Another Q50 has a home...

Over the weekend, we drove off with a venetian ruby awd Q50 hybrid fully loaded. Below is my not so little write up/review of the process and car.

The sales process was interesting. A few weeks back, my wife connected with a sales person via email. We went in, test drove one of the two cars they had on the lot, both were base model, so none of the interesting tech was available. The day of our test drive was the first day they had the initial update done, so no one had driven the cars yet (and no owners were able to pick up their cars until that day).

I used to have a G37 'vert. The base Q50 really reminded me of that car. Obviously parts of the interior are a fair bit nicer in the Q50. But with the top Nav screen and feel of the car, it is not too far removed from a G in some ways.

We made an offer, a few thousand under MSRP. It was not accepted, and we left. It is worth noting we had the next closest dealership (in another town) agree to that price, but we really wanted to buy local if possible. A few days later, we spoke directly with the sales manager, and he had no problem doing that deal, heck he even threw in rubber mats.

He was able to locate the car somewhere else, and it took about a week to transport it over. We wanted 3M/clear bra, but the price the dealer wanted was rather high. We worked out a much better price with a near by and well respected shop, and the sales manager had no issues taking our car over prior to pickup and having it applied.

We came in at a convenient time and took delivery. Until this point, we had not seen the red in person. Love the color. Still haven't seen many colors in person. There was a hagen blue in the show room... we really did not like the look of it (no offense to those that like that color, just not to our tastes).

They apparently had not received any specific training on the car, so the walk through of the features was less than effective. After letting it go on for a bit, I cut the process short. Not before asking about setting up the remote connectivity, to which the sales person didn't really know, and the manager said a form needed to be filled out by us and faxed in... which would take a couple of days. We then moved into the finance room, which I was dreading. Surprisingly, the lady there stated that the sales manager had already informed her we had previously bought from them, and that we had our 3M already. So she basically said to us "if it is alright with you, let me say one line about each of these 7 items, and then sign to acknowledge you do not want any of the services". Yay! And she kept it very brief. We did ask her to expand upon the tire warranty...

We were coming from 2 BMWs, bought at the same time about 2 years ago. My wife's had zero tire issues, but my car (and forums like this informed me of the likelihood in advance) had 3 tires replaced due to bulges from potholes, and 1 tire replaced due to completely failing after another pot hole. We had warranty on both, so made out ok in the end. Without asking, she nearly halved the price of the warranty package (which already was a LOT less than what we paid for 3rd party insurance for our BMWs). We still haven't decided if we will get it, have a few more days to decide.

Anyway, after 5 minutes in the finance office (where they handed us a check... for a trade we ended up putting into the deal... which makes for a plesant experience), we were driving off with our new car.

While the car is for my wife, she's a bit hesitant with cars, so I drove it for the weekend. Immediately I noticed a very odd feeling with the steering wheel/tires. The car seemed to want to wander on its own. Between 'getting used to it' and adjusting to a firmer steering setting, that is no longer noticeable.

I've had two other hybrids, early model Honda Insight and Prius, so the hybrid nature was not new. However, neither of those cars could accelerate on battery alone, so that was an appreciated difference. The first two days I took it very easy on the car, watching the mileage. For a period, we were at 7l/100km (~34mpg), but by the end of the weekend (150km) wound up at 7.9 / 30mpg. Not bad. I punched the gas once... not as fast as the car it replaced... but a LOT faster than my prior hybrids, and quite respectable.

What drew us to the car was the AWD/hybrid/tech/safety combination. And boy does this car not disapoint when it comes to tech and safety features. When we got home from the dealer, it only took a few minutes to figure out how to sign up for the connectivity package/concierge online. Regarding the 'personal assistant'... the iphone app wouldn't submit a request for me. But when I called in, the individual was very polite and professional. An interesting thing is twice he asked me how to pronounce my last name... I have not called in again, but it sounded like he entered it into his computer so they would get it right the next time. Nice.

The connected app worked without issue. Door lock/unlock is pretty fast. Again, BMW had a similar feature, but it took 1-2 minutes before the car received the command. With the Q50 it seemed to only be around 15 seconds. Otherwise, the app had limited value (speed warnings and the geofencing aren't something we'll use). In contrast, the BMW app allowed you to locate the car, as well as search for and send destinations quickly to the car.

I was blown away that the car really will drive down a highway without the driver doing anything, specifically with lane keep assist. Aside from sharper curves, it did a great job. I actually drove home from work one night (15 minutes on a highway), and while on the highway portion, only touched the wheel twice (two sharper curves). I realize it is not meant to drive itself, but it sure is a harbinger for future self driving cars, and I could really see the benefit (as long as the car can handle road debris and potholes... mind you, from the above, I didn't do so well with potholes in the past!).

As I stated, my wife is not the most avid of drivers, so having all the safety features is a huge plus. We tested out the cross traffic feature, backing out of a stall and had a person walk behind the car, with an instant stop. The car really lived up to our expectations in this regard. Hopefully they are never needed, but it is piece of mind knowing they are there to help out if required.

The intouch system has worked fine for us. Slow at times, but no issues to speak of thus far. Like everyone, I am eager to see it at its fullest potential when the features are fully rolled out.

A while back, we had considered the current gen M (before I got a 5 series). It has a very nice interior. In our eyes, the Q50's interior matches/tops the M (love that the inside door handles seem to be nearly identical), and beats the BMW in look and overall feel. The seats are not quite as adjustable as BMW, but all that matters is that the seat is comfy, which it is.

One very welcome feature I was happy to have back is how the steering wheel will raise and seat move back when getting out of the car.

My wife is very particular about the looks of her cars... many options I suggested were dismissed purely on looks alone (Lexus IS, Prius, Volt, Escape amonst others). Yet she quite likes the looks of the Q50... about the only other vehicle that past that test was the Audi Q5. I liked the wheels on my G37 'vert, and love the sports wheels on the Q50. Much more so than either BMW we have/had.

After driving to work on Monday, my wife called me up when she arrived, glowing about how she loved the car. If Tesla and the ELR weren't possibilities later this year, I would be strongly looking to switch to a second Q50 from my 5 series... still may happen later on. Mind you, trunk space limitations then may be an issue... that is our only complaint. It is quite unfortunate that the rear seat doesn't fold down.

And now its time to give my fingers a rest.