Johnny Rad

After ~8 years of troublefree ownership, I'm strongly considering replacing my 2GS4. My new auto will be awd. I value performance (at least in a straight line), luxury and reliability. MPG is not a key criteria.

Am I crazy to consider buying a '12-13 Audi S4 or '12 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8?!
* The Audi is awd and fast. Not sure it's luxury, but it's pure class IMHO. Consumer Reports says it's considerably less reliable than Lexus.
* The SRT8 is also awd and fast. Again, I'm not sure it's luxury. Consumer Reports says it's got better reliability than the Audi, but it still looks far from great.

How'd I get here with the Audi and Jeep?! Well, I've decided the new body style '12 GS350 F-Sport AWD is a good, but not great car. It's awd, reliable and lux - but, needs more motor and a wood int option on the F-Sport. Plus, I can't justify it costing $20k more than an '08-09 GS350 AWD that has the same powertrain. In short, I'm not head over heels for it.

The unique looking Infiniti FX50 Sport is ~10% faster, but my money would only get a '10-'11 model. That's one or two years older (and more miles) than the '12 GS. I like that it's a SUV, but with low profile tires I doubt that I'll be able to hit potholes with impunity and it's small inside so what's the point of it being a SUV? That's a tough pill to swallow.

Now I'm wondering if I'm crazy to consider the S4 or SRT8?! Can they possibly be lux and reliable?!

Lukas99GS

Have you driven the new GS? I did for a day while my timing belt service was done and man that thing handles well, and the interior was just about perfect IMO as well as one of the best stock sound system I'd ever heard

Johnny Rad

No, I haven't drive it. It's on my list, but not yet.

For that matter, I haven't driven any of these cars yet.

TimWalker

I consider myself to be a huge Lexus fan and absolutely love my gs400 and the reliability is awesome but after driving my brothers 06 Chrysler 300c srt8 my car feels slow and I can honestly say his car was quieter inside as well even though he has mopar exhaust on it.
So all that being said if you really want something fast an srt8 is a fast car (or Jeep) but it's still just a Chrysler. As for audi I would stay away from that all together due to poor reliability.
OR...... BUY AN ISF:-)

Justin2JZ

What ever you get, odds are its not gonna have the same reliability as a Lexus. Would that stop me? Hell no I'd hop on a S4. Just make sure whatever you get is a CPO vehicle so you get a nice warranty. The 4GS is nice too but if you want to have a better driving experience the S4 would be ideal. The B8's are better reliability wise than older models.

RainyGS

iTrader: (1)

First off, the Jeep equals zero resale value and takes the right person to buy it since it really doesn't serve a purpose besides being fast. Audi is not a bad choice, but expect the maintenance and anything that needs to be fixed to cost you more than the Lexus. You just cant go wrong with Lexus and you said it yourself, 8 years of trouble free ownership so why steer away from that. Just my 2 cents

SoCal Cyco

iTrader: (20)

agreed 100x's

TTurboPimp

iTrader: (12)

You are oh so wrong on that part of your statement. If you have ever known anyone looking for one, you would know that they have a cult following and they are very hard to find. When a good one goes up for sale, it is gone stupid quick. My buddy just bought a used one about 6 months ago, being the car guy I am he enlisted me to help him find a good one. I was shocked at how quickly they were selling. It got to a point where I told him there was no time to ponder, if you find one we like, get it immediately. He ended up flying to Boston from Maryland to get the one he got. He literally lost out on 5 of them that sold within days of posting, and these are roughly 30k vehicles mind you.

My opinion on his, I love the damn thing. Its a fairly rare vehicle, its fast and mean, and it has the room of a medium sized suv. It definitely has a market....otherwise it wouldn't be produced. He has his lowered with exhaust, intake and programmer...its pretty bad ***. That being said, its a Chrysler, it doesn't have the refined build quality on the interior that the Lexus has nor will it ever, but its not lower end quality either. I would buy one if I was in that market.

RainyGS

iTrader: (1)

TTurboPimp, I will agree with some of what you have to say, especially that there is a cult following. However, these are not that hard o find. Just looked on cars.com and found over 300 nation wide, but comparatively speaking to other makes and models, there is some rarity factor. I will still disagree with resale, its a Jeep/Chrysler and they have never had a good resale value. A brand new 2014 SRT8 with all options is just over $70k. Really $70k, I can think of hundreds of other cars that would out preform, out ride, and out last that Jeep, heck for even under that $70k price tag I could find a better car. I believe the MSRP on the SRT8 its first year was over $40k and the ones I am seeing online right now are about half that price. About a $20k hit, no thanks. Lastly, the reliability of Jeep/Chrysler is just not there. Not like a Lexus and never will be.

TTurboPimp

iTrader: (12)

I sure as hell wouldnt pay $70k for a new SRT, thats for damn sure. I will agree with you there. I was thinking of a few year older models in the 30k range. I also dont think there is any real debate on reliability, its not a lexus and I also agree with you on that one.

All of that being said, I dont think its even possible to group these vehicles into a comparison....they are different class vehicles all around.

I will still say that I love my boys SRT8. By the way, he sold me his LS430 to buy the SRT8. We both came out happy in the end.

RainyGS

iTrader: (1)

I'd say you made a great with the LS.

OP, its your money and you need to do what makes you happy. Enjoy whatever you decide.

Lukas99GS

I feel like the Chrysler 300s are given a bad name, where I live, you see them at every street or highway your on, they're like camrys, and then there are always the ghetto ppl who slap huge rims and bentley grilles thinking they're badass lol, to me that car is so common an s4 or the new GS I've only seen a couple of on the road so far

SprtDesign

iTrader: (21)

I sold my 03 GS300 two months ago for an SRT8C. I do miss the Lexus reliability but it's was just going to cost me too much money to make it reliable/fast. The SRT8 has more than lived up to the need for speed I wanted. It's a totally different car compared to the Lexus but I knew that going into it.

The parts are relatively inexpensive but fail a lot sooner than Lexus (Kind of a trade off. Lexus parts rarely fail but when they do they are expensive to replace)

Overall, the SRT8 is no Lexus but fits all the criteria I wanted, hence the reason I sold my GS.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

If I wanted SRT8 power I'd go with the Charger. After driving all the SRT8's, it's the one I liked most.
I felt it was the best combination of luxury and sport among the SRT8 crowd.

But I couldn't get any of these over a Lexus. As exciting as they can be, I just value reliability and luxury too much. Audi has too many issues to even consider. We get so many in trade for Lexus it ain't even funny. Plus it's getting really hard to sell them.
The GS lacks rawness but I couldn't get the cars the OP named over it.

SaiyanGS3

iTrader: (8)

I can't stand when idiots throw the ghetto term around when it's a mod that doesn't agree with your taste. Chrome rims over the size of 19" are automatically classified ghetto. So is a GS scrubbing the ground with god awful negative camber ghetto too since I don't like that "VIP" style? I got into an argument with a "friend" who stated that the Bentley Continental is "ghetto" due to a certain group of people he see driving them in ATL. So a $250k car is ghetto due to a certain group driving it? Some people are so stupid.