derfA8L

I've been driving myself (and everyone else) crazy these past few weeks over my inability to decide between the A8 and Panamera. Took a Pan S for an hour test-drive this morning---Drove the car home to pick-up my wife, and absolutely loved the car for the 1st half-hour, then fell out of love in the last half-hour due to harsher ride characteristics than I'd be willing to live with long-term. We immediately test drove the A8 with the steering and suspension set in Dynamic mode, and I realized (finally) it was going to be the A8. Placed the order for:

A8L - Havanna Black w/Velvet Beige interior
Premium Package
Night Vision Assistant
Driver Assist Package
Cold Weather Package
Dual Paned Glass
Audi Drive Select Plus Package
LED Headlights

My dealer is front-loading their A8 allocations for Jan, Feb and March production cars, so I'm shooting for a March build date and an April delivery when my current A8 lease ends.

My wife's choice was the Panamera, but she knew I'd ultimately stick with the A8---bless her, she knows me far better then I know myself. Looks like the train ride to Crazytown is finally over ;^))

clembo

Congratulations! I would still keep your ticket to the Crazy Town Express, that is part of the fun of choosing between these great cars.

I also am getting the beige interior. I ordered the brown at first, then when the Demo came in to my dealer, it was a little too chocolate for me so I switched to velvet beige.

derfA8L

My wife felt the same about the Nougat interior. I think it's actually much better than the D3's Amaretto, but that's just me. The Panamera we drove today had a great color combo---Carbon Grey exterior which has a brownish metal fleck and the Luxor Beige interior---which my wife really liked. So we came close to that combo with the Havanna Black (a darker version of Porsche's grey with the same brownish metalic tint), and Velvet Beige interior, which is very close to Porsche's Luxor Beige.

If the Panamera had the A8's gentler ride character, I think the Porsche would have won out---that 400hp V8 is really something; like piloting a jet. I could have even gotten used to the rear end...Damn, I'm starting to board the Crazytown Express again!!!! :^))

Omeletpants

How willing was the dealer to coming off of MSRP?

derfA8L

To answer your question, I have a long history with my dealer---I lease all my cars from them, and this will be my 8th consecutive car from this store over the last 18 years. They know what I'm looking for in terms of the ratio of selling vs. invoice price, and they've always presented me with a deal that we both consider fair right off the bat; this time was no exception. Out of about 30 annual A8 allocations they'll get, my car will be their 12th sold order so far---I'd expect that they're taking care of their regular customers, but off the street inquiries are another story.

Omeletpants

Good for you and it seems that you really know what you are doing.

My buddy has 8 current leases with our dealer (gives all him employees Audis). Anyway, he taught me a little lease trick that I used to get a great deal. Has to do with tax credits the dealer receives when they sell a car at auction in Illinois. With his help the dealer applied an existing $30,000 credit to me which yielded a $2400 discount on top of what they were willing to do.

The new A8 Looks like a fabulous car. It's amazing the loyalty of many Audi customers. I have a couple of golfing buddies that just upgrade like clockwork without looking at any other brand. After having the A5 I can see why. Unique styling, quality interiors and world-class handling

derfA8L

Nah, I'm not that good of a negotiator---I probably could work them harder on price, but that's not my style. My belief is that they should make a reasonable profit, since I really like doing business there (both sales and service) and I want them to remain financially vaible. I'm not the type that likes to squeeze every penney I can out of a deal to feel like I won something.

As for the A8's quality and interior, it's very good (except for the cheap plastic sunglass holder they've placed near the rear view mirror which was broken on my test car). However, the rear center armrest has way too much plastic on it (evidently to cover up the space used for temperature/seat controls you get with the rear seat comfort package), and in the end, the Panamera's interior actually felt more comfortable and inviting IMO.

clembo

My 2011 will be my third A8. Before placing my order I asked the dealer to split the profit margin with me, he agreed. My discount will be essentially the same as his profit over invoice, this seemed fair to both of us. I wasn't interested in beating them down for every buck, nor was he interested in beating me out of every possible buck of profit.

derfA8L

That was exactly how my deal worked out; the only difference was I didn't ask, they simply presented it up front :^)

Glisse

Well done! Sounds like a nice configuration.

Honestly, if the ride of the Panamera was bugging you half an hour into a test drive, you don't need to question your decision. It would be a constant annoyance every time you got in the car.

I didn't drive the Panamera, the family would have ejected me from the nest. But in response to their pleas, I did drive the Cayenne S. I know it's a bit heavier than the Panamera, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the V8, hated the transmission (not the PDK that's in the PanS), and the fuel consumption was frightening. It did get better the harder I drove it, which is amazing for an SUV, but was ordinary at ordinary speeds.

I think you've made a good choice!