beamers

Hi everyone,

I'm looking at cars soon and one of my main options is the Audi A7 that my son (a die hard car enthusiast) constantly tells me about. I currently own a 2008 BMW 528i and while it looks and drives great, the main entertainment system shows its age (the last gen iDrive). Plus, my son keeps asking for a car for himself so I figured I'd upgrade and give the BMW to my son.

I had a few questions regarding the Audi A7. I'm looking to lease this time around:

1. What's the lease rate you guys have gotten? I see on Audi's website they have a $699 special assuming a 65,500k MSRP or so, with only 10k miles/yr. Are they flexible on these terms? The Audi my son and I have built to our liking on the website comes out to around $69,500. I also drive around 12-13k miles a year. Do you guys know if Audi is flexible on this, or if I'll have to pay more than $699 for the lease? What kind of rate are you paying for your A7, and what was the MSRP?

2. My son told me of a small fascia redesign (new lights/grill). I live in the USA, when will this new model be available to purchase in the USA? I can wait until next summer (2015) to purchase, as long as it's the new model. I figured if I get a 70k car, I'd like to have the latest looks

3. What do you guys think of this to the BMW 6 series gran coupe? I saw images of the new iDrive system and it looks fantastic with beautiful graphics and a nice, huge display. I was considering Audi this time around for some change but noticed that the display is relatively small. Any input?

Your help would be appreciated, thanks guys!

onthebeam

I can answer in relation to BMW Gran Coupe. At first I was SURE I wanted the Beamer over the Audi A7 and Mercedes CLS 550. Drove them all and the Audi was so much more intuitive, comfortable and "livable."

I'm a former BMW owner and loved the Gran Coupe sheet metal. But after driving the A7, it was a no brainer. Not just because it was less $, but better car. If you read some reviews via a Google search you can read several head to head reviews but my own drive did it for me. The Beamer's very small rear visibility and harsher ride were also factors.

beamers

Hm, I see. Yeah I want more of a comfortable ride as I'll be commuting a total of 50 miles daily.

Can anyone else address the other questions?

onthebeam

I STRONGLY recommend getting 19" tires for a smoother ride. It's like night and day. I have young kids and didn't want them bouncing around in the back.

I had mine built to get exactly what I wanted, including exclusive color, Brilliant Red. It's featured in this Fortitude article here:

http://fourtitude.com/news/audi_excl...north-orlando/

beamers

Hm, I understand. I was thinking of the 20" wheels simply cause they look way more badass than the 19 inch options...

onthebeam

If you are set on 20s, try a test drive with non sport suspension. Fairly compliant.

I think 19s still look badass and they don't have as much of brake dust issue. That's me and I'm sure others may disagree . . .

All A7s kick *** when it comes to badass!!

beamers

On Audi's website, I see a lease special available for the A7 premium plus for $699 for 36 months, 10k miles/yr, and $2999 down.

In details it says it's based on a MSRP of $65,395, and a residual of $35,967. I'm just starting to understand the concept of leasing (money factor, residual, etc.)

Can someone break this down for me and help me understand it better? Also, the A7 I've customized to my liking comes out to around $69,500. I've heard I can also negotiate the purchase/lease price, so if the model I like has a MSRP of $69,500, I might be able to get it down to $65-66k.

Based on this info, can someone clarify everything and tell me if I can get the A7 of my choice (MSRP of 69k) for $699 monthly?

I tried calculating it and got $695 depreciation rate that I have to pay, but there's no the way financial rate I have to pay is only $5/month. It'd be awesome if someone could help me out.