Jaguar Fpace/XF. I found the XF to a bit stiff when I tested it. If you’re tall, you’ll find the room is very limited. The infotainment in the newest XJs is supposed to be faster. They depreciated a ton, so you can nab a highly optioned XF S model for cheaper, if not cheaper than a lease. Jaguar is always on the periphery of any car purchase, always in the back of your mind, but never really good enough to pull the trigger.
Maserati Levante Emotional purchase. Would at least test drive to see if it speaks to you. Hit or miss brand. The car has a lot of soul but some cheaper parts on the inside. Expensive to maintain. My Maserati is $550 oil changes from the dealer.
Alfa Giulia Only people I see in this car are <30. It is way better than my spare 330xi, in terms of handling and power.
We also just got a BMW X3 m40iM and that car is fantastic, too. I’d say it’s one of my favorite SAVs out right now for the money. You’d need to drop another 20k to get a Macan Turbo.
Jaguar
Are you saying I can get a 2018-9 XF S for purchase for 650 or under per month? I used to own an X-type. I had a love/hate relationship with that car which ultimately ended when it would randomly decide to shut off while driving on the highway. Until that point, I was mostly a happy camper. Then again, I was in my 20’s, so there was that, too.
Maserati
My father owned a Quattroporte back in the 80’s and my brother drives a Ghibli today. Emotion is the main thing keeping it on my list and I do plan on giving it a fair shake, but I already feel pretty haunted by the negative user reviews I keep seeing.
Alfa
I’m really curious how the front seats feel. Most native Italian cars can feel a little claustrophobic, but I do like the layout and the specs. The reliability complaints are fairly pervasive, though. I’m thinking of striking this off my list for the reason you mentioned. Though it seems interesting, I may be past the point in my life where this car is a relevant good choice for me.
BMW
There are a bunch of Beamers I like, but the lack of Android auto is a major strike. I use it every day in multiple ways. On top of that, Google maps reliably destroys any in-built GPS I’ve tried.
I doubt all the other cars listed there will be, never know until you start looking. Maybe you can find a loaner. Bang for the buck is going to be a 2018 S90 from the looks of the deals right now on those.
For the most part I picked my list based on cars that should go in that category.
C43
This was my mistake, I was looking at rates for the 2018 C43 and saw them leasing in the $600 dollar range. That being said, I would consider the 2018 model.
2019 E300
Based off this post (I can provide some MSD to help sweeten the deal)
Audi A6
Showing an A6 at 369
Volvo S90 T6
Having trouble locating much movement on the T6, but see lots of deals in the 3-400 range for the T5. The national incentive is something like 3k DAS with payments at 640 per month.
Jaguar Fpace/Xf
Seems to be in the general strike zone:
Porsche Macan
General Strike zone, though admittedly at the top of the range.
Range Rover Velar
General Range
Levante
(out of range, and would only be an emotional and non-frugal option no matter how you cut it)
Thanks for your candor. I agree that the E300, while amazing on the inside, has a pretty lackluster ride. I’ll give the Volvo a test drive to see if it’s enough of an improvement to get me past this hump I’m in.
Off topic, but you even prefer the ride quality? What size wheels do you have on each? Every review of the -60/-90 cars I’ve read indicates that the ride quality leaves a lot to be desired…
My S90 has the air suspension option, I wouldn’t have got it due to the cost if I ordered the car but now that I drive with it, it makes a huge difference.
I’d focus on the C43…most of the other sedans mentioned are boats relative to the C43…(not sure if you copied/pasted something you wrote in another forum, but where does ‘this forum’ seem to love the A6? There are hardly any recent A6 lessees here) and SUVs are going to have the high off the ground/high center of gravity feeling (is it a feeling when it’s just reality?)
Max,
Thanks for the response. In regards to the A6, I feel like I have read a lot of posts spanning the past couple months which advocate the A6 as a sweet spot car that has attractive lease deals. I seem to remember 1 or two of them (having trouble locating them) talking about the '18 models have $10,000 on the hood. I’ll link a couple that I remember below. It could have just been that those threads were relevant to my searches which is why they popped up more than others.
The C43 does seem like it would be the most fun of the above options. The main detraction for me is the tablet sticking to the dash look of the infotainment, but I’ll have to test it myself to see how I feel about the car as a whole. I tested the C300 back in late 2016 when I got my current E300 and the glare on the tablet was pretty bad. I’m hoping that in the past 3 years they have at least addressed that issue. The engine and general cabin feel is exactly what I’m looking for, though.
I agree on the SUV’s. I’m trying to look at “lower” SUV’s if that makes any kind of sense. After further research I’m thinking of taking a look at the SQ5 and the GLA 45 to see how I feel about those cars. I think the GLA 45 will most likely be too small, though.
That being said, when I test drove the Fpace a couple years back I felt like it pretty much drove like a sedan.
Links I’ve visited that made me feel like the A6 is viewed positively around here:
Thinking out of the box: the lowest (to the ground) high-performance SUV is arguably the E63 wagon. Could you buy a CPO and sell it again in three years for less than a $24k delta?
I’ll add the wagon to my list. I’ve never purchased CPO before, but not against giving it a try for a good price. Though, with my love of Tech, I wouldn’t want anything older than 2017 max. I could always buy out my lease for my current car (~15k miles I believe on a 30k lease with 4-5 months remaining, Purchase option is $37,408) since it is a 2017. I was really hoping to freshen it up, though. New car for a new phase of life, if that makes any kind of sense.
What about an E450 wagon? it’s not as sexy and terrific as the E63, to be certain. However, it starts at $64k, and with 362 HP, MB claims 0 to 60 in 5.1, which is d**n fast, I don’t care who you are.
It’s a fairly unique vehicle, you won’t see a ton of them, and still ultra practical and a bit of a sleeper.
Only the AMGs retain the value that well due to the hot rod status, no one cares about the regular ones.
And the E63 is super car fast, under 3 seconds to 60, 5.1 was considered fast maybe 10-15 years ago when it was a big deal an evo and sti could do low 4s to 60.
Saw this on the MBUSA site after the above mentions. Based on comments it would be more difficult to find a good lease deal on it vs. the E450 sedan. an E450 would be great in general, but I don’t think that I can get it to my price point once it’s properly optioned. I would even take a 2018 but I’m not seeing many out in the wild.
BMW is the way to go for you, they do have apple car play with google maps and waze etc… I have it in my latest update.
I went from e300 to x5 (lease hacked paying 630$ for Msport 70k msrp) if you could find a deal there.
