2012 AudiS5 Prestige For Sale

For some reason the styling alone got me intrigued with this car so I searched daily for weeks to find one close to me. I found a 2015 a 5 hour drive from home and had essentially decided I’d buy it regardless. Pictures, although cool, do NOT do justice to the lines and poise of this model. It’s just feckin beautiful. Daytona grey pearl with black optics package. At 5 years old, I don’t see many cars on the road that take my attention the same way. Beautiful interior, crazy responsive drive, great sound for a v6. Best car I’ve ever owned. Completely in love. A power dad car. POWERDAD.

This Prestige Cabriolet checks all the boxes! It has every option (except perhaps the Alu Optic package which doesn't even make sense on this color - Sepang Blue). The highlights include adaptive suspension, sport differential, adaptive cruise control, adaptive steering, adaptive exhaust, etc. The list goes on and on. What makes this car stand out is the combination of a center differential (built into the transmission) and a rear sport differential that uses clutch packs (not brakes) to distribute power left to right. The result is phenomenal, especially when powering through tight turns. Imagine sending 80% of power to the rear and then 100% of that to the outside wheel... without applying brakes! Once you experience this, nothing else will do. I had this before in a coupe version. I don't know what I can get next. Maybe an S6 or S8. I love my ventilated seats and it's so hard to find Audis that have them, even high end models. The combination of ventilated seats, rear sport diff, and adaptive suspension is even more rare. I get asked by random people to sell it to them every month but I can't because it was so hard to find this one. The APR tune is a must. Unlocking that extra 100hp / 130lbft is the icing on the cake. The car has been trouble free in these first 50k miles but I do worry about long term cost of ownership. Audi service is not cheap and some of the engine's critical components are made of cheap plastic (e.g., the water pump) and/or are sitting inside the V, underneath the supercharger (think 6-8 hours of labor each time).

This is a really nice car that excites me every time I get in it and fire her up. She does come with some challenges though as repairs are never cheap, particularly if you are going to do them at the dealership. Had to rebuild the front end as the control arms pretty much fell apart at 60K. If you are prepared to take the rough with the smooth it does not disappoint. Find a good independent shop and hopefully you can keep her on the road without having to refi your house.