thalaron

I'm doing the same essentially, paying 60% down, financing the rest. I don't know what they'll come up with, but my local CU is getting me 2% and my old university CU offered me up 1.8% (1.6% if I wanted to pay it off in 24 months), so if Audi comes in above 2% then I'll just finance it else-ware. Anyways to get to the point - bottom line - don't get blindsided - walk in knowing what you can get and get them to match or beat it, or just get your money from another source.

Jason Jiwoong Yeon

So what's the difference between 'Audi Care' and 'warranty'??

DennisMitchell

If you are absolutely sure you want to keep the car 7 years or more, the extended warranty called Audi Pure Protection can be purchased for about $3,000. You can purchase this up through 3 years of ownership, but the price will go up. You can also have your car CPOed (CPO warranty) anytime thru 4 years / 50,000 miles at a cost by the dealer.

Just remember that extended warranty may not have much refund if cancelled after the first 30 days. Read the terms and conditions carefully and make sure you are happy with them.

snagitseven

Audi Care is a maintenance program that covers the 15, 25, 35 and 45K scheduled services (or every 12 months from the last scheduled maintenance whichever comes first). It is NOT a warranty program.

Audi does not offer extended warranties, only third parties like Fidelity are sold by most dealers. These warranties are not inexpensive, have limitations and often deductibles. I always pass on extended warranties and self-insure. I do purchase Audi Care at 15K miles since the 5K service is free. No point parting with the money before I have to.

Here's my analysis on Audi Care:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...lysis-2822453/

Fixeroh

snagitseven stated it perfectly above ^^^^. In the past, I always did my own maintenance on my cars. The S3 is more complex and performance oriented than my last car. I decided I would prefer Audi to do the maintenance at the dealership. I rolled the cost of the Audi Care into the purchase cost as opposed to buying it at a later date as snagitseven has explained. The first check at 5K miles is free but Audi Care covers the next 4 services.

I don't recall the details of the extended warranties offered as I have never acquired one for any item I've ever purchased. Including electronics. I worked maintenance for over 20 years for the USAF and I'm extreme fussy about caring for anything I spend my money on. Purchase quality items, take care of them and they generally will not let you down.

kdigital

Have we forgotten about the cam follower failure issue in the 2.0T FSI engine? It is a fatal design flaw in the engine and if left unchecked will bet you with a $3000 repair bill and likely $1000 valve cleaning service recommendation at the same time.

The flaw affected all FSI engines (VAG covered SOME of the repairs for some owners based in VIN). No way of knowing about the issue until people like me started reporting the failures.

Sometimes there will be unavoidable issues with new drivetrain a that are not apparent at time of purchase, even if you maintain the vehicle well.

Bottom line, do not buy the warranty if you want to go at risk of paying repairs out of pocket (that could be costly) later. Buy the warranty and risk paying for a repair upfront that may never be needed.

arU4ic

Hey Fixeroh, how long does the 850 cover? Is it a prepay for services?

arU4ic

Hey Sparkle, ask your Fin person to see your 'car finance' score, it's different than one of you 3 bureau scores. You might find that your score for car financing might be higher, so don't tell you Fin guy your score when he searches for financing. If you can break into the 750 on your car score, you might be tier 1 even if you carry debt.

DennisMitchell

I want to add that if you make the decision for an extended warranty at time of purchase and financing, some finance companies will lower the APR when there is an extended warranty in the purchase. When I purchased my 2014 Q5 last year Wells Fargo Dealer Services offered a lower rate for purchase with extended warranty. I believe it was 1.8% versus 1.5%. FWIW.

meestursparkle

Real useful stuff. Much appreciated. Found a pretty decent rate I think. 2.89% for 72 months.

Now need to decide about audi care, venture shield and lowjack.

Leaning towards no on all of them. I understand you can get cheaper and better shields done privately and that Audis are very rarely stolen.

Waiting to here what the local private audi specialist has to say about their pricing for scheduled maintenance to decide on audi care.