New Audi Q5

So Mar-17-2016 was a big day for us. We leased a new Audi Q5 2.0T , Premium Plus. I think everyone including the little one  is excited about the new car.

What I learned about the financial element. 

Despite haggling the MSRP by12%, The dealer refused to budge on the overheads on the lease costs, and those are substantial. The cost of money is a lot higher than the finance option, and there was an upfront charge. In short, the only advantage I see of leasing is to split a purchase into two halves.

1. The super expensive first half. 

2. And a reasonable second half. 

First Impressions 

We are at 100+ miles right now, so well within the break-in period for the tires and the engine. 

What I Love so far:

1. Looks - It was hands down the best looking SUV we tried. We looked at the X3 ( ugliest), GLC300 ( not too bad ), Infinity FX35, The Lexus 350. The best feature if the car are the tail lights and the headlights, and the beautiful Audi Grille.

2. Interiors: A bit on the plainer side, but very well refined and lots of attention to detail.

3. NAV and the center screen between the analog dials. Cant go wrong with Google maps. 

4. Audi Connect: Very nice and capable system. Next gas, or Next restaurant would be a nice touch on road trips.

5. Spaciousness: The cabin is super spacious, Plenty of room in the front and the back. One great feature is that the rear seats slide forward to make more room for cargo if needed. 

6. Panoramic roof is gorgeous. I would love to see how it feels to go on a scenic drive with that.
Andrew certainly enjoys it.

7. The B&O sound system is crystal clear .

8. The rear seats recline a tad bit, and can shift back and forth to make room for more cargo.

9. The puddle lights, pretty useful feature.

10. The auto mirror fold on locking the car

11. The passenger side mirror folding down for better view of the verb.

12. The auto dimming feature on the mirrors is really cool.

13. Backup camera and the parking sensor are really nice.


What I don't like:
1. Size of the MMI screen and the fact that it is not a touch screen
2. The MMI system is slow. Very slow.
3. Voice recognition needs a lot to be desired.
4. The side mirrors, although great for visibility to the back, is so big, that it creates a blind spot in the front.
5. Ergonomics of the system is a B at best. The functionality of some common stuff is buried too deep.
6. The wheel controls should have had more ways to control the MMI. esp track +/-.

First Half Marathon.

Synopsis:
------------
Average Pace: 10:23 / mile.
Training Lead Time : 4-5 Weeks.
Longest Training Run: 10.2 Miles.
Average Training Pace: 11:00 - 11:30

About 4 weeks of training is what it took. And towards the end, I seemed to have overtrained, so I rested for the last 4-5 days. And that helped.

When I was training, I could rarely get my speed up above 5.2-5.4 mph.

My first few miles were a little rough, with some cramping in my legs. But that opened up and I got a lot faster after that. The last 4 miles, I began to feel the fatigue, but from my splits it would appear that slowed only marginally.

During training, my longest run was 10 miles. But the last three miles were not too bad, although my legs were clearly not conditioned.

Another thing that helped was the weather and the carb gels, I must have had 6 of them.

So in the end, I finished strong at 2:17. I surprised myself, because I was projecting between 2:30-2:40.

So in all, happy, But I am done with running distance for at least 4-5 months. I am now switching training to strength and TKD.

The stormy beginning to 2016

2015 ended on a personal high note for me. Vacation in india for a month, was relaxed, without my usual fears and worries.

But I was not watching the markets. The last month of 2015, the markets were correcting. China troubles and oil in free fall.

When I came back, I was dismayed by Apple's fall to below 100. Today its at 95. A lot of the hoped for gains have evaporated.

Along with that both wealth front, and OptionHouse are down about 8-10%. My 401K is down 11% just in the last 3 months.

I have arranged for larger than usual 401K withdrawals to take advantage of the dip. But there is little hope in sight.

On top of that seems like I might have to buy a new car. The Audi is having issues with oil pressure. and we drove a bit with it like that. We will have a better picture in a week or so.

So I am out a whopping 3K for just fixing the car, without too many assurances as to what other damage may have been inflicted.

On the upside, my wealth front and OH accounts turned positive, and AAPL surged to 100. I sold all holdings.

Now I am wrestling with the decision to buy a luxury car. I think a nice luxury SUV will provide a lot of utility. And its something I can take pride in. So steaming ahead with the plan.

Plan is to trade the Audi in.

===
Update mid-march.

So an expensive spike has ended. The Audi has been traded in. Got a meer 4K for it. Signed up for a Brand New Q5 Lease. Aggressively brought down the MSRP, however, the finance cost of lease are quite high.

In the end, I suppose the only advantage of a lease is you buy the same car twice. Half of it each time and this in total is more expensive than buying it outright. But it has the benefit of easing your cash flow at any given time.  So I will stop thinking about the finances, and put aside 4-5K for a years worth of payments and enjoy the car.

Upped my insurance payments quite a bit.

On the up side. I own a gorgeous new Audi Q5.
My Option house account is positive, Wealthfront is almost 10% up, regained most of my 401K losses. And AAPL is at 106. So A lot better than how the year began.