alatsacto

I haven't confirmed this myself, but that's what I've heard from others. I even remember some saying they negotiated a price on a BMW, then on top of that got the 7% ED discount. I could be wrong on that one, but no matter how you slice it unfortunately Audi has the least beneficial ED incentives. But while I'm complaining, I still got my SQ5 through ED. My wife and I were set on the car, and I was set on doing ED, so I didn't have any real options. Hahah.

Like we've all said, doing ED isn't about getting a lower price, because at the end of the day you are now paying for a trip on top of the car plus we could have potentially negotiated an even better price for a car on the lot. At the end of the day, it's about the experience. It's possible Audi is happy with the current number of ED customers and doesn't want to increase that volume? I guess it depends on what Audi is looking for. From what I've been told, the European companies have the ED program to build loyalty towards a company. Those who have gone through ED are more likely to be returning customers. While it might give it a little extra boast, at the end of the day it's about the current car which would determine if I would be more loyal to their brand on a future car. Oh well, who knows?

As we all can relate, going for the ED route isn't the "easier" option. There is tons of planning and waiting involved. The easy option and potentially cheaper option is to simply pickup a car right off the lot and drive it home. And that's definitely true for the local dealership as well. Come on Audi ED, let's increase the incentives so I can convince the wife to plan another trip in a few years.

gforaker

I do have add that the salesman at the end was happy to give us some freebies, such as the Supercharged emblem for the S4 , floor-mats, travel mugs and such. In fact he was so eager, I left thinking that maybe there was more wiggle room than he first said and that I could have negotiated a little more.

Oh, well. I'm sure we will love the car and if price was the sole consideration we would have looked harder at the BMW. When we started the car shopping I did not realize the difference in ED from the different companies was this large.

gforaker

I didn't mean to imply that I thought the discount should pay for the entire trip. We were going to Germany to visit friends anyway. I looked up renting a Passat for 2 weeks and it was around $500, so yes, I am saving money compared to that.

You are spot on about it building customer loyalty. I also belong to a local Mercedes club and the people there who have done an ED practically have a 3 pointed star tattooed on their arm. They are definite repeat customers.

alatsacto

Nice, I think you did pretty good with the extra goodies. Once I realized the price was basically fixed, I tried negotiating some floor mats or AudiCare but had no luck.

Oh yeah, I definitely didn't think that. I did a whole cost analysis with one guy once on this forum, cuz he argued why would anyone do ED, he said it was a waste of money. As one mentioned, looking at ED as a discount, only potentially works on a more exclusive model where you can't get much discounted off MSRP. So your ED discount + cost of rental car + car insurance, could potentially save you a few thousand, which could be the cost of your trip.

Wow talk about loyalty!!! While I love my Audi and might be loyal with them in the future, I'm not sure I'm going get the rings tatted on my body anytime soon. Hahah LOL.