gb4.2

I just had my 2015 A8L's 55,000 mile service performed today and, while speaking with the Service Manger, the G.M. came up to me and said "I have some bad news..." He told me that Audi is not making the D5 A8L available in the U.S. until late 2018. Their reasons are primarily the uncertainty of the U.S. regulations for its Traffic Jam Pilot limited "self-driving" feature. I'd read an article in Monday's WSJ (p. B1-B2) titled "How to Control a Self-Driving Car" and it provided a strong indication that Audi is balking at the D5's availability for the U.S. My dealer just confirmed it...I wasn't completely surprised.

My lease expires in mid-April and he knew I was counting on being able to order a D5 for delivery to coincide with the lease's end. He told me that Audi is looking at some options for those in my situation (including derfA8L!) including:

1. Extension of the existing lease until the new model arrives late next year
2. Turn in the lease vehicle and offer a reduced rate 1-year lease for a 2018 A8L (then move to the D5)
3. Turn in the lease vehicle and offer a special short lease that allows the new 2018 A8L lease vehicle to be turned in as soon as the new D5 arrives

After reading the WSJ article, I was hoping that Audi would ship the D5 with the Traffic Jam Pilot installed but inactive until the regulatory situation was cleared up. Then they could activate (or remotely install software) when approved. Apparently, they decided that's not an option. Not good.

derfA8L

I’m in New York State, which does not permit new vehicle leases to be extended past 6 months of the original lease expiration. So Audi wouldn’t be able to offer an additional lease extension in my case where my lease ends this coming Nov 21st and a 6 month lease extension takes me only to the end of May.

Oh well, let’s see what they come up with...Otherwise I’ll be leaving the Audi family for the first time after 33 consecutive years of leasing Audis.

MP4.2+6.0

Too bad. I guess believable, but odd result. They could be waiting for the pending anything goes Wild West autonomous regulatory changes being promoted Federally. I would also think they would have another configuration level without the feature. Certainly Audi often sells A8’s at lesser equipment levels in lots of markets.

I keep harping on it, but I also continue to wonder whether something is up with the V8, switching lead to Porsche, etc. They have been incrementally downsizing motors all decade, but an A8 with still no V8 nailed down at intro seems pretty odd.

gb4.2

I’m in my 30th consecutive year with Audi (owned and leased combined—27 via lease) and will likely stay with them depending on what they come up with for options to bridge between the end of my current lease and a delivery timeframe for the D5. I can’t imagine Audi being too conservative with their decision as they really need to get the D5 here sooner than later to compete with the other German cars in its class. Not to mention to avoid losing long-time Audi owners like us. VW/Audi doesn’t need more negative publicity than they’ve been getting in recent months (diesels, etc.).

Please check with your dealer to see if you get similar information. If they don’t seem to know anything about this delay, they should look into it. Your lease-end date is so close that they should have updated you by now.

gb4.2

I was thinking the same...offer the D5 without the feature but with the option to upgrade to it or activate/install later. Very strange that they didn’t have all of this thought out before the launch in early July. The U.S. market is important but not the largest one for Audi.

derfA8L

I should hear back from my salesperson tomorrow. The plan was to extend the current lease until the D5 arrival in April, after placing an order in January. Yup, let’s see what they come up with to keep us folks in the fold. Wish they would take my D4 back and then re-lease it to me until D5 arrival, since I’d rather keep my current A8. Like it a lot and no need to try out another D4. Perhaps cooler heads will prevail in Igolstat, and they will ship over cars without the Auto Pilot crap— I wasn’t going to equip my D5 with that tech anyway. The potential issue of no V8 at US launch, however, is another wrinkle that I was uncertain of. Maybe my wife will finally get her wish to switch over to a Panamera (my salesperson sells those also) :-))

SYMAWD

Cadillac has Super Cruise which is also a Level 3 system. However, that is at highway speeds while Audi's is at traffic jam speeds.

gb4.2

I’d stay in my current D4, too, but now that I’ve exceeded 50K miles (about 54K to-date), repairs are on me, not Audi. It would make more sense for me to order a new one to be back under warranty if Audi offers one of the short leases described above and the monthly payments are reasonable. In the meantime, I’ll hope for the same cooler heads in Ingolstat! I’m guessing that the Traffic Jam Pilot may be a feature in the D5 rather than an option. Otherwise you’d think the car wouldn’t be delayed coming here. The new Panamera is my only other choice right now. Haven’t driven one yet but might just do that tomorrow.

derfA8L

My salesperson had no idea re: the delay. He contacted the Audi regional rep and forwarded the reply to me. So it’s confirmed, the response was that at this moment the D5 is delayed for the US until Fall 2018— a year from now. No comment from the rep about how they plan to bridge current D4 leases that are set to expire in the interim. I called Audi Customer Service and of course they didn’t know what I was talking about and referred me back to my dealer.

Meeting with my salesperson and his manager on Saturday, and will be discussing what to do in terms of “creative” interim moves. Will also be looking at Panameras and Bimmer 7-series, but may also decide to sit tight and extend the current D4 lease for a bit to see if the situation changes in the next few months.

BTW, coincidentally the D5 configurator went live today on the Audi Deutschland site (see separate post). Quite frustrating.

dwboston

Motor Trend references the Fall 2018 US on-sale date in this story about their 1st drive of the D5 (they really like it). They also mention the 453-hp 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 engine option.

2019 Audi A8 L First Drive: Tomorrowland - Motor Trend