Looking at leasing one of the above with 20k miles per year. I know BMW and Audi will do that mileage, but will Mercedes? From my limited research on the Merc, they don’t lease well.
Looks like I can get to about $860 per month for the Audi or BMW with zero cap reduction and about $61k MSRP. 36 month lease, base money factor.
I traded in my GLC43 a couple of weeks ago. They’re not great cars and the residual is the worst of the 3 you listed I think. Have a read up on the gearbox issues and wheel crabbing issues, they’re not isolated. Also with all GLC’s you can only have CarPlay/Android Auto OR the Merc Nav Multimedia system, not both.
I drove an SQ5 a few months ago and was impressed, similar performance but more comfortable and a better interior. Only downside you can’t go full manual mode. SQ5’s are piling up as well so should be some relatively good deals out there.
Not driven the X3 M40 but it’s the newest of the 3.
Thanks ajgraham.
We are coming off a '16 SQ5 lease, and really enjoy the '16. Test drove a '18 this week, and the interior is really nice. You say we can’t go manual gear changes with the paddles?
I did notice, with the new SQ5, is that with the air sport suspension, that the front end had a lot of rise upon acceleration and nosedive with braking. I do not notice that with our current SQ5 or older X3 35i.
Yeah I really like the SQ5 interior, the diamond stitched leather seats are amazing and comfortable, and the infotainment system is very good. Definitely similar performance and handling to the GLC43 I had, but the GLC43 has a Manual button in the center console which will hold gears until you change, whereas the SQ5 will switch back to auto beyond certain revs. Wasn’t a big deal for me but for others it might.
I didn’t notice the nose rising, but the short test drive I went on was quite twisty so noticed the handling and body roll more. The only other thing I noticed was probably the GLC43 was a bit noisier in the cabin, mine came with runflats so that made it a lot worse.
So you are saying Mercedes is making lemons and charging people premium prices?
I have an '18 sq5 and love it. They also lease surprisingly well. I got mine in December just around the 1% rule.
I test drove a glc43 and it seemed to be roomier than the sq5 (it was definitely faster), but the leases were awful. I also hate the steering column shifter.
the new x3m40i wasn’t out yet when I was shopping, but last I saw, they don’t lease well.
Stelvio has same 0-60 as SQ5. Lease of 50k MSRP (loaded) is in the 450/month range. Recommend considering it. My Alfa has on overage of only 20 cents per mile.
Turbo 4cyl Stelvio is in a class lower than the 3 cars referenced in this thread.
Not to say that the Stelvio isn’t a good lease relative to msrp, it’s just a better comp to a glc300 or q5.
Stelvio is an interesting thought, but I looked up towing capacity (3000 lbs), and we tow a boat that’s closer to 4000-4200 lbs.
I’m a little PO’d at BMW as we really don’t want to pay the $$$ for navigation, as we normally just use our phone for NAV. Apple car play would be great, but that’s only included in the $3000 Premium Package. In our existing 2016 SQ5, I think my wife used the navigation 3 times. That’s about $1000 per use! Trying to keep the build around $60k to keep my lease cost down.
Get an sq5 without the nav. CarPlay is still standard and if you ever need navigation you can use Apple maps through CarPlay.
A lightly optioned sq5 without nav can easily come in under 60k.