Audi SQ7 vs RR Autobiography 5.0 Petrol

[billythefish]

Hi All,

I've specced both cars above (both approx £100K with dealer discounts) and wondered what people's views are. Test drove the SQ7 for a weekend beginning of the year and loved it although the only thing putting me off is the whole diesel thing and resale values. £35K after 4 years on £100K spec car. The RR is a range rover and fuel economy is crap but there's just something about it - so do I go for luxury with awesome 5 litre petrol engine or the Audi which is just technologically advanced? If the Audi would you go for 22 inch wheels?

Thanks


Billy

[W8PMC]

I've never driven a petrol RR or the SQ variant of the Q7, but did have a weekend in the new Q7 last year & likewise in the equivalent RR & bought a FFRR A/B.

Residuals on the SQ7 are horrific for what it is, so that was a scare for me. Also when driving around in the Q7 you'd often see a FFRR & think it looked better over there.

Bottom line is the SQ7 is around £20-25k cheaper like for like (how did you spec an SQ7 up to £100k?) so to get the SQ up to RR levels you'd need a lot of options, whereas the RR A/B has them as standard. Driver comfort is also another league with the materials used in the RR far superior & i've never yet driven anything as comfortable as the FFRR. I'd be sure the FFRR would also destroy the Q7 off or soft road, but then the Q7 has 7 seats so if that's important then the RR is a no go.

Lastly the brand & image, in this space i don't think anything comes close other than perhaps the Bentayga (ugly as that is) to the FFRR, it's the daddy. However, the brand & car are not without issues as the dealer network make Audi dealers look good (who'd have thought that possible), the new InControl Touch Pro in MY17 cars is prone to issues that affect about 50% of cars (mine included) & it covers a variety of the JLR range. A big software update is in development, but no word on when it's being released.

[Shoppinit]

FFRR has way more presence. For me it would be no contest.

[HYFR]

Range Rover

It's an icon

Whether you have £100k in the bank or £100,000,000 in the bank, you both have a RR on the drive


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[billythefish]

That's what I'm thinking although the SQ7 is very very nice. Just scary on the residuals and the fact its diesel and who knows where that will go in the next 1,3,5 years. I think you're making the decision lean towards the RR. AS W8MPC says though; I do hear of lots of teething problems when buying a new RR and the dealer network can leave a lot to be desired.

[W8PMC]

That's what I'm thinking although the SQ7 is very very nice. Just scary on the residuals and the fact its diesel and who knows where that will go in the next 1,3,5 years. I think you're making the decision lean towards the RR. AS W8MPC says though; I do hear of lots of teething problems when buying a new RR and the dealer network can leave a lot to be desired.

Worth noting, although the LR Dealer network isn't the best as regards Customer Service, you do have to choose carefully to get a decent Audi dealer, so although Audi are probably a little better it's not a huge delta. Add to this the popularity & breadth of range now with LR, i feel they've become a major player in the market, but don't have quite the infrastructure to support the volume of cars they sell & therefore need to Support. LR Customer Relations however are considerably better than i found with Audi, so once a push is needed, they do jump on the dealers & get things moving.

If you're planning on buying new, the current issues with the MY17 InControl Touch Pro should be resolved as a major fix is being developed which i'd imagine would be applied to any car being ordered now. Mechanically, i'm not aware of any issues with the current FFRR, purely electronic gremlins with the new revised InControl Touch Pro.

I chose the TDV6 engine, as appears top be the sweet spot in the FFRR with decent performance & fantastic economy, also quite a bit lighter than the SDV8 or petrol engines which you can feel on the road. It's presence on the road is second to none & you get a real feeling of status wafting round in a Rangey that i doubt any other car can offer.

This takes nothing away from the SQ7, but i feel if applying similar budgets you'd get that sense of perhaps having bought the wrong car when pulling up alongside a FFRR in the SQ7 that you wouldn't get in reverse.

[HYFR]

18MY coming in Q4 is a major mid cycle refresh, so if going new, you want to wait

[HYFR]

as for LR Dealers ...

http://www.am-online.com/news/dealer-ne ... ion-survey

[billythefish]

Do you know exactly when in Q4 they're starting to ship? Dealer is saying earliest delivery is end of October

[W8PMC]

18MY coming in Q4 is a major mid cycle refresh, so if going new, you want to wait

Has it been confirmed that MY18 will be a major refresh & if so, any news on what that entails? The MY17 upgraded the Infotainment to the new InControl Touch Pro, so very little i can think of can be changed inside, so that would lead me to think any changes would have to be external??

To answer the O/P's question, the MY17 was open to order in early October 16 for deliveries starting in December onwards. Mine was the first MY17 they put through the order system, however i delayed delivery until March 1st 17 so the cars were hitting the streets around mid-late Jan 17. I'd assume the same would apply to the MY18, so order in Oct for delivery in Jan.

[W8PMC]

as for LR Dealers ...

http://www.am-online.com/news/dealer-ne ... ion-survey

Now that's a shock. Audi & BMW dealers must have slipped significantly in the last year or so for LR to now be ahead:)

[Surrey Sam]

Been driving around in a new Q7 for about a week now and whilst fine, it's nothing special. FFRR feels far more opulent with better style and materials utilised.

Reliability with LR products tends to be an issue and I've found the dealers to be equally good/bad as zee germans. Have you thought about the new Range Rover Velar? I appreciate it's a class down in size, but it looks lovely.

[HYFR]

18MY coming in Q4 is a major mid cycle refresh, so if going new, you want to wait

Has it been confirmed that MY18 will be a major refresh & if so, any news on what that entails? The MY17 upgraded the Infotainment to the new InControl Touch Pro, so very little i can think of can be changed inside, so that would lead me to think any changes would have to be external??

To answer the O/P's question, the MY17 was open to order in early October 16 for deliveries starting in December onwards. Mine was the first MY17 they put through the order system, however i delayed delivery until March 1st 17 so the cars were hitting the streets around mid-late Jan 17. I'd assume the same would apply to the MY18, so order in Oct for delivery in Jan.

Yes, major refresh

Interior, velar dual screen....

Q4 deliveries.


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[billythefish]

There's a few websites showing the MY18 car with pictures at petrol stations and looks like it will have the same centre console as the new Velar with the two screens. Obviously hear say and no idea whether it will make it to the MY18 car. If it does definitely holding out.

[billythefish]

http://www.motorauthority.com/pictures/ ... =100604656