Yep.

That's a joke. Would I love driving a Camry and own one from 2004? I don't think so.

A Passat does not have a smoother engine than the LS430---pretty much nothing does, also a joke.

You're talking to a bunch of Mercedes owners. W220 was weak sauce. Who cares about air suspension, LS430 didn't need an air suspension but it offered it. I can't possibly imagine my car riding any better especially since I have new Michelins on it.

We don't drive 140mph down the interstate, for what satisfied owners use their LS430s for it's great. But oh it tracks just about as well as my Mercedes. A W220 is a reliability nightmare...LS430s are stunningly reliable. Again, it's a fact that the W220 was cheapened because Mercedes couldn't build cars and THEN decide the price anymore. Because of....Lexus.

Like I have said before our LS430 was my least favorite LS, but all of this is absurd lol. It was an amazing car. A Passat engine smoother than the 3UZ?! The M176 V8 in my S580 is not smoother than the 3UZ…the B58 I6 is not smoother than the 3UZ…

Why do you call it a joke? Audis may not be the most reliable vehicles on the market, but they have a reputation for good engineering, well-crafted interiors, and some of the best Quattro AWD systems in the industry.

Because its old and outdated and doesn't compete effectively with the modern generation S Class and 7 Series. No more V8 unless you get the S8, etc. Its the same reason the LS500 doesn't compete.

The S8 is priced competitively against the 760 and S580

"I want a LS but only if they bring back the comfy cushy mantra of the LS400-460" is akin to the wagon mania that a small but vocal minority echoed back in the early 2010s.

The group consisted of those who found value in used wagons they acquired for cheap. Volvo heard the call, decided to bring over some wagons and eventually after the mania had calmed down need a wagon size package of incentives to move those units.

Same story goes for other products, like the 4th gen. People wanted a 5 series slayer, BMW failed by putting out the porky f10 5 series, and Lexus found the perfect time to launch the 4th gen GS. I and others predicted they would conquer marketshare from BMW, and I ate crow. They had to clear those vehicles out again with incentives to make these lease friendly. Nowdays the used market has found the hidden gem and mostly their owners want a successor.

On the counter side Lexus just doesnt want to deliver even though they made this huge platform known as NGA-L? What was the purpose of TNGA-L was? LC an LS are the only flagship products riding on it. Crown Sedan runs on it as well. The platform has a weird design that limits legroom, to the point the Crown sedan got a 3m wheelbase extension and still is cramped inside. All that effort...no upside?

But its not comparable when it comes to tech, features or design, and its a sport package that many of us don't want to have to accept to get a V8. The 7 was all new in 2023 and the S580 in 2021, the D5 A8 is as old as the LS500 (2018). Interior of the A8 is totally unchanged from 7 years ago, at least the LS500 has new infotainment.

Hopefully with an engineer in charge of the company now instead of racergrandson, we get some real innovation once the current pipeline of products from said grandson runs out.

The A8 is also on life support like the LS. A new A6 came out before a new A8, even though the last generation A6 was released after the current A8.

A8 was due to be replacement by the production model of the Grandsphere a-la A8 e-Tron. All of those EV projects got pushed back and now Audi's in a weird situation. A8 still has generally consistent sales figures globally however, and there are talks of it getting a heavy refresh. We'll see I guess

The current Sclass is complete garbage and embarrassment from MB especially considering how great the W222 gen was.

My parents just had their car sitting in MB for a month due to recall and parking sensors not working. I even had to get involved with MBusa as dealer didn’t want to honor repair. Parts are delayed. The interior and exterior build quality is that of $65k car not $135k.

All the cars developed and OKd during Covid have considerable quality control shortcuts. All the new models from German automakers have been well below the previous generation.

LS500 build quality inside is way superior but unfortunately the cabin is not sized for flagship sedan. Otherwise I would tell my parents to buy it.

Yep. It is wayyyyyyyy too small inside.

my abiding memory of the LS 500 i drove was how less airy and open it seemed inside than my car, and how much smaller the gauges are!

smooth powertrain but being turbo the power doesn't build in a lovely progressive manner like the previous V8s did... from an average customer standpoint it's 'better' since there's more torque where you need it to be, but from a car person standpoint it feels emotionless and commonplace since there's not much to differentiate from all the other turbo 6 powertrains out there

That was the original plan, but to date we haven't seen a single prototype being tested for an A8 replacement, even though new A6 prototypes existed as far back as two years ago (back when it was still supposed to be called the A7). But yes, all of VAG is in a financially difficult place right now.

New management is motivational at Audi but the old team caused too much damage to the current and upcoming lineup (ie new A6's cost cutting interior and powertrain wise) . The Grandsphere is reported to be pushed back to late 2028 so that would explain why we haven't seen prototypes of it. And if it gets pushed back even more... rip.