very true, never thought about that!

 

I remember when C&D crashed a Audi and detailed the cost of repair, it was pretty incredible.

 

Ray I agree here. Way to much for a 4 cylinder. I'm still in shock the A5 I-4 convert can hit over 62k with options.

 

in line with the other a5 setup (or a few other audi models) in general.

i actually find this pretty interesting. if memory serves me right, audi used to be cheaper than bmw similar equipped, and that's their selling point, you get similar to bmw but at a "discount". obviously audi has caught up a lot now and put them in a good position, but i am not sure if that warrants their recent years price hike?

 

Good points. I think in a lot of cases they still out price themselves in many areas as people cannot justify the price with "Audi".

 

36k sticker is pretty reasonable for such a nice car. With some negotiations (after the hotness factor has worn off) you could probably get one for ~32-33k. I'm thinking of what else I could get for that sort of money and there's nothing else with nearly as much sensory appeal. More practical, sure... but excitement for the dollar, this is pretty significant. Put along side a 328i or IS250 this is off the charts.

 

Don't agree, a car like this looks much better in the flesh than the sum of photo-chopped parts, thankfully.

 

You could do what he did to any car and make it look bland. Especially if you use a silver/gray car and roughly match the color with the 'censorship' blocks.

 

I can remember (and I wouldn't be surprised if you can, too) when some wheel covers actually LOOKED like that. They were called Moon Discs. They were used back in the days before you had the cooling slots/holes for brake rotors/calipers. They wouldn't work on today's cars, though, because of brake-cooling requirements, though that still doesn't stop some people from using aftermarket ones and overheating the brakes.

 

32-33k for a bare-bone a5 2.0t?

 

The barebone Audis (maybe BMWs and Mercedes too) are really cheaply equipped. It's a scam to make it seem like they have really low starting prices, but when you look at all the options, they pretty much make everything optional, and leave out things like push button starts that are standard on Altimas.

 

yup, exactly my point (and yup, bmw and mb aren't much better neither). that's why starting price is as pointless as it gets these days. i always use similarly equipped prices for comparisons, to me that makes a lot more sense.

in this case, 32k for a bare-bone a5 2.0t, it's not even funny...

 

Being based off the A4, with the same running gear, engines, options, and interior, why such a premium over the sedan? If anything, there's two less doors! Come to think of it, if they did offer a true base A5 (2.0T FWD) that was like a base A4, it would probably come in below $35k. Now that makes a bit more sense.

 

This is where, on an IS for example, Lexus shines...

 

Like most have said the A5 no matter what form is too expensive and too much of a premium over the A4 which it is heavily based on. Many people like the design of the A5 but when they see the price many say forget it, and often just get a BMW 3 series coupe or G37. Audi could have had a big hit with the A5 just because of its good looks but like most German brands they overpriced it and A5 never became a big seller because of its high price. I hardly ever see them where I see G37s and 3 series coupes everywhere. If a nicely equipped A5 could be had for a good deal less then the 3 series coupe and the same price or a little less then a G37 then people would not have been turned off from the price and it would have sold much better.

Sure you can get a base 4 cylinder A5 for in the mid 30's but it will be extremely hard to find and your going to end up with a very stripped down car with little in the way of features you come to expect from a car in that price range.

Imagine if when the Infiniti G35 coupe came out, they were priced in the 50's and even 60's for well equipped versions, mid to upper 40's for lower equipped models and then they offered a base 200hp 4 cylinder to get it into the mid 30's. It would have been a complete failure no matter how good looking it was. Instead of all the positive reviews it got reviewers would be focusing on how expensive and overpriced it was. Instead Infiniti was smart, knew the market and what they could away with and chose to price it pretty low to where it seemed like a great deal and buyers bought them in droves. I wish Audi would have done the same thing with the A5.