cwkmisc

Hi,

I'm looking to order a 2010 A5 and was wondering if you guys could advise:

1) At the time I place an order, I believe I need to put down a $1000 deposit, correct? I'm assuming this forces me to purchase the car when it arrives, otherwise I lose $1000. What if the car turns out to be defective somehow or they got the order wrong?

2) I'm looking to lease the car. Does this mean I should be negotiating some kind of deal at the moment? Residual and money factor rates will likely change? Even negotiating the cap cost can change in the 3-4 months timeframe for an order.

3) I hear that I should NOT sign any papers at this point. However, what's preventing the dealer from giving me a very bad deal when the car arrives?

How do you guys approach this?

BTW, the first quote I'm getting for a $48k MSRP, with 2500 down, 10k mileage, 51% residual... $823 + tax. Sounds expensive no?

Thanks

newbie2quattro

I just worked out a deal with my local Audi dealer yesterday, however, I will be financing my car with a trade-in and a decent amount of cash down. Here are my responses to your questions:

1.) Yes, a $1000 deposit is what I placed for my order. This turned out to be true as I posted a thread here several weeks ago about typical deposit amounts paid when ordering the A5/S5. Dealers will ask for more of a deposit if you order a car that would have a hard time selling should you back out of the deal, i.e. an exclusive color that only you like - Grass Green Pearl Effect or something. The amount of deposit for something like that is at the dealer's discretion. As far as you being forced to buy the car, there's no such thing. If you want peace of mind about exiting this deal for whatever reason, have the dealer put it in writing on the Cash Retail Buyers Order and Invoice form stating "$1,000 Refundable Deposit". I did and I know between now and when the car arrives if something doesn't go according to plan, I can exit knowing I haven't lost anything. As far as the order going wrong, you'll need to check and double-check your vehicle order form vs. theirs and then make sure that information gets correctly entered into their order system on the computer. My dealer did it all right in front of me and we checked everything 3 times.

2.) The way it worked for me was that I solicited 6 dealers (within Texas) earlier this week with the car and options/packages I wanted and said I'd like to pay your invoice price plus $1000 inclusive of Audi Care. By middle of the week, I had 3 dealer responses - one dealer was stalwart about selling the vehicle at MSRP inclusive of Audi Care - he was immediately eliminated. The other two were within an acceptable range of my original offer terms - but I still wanted to negotiate. By the end of the day yesterday I had both dealers competing for my business as I told one dealer that the other was $500 cheaper than their original offer. Ultimately, one of the dealers bowed and gave me exactly what I asked for to earn my business and make the sale. By doing this, I was able to shave off close to $3000 from the sticker price/MSRP with Audi Care thrown in at no charge. As far as leasing and residual rates go, I don't know much about that as my wife and I have either paid cash or financed all of our vehicles. (By the way, I wouldn't tell the dealer how you plan on going about paying for the vehicle - lease or finance. Talk price and price only first).

3.) As far as paper signing goes, the only things you should be signing at this point are the deposit check you leave for the car you order, the Cash Retail Buyers Order and Invoice Form, and a silly credit application inquiry for the dealer to know if you're eligible for financing or leasing the vehicle. I was a little reluctant about the credit application inquiry because I didn't want any inquiries affecting my credit score when I apply/get financing for my vehicle. Nonetheless, that's all you should sign.

4.) Bad deal when the car arrives - If you do something similar to what I did in response #2, you should have no worries. However, the only thing left in the equation for them to make money on is your trade - if you have one. If you plan to trade, ask them after you've agreed upon a price (response #2) what they would give you for your trade. Chances are they will tell you a number you don't want to hear. This will at least give you an idea of where you stand for trade-in amount. At that point, you can accept what they say and know between now and when you car arrives that your trade-in market value will drop slightly or you can sell your car and make a little more money.

Hope this helps. Good luck to you!

zub3qin

Great tips!
A couple of questions:
1) Most of us trade-in. Each dealer wants to see your car to assess it for a trade in value. Are you now driving in to each competing dealer to get you car assessed? The thing is that if one dealer is giving you Invoice + $1000 unhappily, they will try to screw you on your trade-in....

2) It is nice to have a loaner car available to you during repairs and service. Thus, your closest dealer is the one that you usually want to buy from (who wants to drive 50 miles away for service?) AudiCare, i understand, doesn't give you free loaners. How do you handle this?

3) Do they try and tack on "added charges" like extra destination fees or anything? Which charges are acceptable?

topdowns5

Don't have an answer to all your questions. But, to the dismay of several sales reps, I have put deposits down on cars and then upon their arrival was unable to negotiate a good enough deal. Always got my deposit back. If it's a hot car, dealers often don't mind as they have a waiting list and someone might be willing to pay a premium to get a car today rather than wait for several weeks.

I'm interested in what you hear about leasing as I am considering that for the first time. I'm concerned that three or four years hence, gasoline powered vehicles may not be worth as much.

newbie2quattro

Answers to your questions:

1) No, I didn't even mention my trade-in at this phase of the transaction. My strategy was negotiating a fair price and a fair price only. No discussions about lease or finance and no discussion about trade-in or no trade-in. It's very possible they may offer something absurdly less than bluebook market value for my trade at transaction close. So between now and when my car arrives, I'm debating on selling my car as a "fail-safe" or taking what they give. My only reservation about selling my car myself is the fact that it may not sell between now and when my new car arrives. Nonetheless, I'm aware of the advantages/disadvantages of one vs. the other and I'm prepared financially one way or the other.

2) My Audi dealer has Audi vehicle service loaners and I was assured that the service loaners wouldn't cost anything and not only that, my car would be washed for me as frequently as I wanted. That's service with a smile.

3) This is the most critical portion of the transaction after you've agreed upon a price and established a trade-in amount. This portion of the deal along with transaction close is handled by the F&I (Finance and Insurance or some other similarly titled) person. I can't stress enough to any and all who are reading this thread that you have to be vigilant during this phase. It is here where the dealer will try to make up for any lost money made on the agreed price and trade-in amount. F&I will try to sell you extended warranties, tire protection, Lo-Jack, etc. just about anything that will make you think or feel "secure" or "insured" (hence the word 'Insurance' in Finance & Insurance) about your new vehicle purchase. For some, maybe extended warranties,Lo-Jack, etc. really do give them peace of mind and are willing to pay for it, but don't agree to anything unless you know what you are doing. They will try and work it. They'll coddle you with friendly conversation, be cordial and pleasant in return, but be firm. You know what you want to pay for the car. Stay vigilant.

cwkmisc

Thanks for the great tips! The main thing I wanted to keep was peace-of-mind that just because I'm plunking down a deposit on an order, I'm not forced to accept a poor deal when the car arrives, or risk losing the deposit. As long as it's refundable then I'm ok with it.

One last question, I'm assuming when you said $1000 over invoice, this includes all sales tax, licensing, misc fees correct? This is "out the door" price?

It looks like the car I want may have been located out of state and they may have to transport it. I'm assuming they'll try to overcharge here too

Thanks a bunch!

Hobbes

Invoice pricing does not include taxes, licensing and fees. Your out the door price would be considerably more than $1000 over the car's invoice.

I don't know where you're located, but here in NJ the state also tacks on an additional luxury car tax for cars over $45K, in addition to the sales tax. All told, sales tax and various fees added around $3,800 on top of the sale price for my A5.

newbie2quattro

No, this does not include taxes, title, tags, etc. - the $1000 is what I'm willing to pay the dealer for "their troubles" - so to speak. Invoice price is the price the dealer pays to Audi to get the car with whatever the configuration. MSRP is what the "manufacturer suggests" to the Audi dealer that the car should retail or sell for. In simple terms, MSRP is only a suggestion. It is not the end-all-be-all price. My configuration has almost $4000 of spread between what the dealer will pay for the car and what Audi says the dealer should sell it for. Because Audi or any other manufacturer for that matter suggests a sales price doesn't mean I have to pay that price. When you pull multiple dealers into the mix to see who will give you the best offer then you have control of the deal. Any dealer that's talking MSRP or MSRP with some form of mark-up, quite frankly, is not the kind of dealer you want to work with and you should seriously take your business elsewhere. Ideally, you just want to allow the dealer to make a fair profit/margin but you don't want to give them the bank. Make sense?

newbie2quattro

Just to clarify - the $1000 deposit is money that will be credited to the transaction at close. This is separate from the $1000 over the invoice price that I got my deal for.

Hobbes

Newbie2quattro, it's nice to see somebody ordering a 3.2. Since the 2.0T came out that's all anybody seems to talk about and order.