shantanudivekar

Hello folks ... Looking to buy a new Audi A4 here in the Bay Area.

1. What price do I negotiate for an Ultra Premium Sedan ? 10% below MSRP ?
2. Pretty sure the dealers are gonna burden me with all kinds of packages. What to avoid ?
3. Financing options to look for ? -- Audi finance better or BoFa or Credit Unions ?
4. Any specific dealership/salesman I go for ?

securityguy

^^^did you read what was posted above?

bob m

Agree 100%. The salesman spends his time telling you how wonderful safe and reliable the car is. When you get in the finance office, they spend their time telling you all the things that can and will go wrong with your car. Well, that's an exaggeration - but only by a little. Audi Care - yes, a big "no" to everything else.

ahoop24

This is a great point and is so true. I'm thinking yes to audi car, but obviously no for everything else.

kurtatx

Couple of things. First, more obviously, I included income, but you don't necessarily want them to know your job. For me, it's not a big deal (I'm an Engineer), but my wife is a doctor. It's a negotiating chip I lose. Second, if you make an appointment, they have to try to sell to you. I have bought cars when I was pretty young and gotten some disbelief walking in as a kid in my 20s looking to by a sports car.

guy_incognito

I respectfully disagree, you don't really lose a negotiating chip. Sure they know you make a lot of money, but people still want good deals and will walk otherwise. It's not like they'll cut a better deal to a junior level position vs. a senior partner at a law firm, ultimately they both want a good deal.

I've also bought cars when I was young (brand new Infiniti G35 at 22 years old) and I never got any weird looks or anything when looking. Given the metro DC area though, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of young people are walking around with trust funds so maybe that skews it some.

kurtatx

Nonsense. The senior and junior partners are both lawyers. The dealership knows you can afford the car. Your job is to make it seem as though you won't spend too much.

And come on. It's an Infiniti. It's not an Audi.

guy_incognito

It's not nonsense, the dealer assumes you can afford the car just by being there (especially if you made an appointment). Your job is to make it seem as though you won't spend too much because if you're a smart consumer, you don't want to pay more than you have to and you want to make sure the deal is fair to the dealer too.

And yes while an Infiniti is not on the same level as an Audi, it's typically crossed shopped with Audi. I crossed shopped the G35 with the 335i, IS350, and S4 back then and went with the G35 so there's that. At all three dealers I was treated respectfully at 22 years old, but if you want to be arrogant over it, have at it.

At the end of the day, we're only in an A4 so you may want to relax a bit. That Infiniti got more compliments and looks (as did my 335i M-Sport) than the A4 will ever get. Most people can't tell the difference from the B8.5 A4 to the B9 A4, and neither are known for their neck snapping exterior looks. I personally don't care since I didn't buy the car for attention, but it seems like you're into the whole badge prestige nonsense that's common with shallow folks.

SCarGuy

This is precisely the case. The pricing of the cars is out there. Payment calculators are out there. This isn't a Kia, where people may hop dealer to dealer in the hopes one of them will approve them. It is, at the end of the day, a luxury product. The assumption we make (or at least I make), is, if you could not afford it, you wouldn't bother inquiring in the first place.

I don't ask income - I don't care what their income is. I don't even know if they HAVE income. Why do I care? Present income has nothing to do with being able to afford a car. I will sometimes ask what someone does for work, if it comes up during the course of conversation. The purpose is not to ascertain whether they can or can't afford it. I've sold cars to people who drove in in ****boxes, and had on schlumpy clothes....I couldn't care less. Sometimes those people have more money than someone who looks the part, or boasts that they do a, b or c for a job (I've had those too).

I've never once sold an Audi to anyone who said "I can't wait to pay sticker" or "I don't care what I pay". Everyone cares...everyone wants a fair deal. To think otherwise is nonsense. To think that I'm going to dig deeper on one deal vs. another is also nonsense. You only get by asking....and that is a 2 way street. Simple economics says any price I get is too little, any price paid is too much. Somewhere in the middle, a deal is struck. Circumstances will dictate the meeting point.

Suggesting one says Yes to AudiCare and no to everything else is equally, nonsense. Yes, these are all profit centers for a dealership. And? The dealership is there to make money - it's not a not for profit. Just like in your job, you're likely there to make money. If you're not, or you weren't at one point, it's unlikely you'll find yourself in a luxury dealership of any brand at any point. Sometimes, circumstances are such where these add ons can make sense...and sometimes, they don't. Everyone's situation is different, and there are no absolutes. If you don't want the stuff, fine - no harm, no foul. But if you don't take care of your cars (many don't), if you are prone to curbing wheels (many, or their spouses are), if you don't or can't do your own service work, or you drive 50k miles a year (I have more than a few clients that do)...then some of this stuff is as "no brainer" as AudiCare might be. It is all situational. For some people, NONE of it makes sense. For others, some of it, or most of it will make sense.

VM

That's not the assumption many dealers make. There are plenty of dealers that presume that some people outside the target demographic just want to test drive an Audi or whatever luxury brand because they are bored on a Saturday...