sdiver68

I just got my best tank, calculated 33mpg. All suburban driving...not a highway trip Computer said 35.1.

K7baixo

Amazing mileage reports. I've been evaluating the popular models available for an EU delivery and the Q5 diesel certainly looks like an outstanding choice.

Q5 TDI

K7 -
I'd certainly consider the Q5 TDI in your vehicles reviewed.

The thing I want to point out, my wife owned a Prius a couple years ago, it would pull great gas mileage but was about as exciting to drive as a Whirlpool refrigerator.

The Q returns great gas mileage, but delivers a lot more in power, room, comfort, etc. Good luck and have fun in your search.

K7baixo

Absolutely. It has the mileage, can tow my light kayak/trailer and I can use my bicycle rack with it. It's not a must but we'd like to do the EU delivery also.

It's funny, the last (new) SUV I owned was a '95 Discovery. I kept it for 7 years and 120,000 miles. From the east coast to the west, from CO to Guatemala and Belize, from a high of 13,000 ft to below sea level, it never let me down.

As gas became more expensive, my cars got smaller but I've always said that if there was an SUV that got at least 25-28 mpg, I'd buy another one.

Well, the TDI certainly fits the bill.

We've looked at and test drove the Macan - great, great vehicle... ticks all the boxes except mileage and it's not too far off. Other candidates included the X1 (pitiful excuse for a BMW in my humble opinion), the Mercedes CLK (a reasonable option) and the Q5 variants. If I had to make a decision today, it would likely be the Q5 TDI.

We'll see what happens over the next six months. Between now and then, we'll drive everything and insure we're not missing something else...EU delivery availability or not. I'll also be hangin out here and reading every post.

- B -

I love my Q5 TDI more and more everyday. I don't know where your located, but in Europe they get the Macan Diesel, which also gets good mpg. I have family there at the moment contemplating purchasing one, but they're also torn between the SQ5 TDI. It's definitely a tough debate.

K7baixo

I'm in Phoenix. My problem is that I'm....well.... somewhat frugal. I drive a 7 year old Honda hybrid strictly for the HOV advantage. Our other car is a Lexus so this purchase is strictly for fun.

My wife and I were talking tonight and she asked about my decision. I told her my head says "Q5" and my heart says "Macan". She wants me to follow my heart but my wallet and brain usually wins.

My wife is hugely supportive. She recognizes that we only live once and that we can't put things we want or want to do off forever. That means that by the time I make up my mind about a particular purchase and mention it to her, the green light is already on. She knows I've crunched the numbers, know the impact, have a contingency plan and generally speaking, covered all the bases. We're debt-free so that generally means not saving as much.

I suspect the Macan TDI's premium will be slightly more than I'm willing to pay whereas the mid-level Q5 TDI is just perfect.

We'll go drive both again when it cools off slightly. Shopping for a car when it's a 100+ gets old quickly!

I appreciate the input and advice.

- B -

The only thing I would suggest is that if you do choose the Q5, you may want to grab a 2014 or 2015 while you can because if you wait till 2016, those will be manufactured in Mexico. It will be the very first year the Q5 will be ever manufactured in Mexico, and it may have issues since first years of production usually do across all makes and models. However, the Macan is a great choice too, but since we(Americans) didn't get the diesel version, I wasn't as sold on it, personally.

K7baixo

Thank you- I wasn't aware of the pending move. I'm not a fan of first year anything!