22 SEL ---> 24 Limited: My Rationale and Experience So Far

I got in early on the Ioniq 5, and bought it at the height of the new model frenzy. I liked the SEL trim, as range was my biggest consideration, and I found the SEL trim to have enough bells and whistles that I was fine with it. I would say I enjoyed the car more than any other I've had (and there have been a bunch). Zero issues - charged fast, great ride, very roomy and comfortable. I had a few minor annoyances similar to others'

No rear wiper (tho living in SoCal it hasn't been a deal-breaker)

The noise from the seat belts in the back seat - any time someone sat there, the belts would retract and end up backwards, and vibrate against the car frame.

Rear seat ventilation - kids complained about lack of good AC flow, even with rear vents open (Dad likes to use less AC to keep range high! :)

But those are all quibbles - I've loved the car.

So why did I switch? First, I bought the 22, rather than leasing. I watched as the car's value depreciated pretty rapidly. With the EV tech evolving so rapidly, I was concerned that by the time I owned it in 3 years, the value would be very diminished and selling might be difficult. more importantly, my payment was pretty high. I was seeing deals for '24 I5's considerably below my monthly payment. I did some homework and found Omega Auto Group on Reddit. They got me a deal that dropped my payment by over $400/month on a 36 month lease. Zero down. BTW i highly recommend them.

Yes, I know I'm sacrificing any equity left in my '22, but I think in 3 years there will be some significantly better options in terms of range, price and features, and I won't own outdated tech.

So - how does my 24 Limited RWD compare to my 22 SEL RWD?

The first thing I noticed was the acceleration was a lot smoother. Is it the suspension? Something with the engine? I dunno, but there's much less jerkiness when I accelerate, and it's noticeably better.

The interior is nicer material on the seats, and the whole feeling is more premium. The sliding console is cool. I haven't tried the remote parking. The sunroof is nice, but when it's hot here, I keep it closed. As a result, the headroom feels a little reduced from the SEL. When it's open, it feels very roomy.

There's a lot of gadgetry that I don't really care for - the blind spot view on the main display is just a distraction. The rearview mirror camera is fine during the day, but at night I wear glasses and I can't see the image clearly, so I switch it off at night.

The rear vents are unchanged - still not super powerful - but I read that the vents were removed in the '24 SEL - and I figured some vents were better than the floor ones alone. This was one of the main reasons I chose the Limited this time. No vents would've made me the enemy with the kids!

The Bose audio is somewhat better than the SEL - not leaps and bounds better, but definitely a richer sound overall.

I really like the Auto-lift gate for the hatch - very helpful.

OFC no rear wiper. And yesterday I had the seat belt noise for the first time - I was really hoping that would be fixed by now!!!

Reducing my payment from 793 to 369 is a big win, and the car is amazing and great to drive. LMK if you have questions!