I’ve been on this site for a long time now but went ahead to sign a a lease. I own an Audi A3 2012 (65,000 miles, clean carfax) that I love but I think it’s time to change, it’s been 2-3 years of more involving repairs.
I’m looking for some opinions from more knowledgeable people for my choice. Top level I’m thinking of leasing a gas car for 2 years / 7.5k, time for the EV market to maybe mature a bit. Having a kid I’m looking at fun SUVs, X3 M40i, Audi SQ5 or Macan if I can afford it.
A monthly between $6-700 at most is my target, happy to put MSDs when possible, and use all the trade-in value of my car (6-7k I would think, maybe more if I’m good).
There are these loaner Macan from autocompanion, but:
I’m not sure what to watch out for with loaners
I’m not sure how to compare the deal terms to regular leases, other than 16% off MRSP sounds very nice.
What’s your thinking?
When i read reviews, the driving experience seems to be Macan > X3 > SQ5. I’m sure i’d be happy with any of them, but to explain my current thinking.
Still comparing a Macan base to an M40i or SQ5 is not the same, v4 vs inline v6s is definitely something that makes me ponder.
Given a choice of three, I would hands down go with Macan. Not only it’s a good looking car (much , much better looking than X3 or any of newer Audis with whale mouth grill), but it handles like a real sport’s car. Porsche are the only SUV makers who engineer them as sports cars, so you don’t feel like driving an SUV, it drives like a car and is very easy to handle on sharp turns. Base model will have a weak engine, GTS is the top of the line, but anything above base costs a ton, and they all come with lots of add-ons, here they also charge you extra thousand or more to put ceramic protection on paint, on top of bigger wheels and few other things that easily add $7000-$10000 to MSRP, options on this car are very costly. Check with brokers here. Although they are slow in responding (I have provided all information days ago while I was still shopping for Mercedes, and haven’t received an exact quote from them yet), but if they honor what they have on a spreadsheet you may have a good deal. Downside is they want taxes upfront, and I told them no. May be that’s why they are ignoring me, because they can’t give me the deal I ask for.
He said specifically on driving experience, and having driven both and owning a Macan, I can say the actual drive is superior. It handles amazing and is much more fun than any 4cyl should be, if you bring it out to places where you can push it around.
If you want pure power SQ5. If you want handling and butter smooth tranny, Macan. People undervalue what a great gearbox can do, like on 4 and 6 cyl Defenders.
I have one and I’m happy with it, 16% is double the discount on average for a new one thru a broker.
Yes, the MF sucks, but Porsche has been doing that forever, they have more realistic, high RV’s, but high MF’s to offset, because if they used honest RV’s with realistic MF’s, their cars would be insanely cheap to lease.
I guess I have a hard time seeing how the driving experience is that important when you’re going to lease it at 7500 miles a year.
Personally the macan is nice , would say borderline underpowered , obviously sublime transmission and good steering feel. Mainly it just doesn’t have basics like the back up camera is worse than a Honda civic. The 3D is ok but again inferior to lux brands. Lack of remote start. Hard to justify these two very simple shortcomings in a mass produced small suv.
Idk when you’re buying an SUV I think practicality is the most important, otherwise why aren’t you looking at a base cayman? I guess bc you can’t get 16% off on one but you could get other sports cars which will be more dynamic than a base macan.
OP have you done a test drive yet? The Macan is a pretty small car given how much room people want these days. I almost bought one at MSRP last year but dodged a bullet there. The other thing is that the services are not cheap.
Any thoughts on the two I shared or things to lookout for with a loaner lease in general?