Stereorob

okay, so its been almost two years.. hows that audi held up? good or has it started punishing you yet?

rL-gT

Lol. Was just about to ask that

How's your oil consumption?

Olasek

Exactly my feelings. For me it was either the luxury package or no IS.

Oooops, sorry, I didn't notice this thread was 2 years old

james1101

while this thread has been revived, I'm happy to add my two cents, and I did the opposite... i went from Audi S4 with the supercharged 3.0 V6 to IS350 and couldn't be happier... S4 had so many issues, and with my luck a few more to come (mechatronic unit died, aircon sensor died, thermostat died, wheel bearing failure, catalytic converter died, front suspension was making all sorts of noises... all of this out of warranty).

after this experience, I'd take reliability over latest tech anyday

sdiver68

I've owned 5 VAG products, 3 of them from new...and was a card carrying Porschefile as a youth. Here are my last 3:

2006 Cayman S, Oil ingestion issues dealer wouldn't help, sold at less than 10k miles
2012 S4, DCT issues dealer wouldn't help, sold in 6 months
2014 Q5 TDI, largest case of corporate fraud in history, sold and suing Audi.

If you want to give your money to liars and thieves then strongly consider a VAG product.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

There are so many good cars out there its so hard to decide.
But I made the decision to stick with Lexus years ago and I have never regretted it.
No car is perfect. We all have our priorities. Mine are, in this order:
Reliability
Luxury
Sport
Comfort, especially legroom
Good looks - if it isn't sporty enough I'll make it with mods.
Enough power to pass the slowpokes

I"m in my 50's and not into bigtime modding anymore. But I can't stop with changing the wheels, suspension and music. I tried but can't. It personalizes the car and keeps it from becoming boring.
I like German cars but Lexus gives me the blend of attributes I want best.

387

If you are leasing and plan on a new leased car every two-three-four years, definitely Audi/BMW/MB has a lot of cool cars.

But if you plan to keep the car long term or buy an off lease car out of warranty, or even outright from new. I would not touch German cars.

I believe that Lexus is the "smart and practical person's luxury brand" since it is a Toyota product and those cars pretty much run forever with basic maintenance.

387

^Unless it is a S, M or AMG.

Mrg02d

How about passing the Lexus to the wife and getting a newish boxster s? I've always wanted a Porsche, and in a few years hope to be able to have one and enjoy it (afford the maintenance that I can't do myself)

Anyone here with a Porsche as well as the Lexus? I'd use the Lexus for road trips and the Porsche for DD to work.

link13

I don't care for German cars. It's just a personal preference. In the 80s, I was bored of the stark, black dashboards. Now, the reliability issues keep me away. I am a Toyota guy, though, and a Lexus guy as a result. To each their own.

Olasek

Porsche makes a lot more sense than other German cars. I wouldn't mind having a Porsche and Lexus in my garage.

tff

Interesting thread. I"ve been a life long Audi 'fanatic', but the VAG diesel scandal opened my eyes to cars other than Audis. That and I've been frustrated with Audis burning so much oil. (Why can't Audi make an engine that doesn't burn oil when my wife's Honda and Jeep and MB's don't burn a drop???). Most recently I had a 2006 Audi S4... fantastic car except for 2 things... it burned oil and it started burning more oil recently and the ride was not very good (even by performance car standards)... i even played with Koni's and tried to adjust them but never was happy with the ride/handling balance. So I traded that one in for '14 certified IS 350. (My other Audi, which my son drives, is a '98 A4 1.8T quattro... that was my favorite car ever. Reliability wise it wasn't perfect but I do almost everything myself so the cost was reasonable.) I like my IS 350 but I miss the manual transmission of my S4 and the V8 exhaust note.

Boomin

Got my eyes on a audi 2013 RS5.....

kolyan

Test drove 2014 S5....nice car but suspension is way too high, makes the car a bit ugly. 2016 rolled up with different wheels and maybe lower looked pretty damn good. One of you IS F-sport owners came to test drive one ))

Mrg02d

The 2014 is350 does have the looks down , except the rear tires. The tires just look small to me. Porsche 911 looks perfect to me as far as the wheels go. Must be some ratio between tire size and car body. The wheel well plus body just looks very Toyota to me on the is350. It's the one thing that I don't like about my is350.