dsleedesign

I plan on paying CASH for my car. But now I am thinking about leasing.....

What is everyone planning on doing?

If the car has as bad of resale as I am thinking maybe leasing is a smarter option.....

I would also be much more inclined to buying a TTS Roadster (if available in the future) if this happens.....

Share your thoughts.

Huey52

In hindsight, as the TTS will be my third Audi in six years, I should probably have leased. But in my experience they've held their value remarkably well, and thereby provided a solid trade-in. In fact knowing the trade value (Galves.com, et al) reduced the 'sticker shock' and was actually an inducement to go looking again.

Regarding resale I really wouldn't be too concerned. Even tho' a "niche" car in the US it's still an Audi and again the track record is that it will hold its value. Check out Mk2 CPO's as an example, if you can still find one!

eric strauss

… seven of my eight Audi's have been leased. Leasing is great if Audi is offering incentives and high owner loyalty. Two S5's ago I was considering a TTRS - both were priced around $60K. However, the rarity of the TTrs allowed Audi to forgo any incentive on the lease. The S5 was $300/month cheaper. If i Had chosen the TTrs, I would have financed the purchase. However, on higher volume cars, I have gotten great leases on two S5's and an S4.

Happy motoring

Eric

irenesbob

Yeah, I usually lease but have found on the rarer models the leases are not well supported and as said, the monthly payment much higher than on a more common Audi model at the same MSRP.

visuar

I will have to decide in the next week or so if I'm going to lease my new TT or not.... not sure yet. I've been on the fence about the color I ordered, and if a TTS Roadster ever does come I may want to trade up to that.... I'll have to see what offer the dealer will make me.

Decisions decisions

irenesbob

I usually lease, so I may be prejudiced. A few things I really like about leasing:

• In NYS anyway, you pay the sales tax (8.125% where I live) only on the difference between the sell price and residual value, not on the full ticket.
• If you like the car you can always buy it after the lease is up; In that case the lease is like a test drive to see if it is a lemon.
• If the car is in a major accident and repaired (I got run into by a deer at a cost of $23K+ in repairs & the ins. co. would not total my A6) at lease end you just turn in it as long as it was properly repaired by an Audi certified repair shop. Audi Financial eats the lost value. If you own the car and try to sell or trade it in you could take a big hit in terms of diminished value. I checked with my dealer and they said that if I had owned the car and traded it now I would be facing an $8K 10 $K lower value because of the negative Carfax report reflecting the accident damage.
• I never need to buy tires – they last the entire lease term the way I drive.
• Every few years I get a new car.
• No hassle when it comes time to sell or trade – just hand it in.
If you are a member of ACNA for the required length of time (6 months) you can get 6% off on a TT I believe. This lowers the lease payment.

visuar

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I can't just pay the sales tax difference here in California, so that doesn't help me (unless I would move in to another lease).

The TT (Roadster) is pretty rare here, so I won't just be able to pick up another one from the lot.

You make some good points though... food for thought!

ShooTTer McGavin

After leasing all 3 of my TTs (bought my TTS after lease ended, but will get into that), I can offer my first hand experience. My 2003 and 2008 were not bad, little to no cap reduction required and decent residuals. For whatever reason, when it came to my TTS it was horrible so either the dealer screwed me (possibility) or the residual Audi set was ridiculously low or combination of both.

I find that when it comes to Audi leases, once you get past the A3, A4, A6; your "mainstream" cars, the other models are not really good deals. I think they take some of playbook that Porsche uses in their leases as opposed to BMW, Lexus, etc...

Anyways, so once my lease was about done, I came to the realization that I had about $10k equity in my car. Meaning I could sell the car for $10k more than my lease buyout was. I owe that to Audi setting the residual or estimating it to be way low. It would have been foolish to not have bought the car. Typically you just turn the car in and walk away. But I'm not walking away from $10k lol...I could have traded it in and applied that equity to a new car, but there was nothing really worth considering. TT-RS was just out of production (not really wanting manual transmission anyway) and TTS was essentially same car I already had, other than having Black Optic package available.

In hindsight, my lease was not a very good financial move. I could easily afford it, but with cap reduction and a fairly high monthly lease payment, it was money that I could have invested or done other things with. I was a bit younger and not as informed and was desperate for a car. I had ordered it and felt obligated to take it and did little to no negotiation.

TL;DR...I suspect TT/TTS Mk3 residuals won't be any better. It is a niche vehicle amongst a niche crowd. It is not a mainstream car, so i believe a lease will continue to not be ideal. YMMV.

visuar

Thanks for the insight. I'm not very well versed on leasing, so I'm confused a bit by your cap reduction being a "bad" thing yet coming out ahead $10K in the end?

Would you mind explaining it a bit more because it sounds like it was a pretty good deal in the end for you?

Thanks!

ShooTTer McGavin

I'm not necessarily a lease expert either, but it boils down to opportunity cost of money and unnecessarily putting money towards a depreciating asset and something that is essentially "rented". It is always ideal to put as little to no money down. Yes, it will lower your monthly payment, but over the course of however long the lease would be, that money could be invested or used for other things.

In my case, I had no idea it was going to amount to $10k at the end of my lease. The calculated residual was very low (apparently) so I was paying more upfront than needed. Plus if I had blindly just turned it in at end of lease, which probably the majority of people do, Audi would have made even more money on me. Higher upfront cost and payments, plus they could have turned around and sold the car for a profit. Since I was knowledgable enough, I realized what the scenario was and ended up buying the car. It could be argued that it was a "good" deal at the end, but like I said I was paying much more money upfront that could have been invested, etc...

However, I have to think my scenario is somewhat unique in the world of leasing. Ideally residual and actual value should be close or slightly lower so it benefits the auto maker but doesn't look too unattractive to the buyer. Residual and money factor, which is essentially equivalent to a traditional loan interest rate, are the key factors to take into consideration. I suspect both of these will not be advantageous for a lease compared to say a BMW, etc. Once we start seeing some inventory and people start doing deals, we will get a feel for where they stand. Hope this helps. I'll try my best and happy to help if you have more questions.