Anyone have any experience with these? I need a 4 door to replace the Accord coupe in the next 3-6 months.

Requirements;
4 door, seat 4 adults comfortably.
Needs to be fairly nice, minimum would be new Accord/Camry preferably more luxury/image like a TL (TSX is a bit too small). I'm getting a small car allowance from work and their 'suggestions' are Avalon, TL, & GS. This is somewhatflexible; a G8 would probably be acceptable and an EVO/STI would not.


My preference is something RWD, mix of comfort and sportiness, leanings towards an auto as I'm getting sick of driving sticks in rush hour. Budget is 25-30k.

Given my preference of RWD, requirements, and budget I've pretty much narrowed it down to;
Audi A4/ A6, BMW 330i, E39 530 or 540, E60 530i, Mercedes C32 or E320 & Infiniti G35. Anything else I should be looking at?

The C32 is on paper what I'm leaning towards due to price. At 18-22k for good examples its among the cheapest of the bunch. Swapping out the headlights for bixenons and it doesn't look out dated. Makes 349 hp/322 lbs torque and fairly easily modded to make another 40-60 more. My chief concern is reliability, from what I can tell the major mechanical stuff is pretty bullet proof, but it's still a C class which means electrical gremlins and minor annoyances. Plus at that age bushings & bearings and the such are questionable. Given the price I could stick 3-7k away for rainy day repairs.

Audi A4/A6 - nice cars, but my cousin already has an S4 which makes me lean towards something else. Same reliability concerns.

BMW 330i - frankly I think they're over priced used and too common. The E90 is out of my price range. An E46 330i is a few thousand less than the C32. The allure of AMG at close to the same is making the bimmer look as dull as it is common. It's been awhile since I've been in an E46 and I'm not sure how expansive the rear seats really are.

BMW E39 - This and the C32 are on the top of my list. A 540i would be slightly less than a C32. My main concern is that the E39 looks pretty dated inside and out. That doesn't bother me so much, but may bother my employer/clients. I don't exactly know what to expect here as this is need to impress clients is something I'm entirely unfamiliar with. The E39 is also a bit bigger than I'd prefer and I think the C32 may be more fun to drive. 'Course I've driven neither so that's pure speculation.

BMW E60 530i - Towards the high end of my budget range on a 4 year old BMW concerns me. The other concern is image. I've been working at this job about a year and a half and the new 5 series is towards the high end of cars my more senior coworkers are driving. The attitude here is subdued professional and driving the same cars as people 5+ years my senior making probably twice as much as I am seems pretentious.

Infiniti G35 - Its cheaper and fits in the TL/GS/Avalon reccomendation much more so than the others. It's also weird looking and even post 2005 refreshing the interior is not quite near-luxury. It is probably what I should get, but doesn't speak to me the way a C32 or E39 540i does.

The other possibility is to just screw it and get a TL. I like the car, it's big enough and comfy enough. Knowing that I could get an E39, C32, or G35 for less rubs me though.

 

I love the TL-TypeS. Real aggresive looking car, might be out of your budget though, the non type S is still a pretty nice car.

G35 is nice too but god are they everywhere nowadays, doesnt stand out as much anymore.

 

Not really sure what they go for as its pretty rare, definitely at the top if not over my budget. I'm also leaning towards an auto as 90% of my driving is now on the freeway or grid.

 

at 30K I would think that the 2006 E90 330i's should be available. Great gas mileage for it's size, etc.

 

if it's for work, have you considered leasing? it's much easier to do taxes (read: justify business expense deductions) for a leased vehicle. C300/E90/IS250/G35 all become very affordable when you lease. pick whatever fits your professional image.

any used luxury sedan is going to have used-looking/feeling leather. new mbtex or leatherette (imho) are much nicer than used leather. IS and G have leather standard i think.

 

sad to hear you have to go with the slushbox, but it might interest you to know that a lot of newer automatics rev-match when they downshift. another point for new.

 

There's no tax advantage for leasing as I'm an employee and not business owner or independent contractor. The vehicle allowance is really just a monthly bonus added onto the unaccountable business expense allowance. Unfortunately that means it's taxable in its entirety

While taking commute/local travel expenses as a deduction on f2106 is common it's not actually allowed. If I had I had a large expense account I'd fudge it in there like everyone else, unfortunately I do very little business travel so a 4-6k lease on a car used 90% for personal & commute would be impossible to sneak in.

The fake leather stuff is a good point... it's really not hard to keep leather looking good, but most people never maintain it even on 2-3 year old cars let alone 5-6...