Hi all – this is my first post and also my first time leasing a car so would really appreciate your help. I’ve spent a lot of time searching through this forum and its help me get comfortable with leasing, so thank you. I’ve searched in advance and couldn’t find that much info about this car.
Also note: I’m based in ca-norcal but I can’t find a great deal up here, so I found a broker (through this site - Omega auto brokers) from Socal + ship a car up here for ~$800.
Here’s the deal:
2024 Audi Q5e Premium Plus
MSRP
$63490
Discount (I believe this includes the $7500 rebate from the govt)
$15913
I just searched on the forum (maybe I messed this up and will try again) but didn’t see any comps for a Q5e (only a q5 from many months ago). Its different because theres not EV rebate.
So, I commute ~40 miles each way ~3 days a week. I also like to go up to the mountains once in a while and do road trips with my family (toddler + wife). My wife bought an full EV and wants to drive it, and I personally dont feel comfortable yet to be in an ONLY EV household. I also want an SUV w/ AWD so I can go skiing without the whole chains thing and space for toddler + all the stuff that comes with that + space when my family visits to seat 5. I also go into the city couple times a month so don’t want a huge SUV thats tough to park on the street or in garages. I currently drive an OLD BMW X3 and I love the way german cars drive. It gives me a little joy in life as I go through my normal routines.
As such, I kind of narrowed myself down to compact european luxury SUVs: Porsche Macan, BMW X3, and Audi Q5. Of these, given my commute and the EV lease rebate I felt that the Audi Q5e was a good choice. I test drove all 3: The Macan was awesome but didn’t feel like it was worht an extra +20k (for the S) and the X3 was good but about the same to me as the Audi. I also think in a couple years there’s a bunch of new cars that look awesome: e.g. the Macan EV and leasing for 24m will give me flexibility as those new cars get released. That’s kind of my full thought process - please do let me know if there’s other context that’ll help.
I’ll go test drive the XC60 recharge this weekend. I rented a Q5 recently and drove it, it was nice. But tbh, I think its hard to tell for me on a relative basis unless I drive back to back. The Macan though was definitely a step above…
Yes, its most stop and go with some lucky breaks of less traffic. 40 miles takes me a bit over an hour? I don’t drive too much in the city other than kid pickups +dropoffs.
When you say “much better value” can you expadn a bit? I’m seeing the prices (throught the broker ~15-20% higher for a XC60 recharge equivalanet vs a Q5e, but I maybe just looking at it the wrong way.
It’s more that, if your engine ends up running a lot on your work commute, I think much of the advantage of a PHEV is presumably lost (since you’re lugging around a lot of battery “dead” wt).
But if much of your commute is stop and go (and if you can charge at work), then perhaps the Q5e can run in EV mode for most of the drives.
I haven’t driven any of the cars in this class, but, for me, I don’t know how much of a premium I’d put on driving pleasure if your driving is mainly work commute + kid pickup/drop off. I think seat comfort, a stylish interior, and a nice sound system would be my main priorities. I imagine the vast majority of cars in this class are going to be pretty decent drivers.
Not really b/c your back and bum may be very different from mine. If a lot of your driving is stop/go or city, the only thing I would say is that seats w/ aggressive bolstering might seem great for 5 minutes but kind of painful on longer commutes. It’s really hard to say from a test drive.
I imagine the vast majority of cars in this class are going to be pretty decent drivers.