markcincinnati

We, for once, appear to be in violent agreement!

Well, except for the color thing.

Talbot

Church.

msochemist

.
The pricing in the premium plus of audi A5/S5 is just ridiculous, for example bang and olufsen is an add on 950$ while in S4/A4 it is standard. In term of prestige S4 also give you more such as acoustic window front. I just dont get why would building hatch cost you 3 k more with less options.

Talbot

I don't see anywhere that Audi made the claim that it is based on what it costs. I can pretty much guarantee you that there is a small army of people whose job it is to determine what price the market will bear and for what... and many, many decisions are made based on that information. Sure, cost is _A_ determining factor, but certainly not _THE_ determining factor in the price.

njspeedfreak

What else does the S4 Prestige have that the S5 Prestige does not? I suspect the reason the S5 doesn't offer the acoustic glass is because they use a frameless door and the weight of the glass would be to much for the door to handle.

I don't get why painted black trim costs $1400 more than the aluminum trim, or why a 19" wheel is $200 more expensive that one that is just 1" smaller in diameter. But I certainly understand why some people are willing to spend the extra money to get those things, and why Audi takes advantage of that. Nobody sells a product for what it costs to make, they sell it for what the market will bear. I think the sales data will show that the market can easily bear $3000 for a power hatchback and curvier body panels.

markcincinnati

For all any of us know, the S4 costs more to build than an S5. For all we know, black trim may actually cost less than aluminum trim. Regarding the wheels, they are, at least in the Audi wheel program, vanity priced.

The S5 currently commands more than an S4 because the "traditional" sedans of the world are increasingly out of favor. CU/SU V's are the hot ticket today. Also coupes (both 2 and 4 door versions) seem to be more in favor than the more pedestrian sedans.

So, marketing folks learn "the market will pay more" for an S5 than an S4.

And management says: "Make it so."

The S4 for this reason is currently a bargain . . . sort of.

Damon44

It is an incredible bargain.
I went to BMW website and built a seriously loaded 540i.
Every option with M package driver assist 1 and 2 etc.
It came to $68000 . Not even as quick as S4.
FYI

NHman

Except the 540i competes directly with the A6. It's not just about speed. For the 5-series, it's about luxury including space for all passengers with performance. The rear seat space in the A4/S4 is okay but not the best if carrying 4 people over a long distance. If I were the passenger, I would rather be in the 5-series. Plus the option packages don't align between the two vendors.

Within the next 1-2 weeks I'll be taking delivery of my S4 and currently have a BMW. I respect both brands and feel the S4, even at $62k MSRP, is a good value to me.

pb12

I couldn't agree more on the "value proposition" of the S4. I looked long and hard at several cars, including:

New 540xi
Mercedes E43
Mercedes E63 Wagon
Mercedes S550 coupe
Used E63 Wagon
Mercedes GLC63
Porsche Macan GTS
Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo
Volvo S90

and at the end of the day I decided I wanted a smaller, better handling car than I currently had, that had state of the art tech, wasn't flashy or ostentatious, but was still "cool". And for ~$62k, it seemed about $20k less than I was going to spend best case scenario, and in some cases as much as $60k less. I really wanted the new E63 wagon, but when I thought in terms of I could literally have TWO S4's for the price of the wagon, as cool as it is, I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger.

Im genuinely excited fort the New S4 I have on the way, and for the money I'm not sure there is much else I really pine for. The BMW 540 was the car I came closest to ordering before I discovered the S4, but at the end of the day, as good as it is, it was still going to drive like the much bigger car it is. In some situations, thats a good thing, but when I do get a chance to get off the highway, as quick as my 550 is, its not "fun" in any way, and the BMW wasn't going to be either. And at nearly $84k the way I wanted it, literally $20k more money....

M

gravi

I was telling my boss at work that I was looking to replace my almost 5 year old A6 with a sportier car and he immediately started offering suggestions, lol. His first choice is a Tesla P85 which he drives. I reminded him that is a $100K plus car and unless a big raise or promotion was in the cards that would make it impractical A little later he sends me a link to a used 2016 Maserati Ghibli with 15K miles for $50K. Looks great but when I researched the specs it wasn't that great. Anyway, my point is that he simply could not see why someone would get a new BMW or Audi that does not stand out from the crowd. But made my Monday go a bit faster.