s as I've averaged 18MPG since new and that's mostly city driving. I've seen as high as 26MPG on the highway but it typically averages around 24-25.

 

I would like to say it's your M177 but the MPG rating of the 63 is less than the 580's M176. So could it be altitude? I'm basically at sea level. That's great MPGs for the 63.

 

It’s a really attractive shade on this car and goes great with the dark brown interior! Really beautiful in the sun. I’m torn between this and my mother in-law’s Emerald Green 450. We were actually interested in a new Cardinal Red 450 on the lot but a little weary about the Macchiato interior, then we saw this blue beast sitting in the front row of the dealership facing the main road - as if saying, buy me instead!😄

 

Thank you!

Where to start on my RS5..? It’s one low long sexy beast! What a blue, Ascari! It has all the options including dynamic trans, dynamic suspension, dynamic steer (very dynamic car &#128516, sport diff, carbon ceramic brakes, activated matrix and laser lights, alcantara…(Ascari package). The best part is the Porsche sourced 2.9 TT V6! It’s wound very tight in sport mode, very fast (high 3’s 0-60 without trying), very tight suspension and stops harddd yet progressive, all while snorting and popping like a race car. Then put it in comfort mode, things get quiet, suspension plush, take your kid to school chilling listening to Yacht Rock! Looking forward to keeping this one for awhile.

 

Nice looking RS5. Fully agree on the EA839 2.9TTV6. It's a sweet machine, especially when kept on the boil above 4k rpms! Great looking non-black window trim and wheels.

 

Thank you!

 

Good choice to keep the rs5, I am never an audi fan however if I were one, I would personally prefer the previous gen body style and that high revving V8, that said, your vehicle is nice too : )

 

Yep, in about a year will be shopping for an older V8 convertible weekender, I miss my old CLK55. The B8 RS5, E93 M3, CLK63 and perhaps an R129 SL are on the list, but would prefer a stick.

 

All good choices.

 

Yes, the dark brown is an interior color that I like too. And yeah, the Emerald green (I believe it is the green that looks almost black in some lighting conditions) is another fantastic exterior color that I like.

For interiors, I am fine with anything that's not an all-black interior. To me, Black makes the interior look dark, gloomy, closed in, funereal and constricted. The non-black colors make the interior look open, airy and more spacious.

My ideal color combo, which was not available when I was buying my car, was the Blue exterior that your car has, with the Macchiato Beige interior, coupled with the Brown Walnut open-pore wood, along with the Panoramic roof. I got all of this, except for the exterior color, which in my case is white.

I have the Neva Grey interior in my E450, which is a very light color, and I have the Macchiato in the GLE450, also a light color. My GLE also has the brown walnut open-pore wood interior, which is my all-time favorite among the wood colors.

My E450 All-Terrain Wagon, has crossed 30,000 absolutely perfect and trouble-free miles, and the leather still looks as good as new (my initial - and unfounded as it turned out - fear, was that the light color would become dirty quickly) ! I hope to keep the GLE450's interior also in as good a shape.

 

Love those Euro wagons! I would actually prefer your E All Terrain, but my wife is not a fan, prefers to sit up high. She did try a V90 Cross Country Ocean Race for a few years….

My stable about 5 years ago:

 

Wow, yeah, that's a fantastic stable of wagon or wagon-ish cars. I am a big time wagon fan too, and if I had to decide between the E450 and the GLE450, I would pick the E450 All-Terrain, all 7 days of the week.

Even though the GLE450 has more legroom in the rear, the wagon is longer in the hatch/trunk area, vis-a-vis the GLE. The wagon fits my dog-crate in the hatch perfectly (2 German Shepherds) with a bit of space to spare from a length perspective, while in the GLE450, it is a really tight squeeze to make the hatch door close.

 

Thanks! We were the wagon family for awhile (had a V60 before these) - neighbors were convinced we were Swedish…

That E wagon is very sharp, man is it long, and svelte aesthetically! I don’t see enough of these on the road, so rare around here. IMO, the best all around family vehicle.