jahummel

Gentlemen,

I intend to purchase a certified vehicle within a year. I am retired and consider myself a car guy. I have narrowed my market to Audi or Lexus. A7/A8 or GS/LS and not more than two years old with less than 20,000 miles. I will be purchasing. I have owned a Lexus SUV but have no experience with Audi. Does anyone have personal experience with both brands? I know that Audi is considered more of a drivers car, but at my age that is not really a deal breaker. Reliability and fit and finish are important to me. I know Audi has increased their product reliability in the last few years. I am interested in your opinions.....biased or not. While my son, who works for Daimler Trucks NA, is out here over Christmas, we will be driving both brands. For me MBZ is out of the question, much to my son's chagrin. Thanks for your help.

uberwgn

Jahummel, welcome to AudiWorld. Here's a virtually identical conversation from last week, loaded with sage advice:


https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q5-...rx350-2909760/

jahummel

Thank you, Sir.

uberwgn

My pleasure. Let us know what follow up questions/concerns you might have.

Jack88

Never owned a Lexus, but I can tell you that at 72,000 miles my A8 was supremely reliable with excellent fit and finish. The same can not be said for my lower mileage Benz. Reliability and fitment is Lexus's forte, albeit with a plainer design. The best advice I have for you is to go to a dealer and spend some time in both cars, learning their features and how they work, and get a sense of the character of the two. As different as the two are in terms of personality, I would bet the choice between them would be reasonably clear after a bit of time with them both.

BigBoy11

I have owned both and can say both are reliable, comfortable, feature laden and worth every penny. However, the Audi A8L with the 4.0T is downright exhilarating while the LS460 is luxurious and boring. Never had an issue or warranty work on either vehicle but would give the overall service edge to Lexus as they do things, little things that make owning one very seamless. Glad I have the A8L and won't even consider getting another Lexus unless the nextgen A8 is a bomb which is highly unlikely. And for the record, I am 71 going on 17.

jahummel

Thank you everyone for your insight and thoughts. I am going to approach this with an open mind. As I mature ( I am 66, BigBoy11), my pain threshold for things not working the way they should has decreased. I would rather not spend anymore time at the service center than it takes to change the oil and rotate the tires. Comments to this thread have helped ease my anxiety over this.

triniexr

I have owned both. I currently have an S8 and a few years ago I had a LS460L with the executive package. If you want reliability go with the Lexus. The ride in it was too soft for me, very floaty. People used to fall asleep in it all the time. The thing I hated the most about the Lexus was the GPS system. It would get lost on the freeway coming to an overpass, it would send me off the freeway and re-route my back on. It doesn't have front seat massagers (well mine didn't in 2007 so not sure about new ones)

I love the power of the Audi and the AWD system is great. Ride is stiffer in the Audi, has considerably less storage compartments, controls take a while to get used too, doesn't have the hill assist nor does it tell you the tire pressure of each individual tire. The massagers are nice but they aren't very powerful and cut off after 10 minutes. Its narrower inside compared to the Lexus but it hugs you like a glove. The Lexus driver compartment was wide and you didn't feel constraint, not sure of your preference. I like the tighter cockpit due to my driving style.

The interior of the Lexus was quieter but the 2007-2012 year had a small issue with wind noise due to a design flaw just above the side view mirrors. A fix was available through club lexus. Maintenance is a bit cheaper on the Lexus. I found the Lexus severely under powered which was my main reason for selling it. I also didn't like the tiny trunk due to mine having the shiatsu massager and fridge in the rear. The non executive package had a HUGE trunk.

That's all I can think of for now.




2007 Lexus LS60L



2013 Audi S8

Swissman564

I have owned 2 A8L's - both 4.2L. My ex-boss had a Lexus which I spent a good bit of time in both as driver and passenger. Triniexr touches on the issues which Car & Driver often expounds upon. If you want a car you will fall in love with and become one with on the road, buy the Audi. If you want a floaty detached driving experience in a fancy dependable Japanese Super Toyota, buy a Lexus.

dildildil

You cant compare the 2 cars really they are different species . ... ive owned both i currently have a 2011 a8l and i love it but sometimes i do hate it, most of the guys here haven't had many issues with thier a8 coz they haven't owned it for long enough or traded it for a newer year/model ....

It all depends what type of driving you do and what you use it for. audi is fun to drive you feel connected with the car where lexus is kind of like mercedes just smooth ride and every mile is like riding a cloud, also lexus you can buy it and forget abt any maintenance as they will run forever without needing anything replaced. Audi on the other hand will need repairs and the car will have some issues that will annoy you alot like the creaking noise the bushings make on the control arms and sway bar links in cold weather, not to mention more expensive regular services even simple as oil change.

i drive a audi coz im 24 and still sometimes hate spending time and money in car repairs, i paid alot for a car why it gives me issues even though small issues but they are there like road noise, suspension creaking,

lexus yes its a bit boring to drive but very easy to fix and no annoying noises or anything and way less time at the service desk