Well, Austin Infiniti has offered me $500 over invoice and 2.9% APR on a 2010 G37S 6MT w/navigation, Graphite Shadow/Graphite. It's a car they have in stock now (same one I test drove a few weeks back). As I've mentioned on another thread, the extended warranty on my 2004 Audi S4 6MT will run out this year so I'm somewhat casually in the market for a new car (though as the year moves on, that will become somewhat less casual). I own my S4 outright so I'll be able to use its full value as trade-in equity. That should get my monthly payments in the neighborhood of $450 (60 months) which seems like a great deal. On that same thread I mentioned that in a perfect world, I'd like the new S4 to replace my current S4, but there's close to a $20K difference in price between the two similarly configured for what I perceive to be a significantly smaller difference in product.

Before I pull the trigger I was wondering if anyone wanted to share any wisdom here. I imagine I'll mostly get responses like "Do it!", but I'd appreciate any thoughts, positive or negative, that folks would like to share.

Thanks much in advance!
Scott

 

Well I do not understand a couple of things.

I imagine you are adding the ADS to get to that 20k #. It would be an unfair comparison as ADS is not available on the G. When I configured the S4 w/out the ADS it came to 56k. I imagine you can get 3k of MSRP these days, brings it to 53k. The G37xS I got is say 40k after incentives and of course not an exact # for privacy reasons, this should be about the same as the G37S 6MT. Thats a 13k difference.

What do you get for the 13k

Silk Nappa Seats, there are a notch above the sport seats in the G37
The Nav is the S4 has slightly better graphics, however its not touch screen
S4 uses more light weight materials than the G, which I imagine would be more expensive
The interior is a notch above the G, however the G, IS and CTS are probably the only ones that come close in this class.
Motor week has the S4 running the 1/4 mile @ 13.1s @ 109mph, 0-60 4.7s
From my test drive, it does handle better than the G

I could go on

I think 13k is a small price to pay, especially considering the S4 is a machine that is close to the 12.Xs mark to the 1/4 mile, this is a league the G does not come close to.

Considering people were paying the same premium to get into the less well equipped 335i, I would say go with the S4 there is substantial stuff there to justify the S4 premium.

However, that is not to say the G is not a great alternative. I think you are looking at the only 2 options I considered as well. The only reason I got the '10 G37 is because I am not at that place in my life where 13k is small change. This is different from saying the 13k is not justified, I believe it is justified in many respects. Good luck.

 

How did you feel about the shifter in the G? I felt it vibrated quite a bit but went ahead an ordered a 6mt anyway. After a bunch of BS, I got a 7AT instead...only cuz I think the dealer screwed up.

The G should be plenty fast. The S4 has basically the same HP but a lot more torque. That said, the G37 6MT can bang off 5-5.4 0-60 and thats pretty silly fast.

20K is HUGE for a car. I can't belive how expensive 335's and S4's are. I mean...the G is like 95% of both those cars and can be had SO much cheaper.

For fun I just built a 335xi and to get all the stuff my G37xS has it topped out around 55k! Holy S.

 

Thanks. No, I'm not adding ADS, but I am adding the sport rear diff. I'd order the S4 as:

2010 S4 Prestige 6MT (I can't imagine paying $40K+ and not getting things like seat memory)
Meteor Gray Pearl +$475
Silk Nappa Leather +$1,000
Gray Birch Wood Inlays +$500 (I wish the G37S 6MT could have wood trim)
Sports Rear Differential +$1,100
Total MSRP $55,075

I'm not sure how much negotiation room there is on the S4 right now, so I agree that perhaps I could get that down to $53K or so before TT&L. Also the Audi dealer isn't offering 2.9% APR. I think ~4.9% is the best I'll get, perhaps higher. The price I'm offered on the G37S 6MT w/navigation is $37.1K. My S4's trade-in value is a little over $14K, so let's say we're comparing $39K to $23K as the tax basis. With sales tax that's $42.2K vs. $24.9K, so roughly a $17.5K difference before you consider the difference in financing rates. Put a different way, that's the difference between $800+/month and $450/month for five years. Certainly hard to ignore.

My current S4 has Silk Nappa Leather Recaros so I'm familiar with the quality of that material. It's definitely a step up and has worn extremely well...much better than the seats in my previous GS430 did across the same ownership duration.

The S4 is definitely quicker than the G37, and with a flash (Stasis comes with a warranty that matches the car's) will be in M3/RS4 range, but the G37S is pretty close performance-wise to my 2004 S4 even if the power comes on very differently. While I'd love to have more power, I don't have any issues with the performance of my current car or the G37S.

And yes, I didn't consider the 335i because I'd prefer a larger car and frankly I don't like BMW interiors very much.

Thanks again for the feedback!

 

Yeah, the shifter is definitely less refined than the one in my S4, my wife's MINI Cooper S Cabrio, or her previous BMW Z3, and lets in significantly more vibration. However, I really only touch the shifter when I'm shifting and let it do its thing otherwise. As long as it's reliable and gates properly (which it seems to), I'm fine with that. Overall it had a very nice feel other than the vibration.

 

20k difference is absurd; even if the difference was 10k, I would still pick the G.

 

So we agree, the diff is more like 13-16k, not 20.

Bear in mind that residual values on a limited production will hold up pretty well so you need to factor that in, bringing that difference further down. I love the G, but a 1/4 mile time consistently in the low 13s cannot be compared to one consistently in the high 13s IMO, there is nothing wrong with the 2010 S4's pricing, with time it may fall a little bit but thats where it should be, above the 335i. The built quality is considerably better than anything in this class so is the performance. There is the added benefit of relative "exclusivity" for cars in this class as well. My point is I find it difficult to say the premium is not justified. I just was not able to fork it out, those who can are getting a pretty good deal IMO.

 

Well, I'm seeing ~$17.5K as the actual difference, not $13-16K. While that's only $1.5K over your high end it's $4.5K over your low end. And that's without taking into account the difference in financing rates being offered right now and the cumulative effect of that over the financing period. Oh, and I omitted two options that I typically add to the S4 when I'm building it out--power rear sunshade and rear airbags--because those aren't available on the G37S and I thought I'd make it closer to an apples-to-apples comparison. Those add another $850 together making the difference $18,250...within spitting distance of a $20K difference when you're talking about numbers like this.

I hope you're kidding. Have you looked at how Audi vehicles retain their value? Given that I'm trying to figure out what to do with my limited production S4, I certainly have! Let's put it this way...when I sold my 2001 Lexus GS430 it was almost exactly the same age and had the same mileage as my 2004 S4 does now, and the MSRP on both cars was virtually identical. The GS430 was worth $10K more than the S4 is. In fact, my S4 is now worth almost exactly the same amount as my wife's 2005 MINI Cooper S that originally cost roughly 2/3 the price. Admittedly hers has lower mileage and is one year younger, but plot those two trajectories and you can see which has the steeper slope!

Luckily I bought my S4 slightly used (about 9 months old and with a few thousand miles) and saved >$10K vs. having bought new because the depreciation has been horrifying! Don't get me wrong...I've thoroughly enjoyed my S4 and the Audi ownership experience, but I would *never* go into an Audi purchase thinking that it's going to retain its value well compared to the other luxury makes out there.

 

We can agree to disagree on the residual values. Believe me I spent some time on the B8 S4 forums. There was a 25 year old who owned 5% of a software company. A guy claiming he had spent 200k on Audis in the past couple of years. That is honestly what put me off, I knew right there that I need a couple more years under my belt (I am only 31 anyways) before I can own the B8 S4 knowing I am not stretching my budget. My point is, if you get the 56k (MSRP) its very well equipped and its only about 15k (after incentives before financing) over the G37S MT. Like I said, at that premium, there is a lot of tangible stuff to justify the premium. If $$$ in not the issue, its a no brainer and the B8 S4 is worth that premium.

Audi simply showed what a +50k sports sedan should look like. If you buy it, you should be very happy with what you have and I dont see how you can possibly regret not getting into the G37.

 

How much is it? I cannot find the invoice cost on any of the normal sites.

 

You can build one out at Edmunds and it'll show invoice, MSRP, and True Market Value:

2010 Infiniti G37 Sedan optional equipment at Edmunds

Looks like invoice on the 6MT with no options is $34,181 and invoice on the car with navigation is $36,649. I've negotiated $500 over invoice so ~$37.1K + TT&L.

 

Okay, I've made my decision. I'm picking up the G37S 6MT tomorrow over lunch, assuming nothing weird happens when they give me the final trade-in estimate on my S4, of course...but I've babied that car and don't expect anything weird.

I did drop by the Audi dealership earlier just to do final due diligence. They would offer 3.9% APR on the S4 which surprised me, but configured the way I'd want, it was $54K + TT&L vs. the ~$37K + TT&L for the G37S. I even inquired into extending my S4 warranty another two years to either save a bit for the new S4 or to keep an eye out for a slightly used one configured the way I'd want as they hit the market, but the additional extended warranty was so pricey (~1/4 the value of the car!) that I decided to pass.

I'm really excited about the G37S! Definitely one hell of a car for the money!!! I'll post impressions and pics in a few days...

Thanks for all the feedback so far,
Scott

 

Done. The transaction went incredibly smoothly. They gave me exactly what I wanted on trade-in for my car, and they actually sweetened the deal a bit more when I went back to sign the financial paperwork. I guess they have multiple financing providers and one of them is the preferred provider. They asked if I'd accept 3.49% APR instead of 2.9% APR by going with the preferred provider if they knocked another $1K off of the car. In the end the total payoff across the financing period went down by a little over $800 by doing so, so I took advantage of it. So bottom line, I got the car for $500 under invoice with 3.49% APR.

I also pre-paid for my maintenance. I remember how much the 30K and 60K maintenance visits cost for my GS430, and those two alone were more than what I pre-paid for full maintenance for 4 years/60K miles (and it will include the 60K servicing).

Last but not least, I worked in tinting the windows. When I put Huper-Optik 30 on my S4 it cost me $430, and they offered the same thing for $299, so that was a no-brainer given that I was going to do it anyway. Having that put on Monday.

Very happy with the way this has worked out! Oh, and if you're going to buy from Austin Infiniti, I recommend Gil Garcia. GREAT salesman!!!

Pics to come soon! Unfortunately it's raining/sleeting outside right now.

 

Congratulations and welcome to the G37 MT club.

 

Congrats, I tried to be the devils advocate. Either car is a good choice. You have the '10 6MT I have the '10 7AT, I hear you have more fun in the 6MT