Recommend MY20XX?
 

Would anyone be kind enough to provide some suggestions or opinions, unbiased, on which model year would be the "best" to shop for? Taking into account the warranty life, projected maintenance or failure tendencies, quality of life, position on the depreciation curve, etc.?

Thank you very much in advance, I would be so super grateful. I'm shopping now and am hoping to join the club soon.

If I was looking for another one and assuming that I had plenty to pick from I would be looking for one that was a 16 plus build with not more than 30000km on it, and then look to extend the factory warranty 2 years. These cars pretty much cop the most depreciation in the first 3 years, maybe down to about half of the purchase price (over here at least). But then the infotainment prior to the end of '15 builds wasnt very good, if that is an important thing for you. So that means pretty much December 15 builds and after. The cars themselves improve with a bit of use IMO, so getting one with 20 - 30K on the clock is no drama at all.

In the UK (it's not clear where the OP is located) a big petrol-engined car has a massive annual car tax penalty if registered before March 2017, so tax savings can be made on later vehicles.

In USA, from 2016 on, 5 year 60k warranty. Not knowing what your price range is, it's hard to make a guess, but my biased opinion is that the R is the best deal, typically only 10k over a V6. BUT if you want a manual then you go with a V6. I'd get a 2017 or 2018 with the warranty already started but still new, with a CPO from the dealer, if you can swing it. You may be able to snag an SVR for similar money to an R, if you find the right dealer willing to let it go.