Hey all, making my first post just to say hi. I'm looking around for a car that is much more fun to drive than a Prius V. Preferably a 2012-13 G37xS Sedan (2 kids, need an accessible backseat). Prices still seem a little high from pre-chip shortage times, but that's to be expected. Finding some deals, waiting to jump on one when it's the right one. Thanks!

 

IMO, right time is either when you need the car, or maybe a year from now. From what i've been reading, used cars prices have plateaued and maybe on a slight decline. But still way inflated. Two months ago I got 5K more for my car from carmax than I would have under normal conditions. They then turned around and sold it for $3K more.

What age are your kids? Are you tall? There really isn't *that* much room in the back if the front seats are adjusted for tall drivers. I'm 6' tall, maybe a really small child would fit in the back behind the driver seat.

 

The G37xS Sedan isn't any more "fun to drive" than the G37x. The xS is the exact same car, but with some appearance trim from the Sport Package.

Also in that context, consider the 2014 - 2015 Q40 AWD, which is just the rebadged G37x Sedan quietly sharing the same space as the new Q50. Not sure why that happened, but it did.

 

2 and 6 right now. The 2 year old will spin around pretty soon here (still rear facing). The rear/front legroom is inline with the Prius, so in other words probably not much room for the passenger while it's rear facing. The wife fits, but I don't currently.

I'll keep an eye on the Q40 too then. Weird how they did that. As far as the S model, they have the paddle shifters, too. I was planning to test drive and see just how much those mattered to me (probably not much, but we'll see). Akebono brake upgrade would be a fun project at some point. They're wired for the paddles already, too, I think I read.

 

Yes, the xS gets flappy paddles... and sport seats, sport wheels, sport sills, etc. All the fluff, but none of the sport features like brakes, LSD, sport shocks and close-ratio steering. Granted, AWD doesn't care about LSD, so there's that. In any event, the xS is a great car, IMO.

FYI - There was no Sport Package offered on the Q40.

 

Ah yeah, the seats. I'm already forgetting the things that were a big draw for me. Something I need to check out when test driving the different models.

 

Carmax offered $10500 for my 2012 xS sedan w/ 89k miles & 1 fender bender. Really surprised and super tempting... But I'd rather it go to an enthusiast