Out with the RX, in with the Q7
 

Our fairly well-equipped 2007 RX350 (every option except radar cruise, panoramic sunroof and air suspension) has served us well for just shy of 12 years and over 160k miles, but has never been comfortable for long drives and recently started to show signs that it's going to need more repairs in the near future, so it was time for something new. So this past weekend, we went shopping, and wound up coming home with an Audi Q7. I haven't taken any pictures, but our 2018 is basically identical to this 2017:

http://gtcarlot.com/colors/car/115924075-9.html

It's a Glacier White Prestige model with Nougat (brown) interior leather and the 3.0T V6 (standard on Prestige, optional on the other trims), and then has a few option packages:

• Cold weather (heated rear seats and steering wheel, all-weather floor mats)
• Driver assistance (adaptive cruise, lane assist, pre senses, high beam assistance, traffic sign recognition)
• 21" wheels (unfortunately with all-seasons, that will get corrected later)
• Tow hitch and wiring harness
• RSES prep
• 4 rings logo puddle lights

The Prestige trim already includes the warm weather package (4-zone climate control, ventilated front seats, manual rear sunshades) and vision package (virtual cockpit, full LED headlights, topview camera system), and the mid-level Bose stereo so really we're just missing a couple of the really expensive options like the B&O audio ($5k), massaging seats ($5.5k), adaptive chassis ($4k), and night vision ($2.5k).

We also looked at the SQ5, but it was a tad too small and my wife HATES sport seats. X5 didn't feel as premium, was less roomy and comfortable, rode much stiffer over uneven roads, and is being replaced in the next month or two, so we passed even though the first price offered was pretty good. X3 was also too small. Back seat of the MDX was not very comfortable. The RX was exactly what we would expect from a 12-year newer version of our existing car, so nicer but not a "wow" in any way and also tight on headroom. GX was better in the headroom department but just feels really old. We rented an XC90 last month and generally liked it, but the Q7 really seemed to hit all the right notes. There's tons of room in the first two rows (we'll probably never use the third), and fantastic headroom. The panoramic roof makes it feel even more open and airy as well. It was also the quietest and best-riding vehicle we drove, even without the air suspension, and handles surprisingly well for a ginormous 5000-lb barge. The supercharged V6 has ample power throughout the powerband, is very quiet under casual driving but emits a nice rasp under heavy throttle.

There's a LOT of stuff to learn and get comfortable with, but standouts so far have been:

• adaptive cruise, which works fantastically well even in stop and go traffic
• Android Auto
• Fully configurable, all-LCD instrument cluster
• Parking brake that automatically releases when you touch the accelerator
• Google earth map view (unfortunately going away in 2021)
• soft-closing doors
• Audi 4-ring logo puddle lights have a great wow factor (small thing, I know)
• Auto start-stop is far less annoying than in most vehicles I've experienced that feature in.

Finance rates were not good (5%), so we were all set to pay cash, but the current promotion is that Audi will pay the first month's loan/lease payment up to $1,100, so we took out a large enough 36-month loan to get the payment up above that threshold--it's actually a couple of dollars more than our mortgage, which is mildly terrifying. We'll pay down most of the principal at the first payment interval, and then pay it off after 3 months. The dealer gets their kickback from AFS as long as the loan is open that long, and they were very easy to deal with. Total process from test drive to exchanging keys was about 2 hours, including a drive home to get our title and clean our stuff out of the RX. Then probably another hour to transfer the plates and do the delivery/familiarization.

I've already got a line on a set of nearly-new winter wheels/tires, and then we'll just use the factory all-seasons from April-November until they wear out, and replace them with summer tires at that point.

Night vision?! I mean, how does that work? I assume it'll be useful for backup cam...

And what is adaptive chassis?

Yeah, I'm not a fan of SUVs, but the wife refused to even look at a sedan. Rear seat space was a priority, but I could not convince her to even check out the G90 or 7-series. She briefly sat in a used 4LS that we happened to walk by in the showroom, but it was the SWB and she was very "meh" on it.

If we have to have a glorified minivan :p the Q7 is a pretty nice place to be. And yes, the soft-close doors are sweet. Aside from just seeming super classy, hopefully they'll cut down on some of the deafening door slams I've had to suffer through the past few years.

Night vision is an infrared camera in the grill, that displays in the virtual cockpit (instrument cluster), and lets you see things that may not be visible even with the headlights. Here's an example pic:

https://img.autobytel.com/car-review...ght-Vision.jpg

I don't believe there's one in the rear. Adaptive chassis is the combination of air suspension and 4-wheel steering.

Congrats!

Love white! nice, 333hp.


Why do you want to swap the All-Season tires???

Dedicated summer and winter tires are just so much better it's not even funny. My DD (a RWD beast with 500lbft of torque) has amazing traction year-round, thanks to running Blizzaks in the winter and PSS in the summer. It has been our vehicle of choice in bad winter weather--over the two AWD SUVs--solely due to how awesome snow tires work. I couldn't justify the expense of going to 2 sets on the RX because we were planning on getting rid of it at some point anyway, but swore that any car we got in the future would have dedicated winter tires.

Plus, it will save quite a bit of money in the long run. 21" all-seasons run about $400 each, and reportedly last about 30,000 miles. 18-19" snows cost about half that, and take up about 1/3 of the wear over the course of the year. On top of that, 21" summer tires are also 10-20% cheaper than the all-seasons, based on what I'm seeing on TireRack. So cheaper all around, with dramatically better performance throughout the year.

Congratulations! I'm sure it will suit you and your family well.

Congrats on a beautiful SUV.

humm, OIC, but I thought All-Seasons worked better in the rain than Summer tires? Also much longer wear than the Summer tires too?

Congratulations! When I was shopping for cars last year, I noticed that Audi in general didn't have the most competitive financing options or lease rates. I could have paid cash on a car, but its hard to resist 0% financing I got on my BMW.

Yep, I most likely would have financed at anything 1.9% or under. But the combination of the poor captive interest rates, and the age of the current bull market--I would be surprised if we don't have a major correction or recession sometime over the 5-6 year term of a car loan--made paying cash an easy decision once we'd settled on the car itself.

Congrats! HUGE upgrade, the Q7 is a great vehicle. I myself seriously considered one before I got my LS460L. They ride great, and the tech is second to none.

That night vision on virtual cockpit looks pretty good, definitely a secondary helpful assistant in times where you have to navigate dark, poorly-lit roads.

Amazing times we live in...

Sweet! Congrats.

Congrats. Spent a bit of time in a Q7 over Christmas when a family member had it as a loaner while his A7 was getting serviced. I loved the Q7 interior and thought it rode and drove great.