superswiss

Yes, I know how leasing works. My point is you have leverage when you special order a car, because the dealer won't have to pay interest and storage out of their profit.

neubs

I hadn't considered that leverage... In my estimation it isn't as strong as a car on the lot already but I will definitely ask the dealer about what they can do...

jayhawkmd

What you need to do is shop your order around at different dealers just like you would shop for a car that is sitting on the lot. They WANT the business, whether it's a car on the lot or an ordered car. Shop exactly the specs you want at different dealers and see what they offer, just as if the car is there. The theoretical thought that you could get a slightly better price on a car that is in stock isn't worth not getting exactly what you want. Dealers want you to think you have to buy something they have in stock, but the reality is that they want your money and business no matter what.

neubs

So build the order, print it out, and take it around and negotiate a discount off it? Makes sense. Also might make them offer heavier discounts for cars on the lot to make me buy today.

Thanks!

superswiss

Best is actually to reach the Internet Sales Manager. They have more leeway than the sales people handling walk-ins. Dealerships have figured out in the meantime that buyers coming in through the Internet are more savvy and have mostly done their research, so you generally get less BS from the Internet Sales Manager. Most car manufacturer websites nowadays have a way to request a quote from dealerships. Just submit your build to all dealerships within a certain radius of you and see what they come back with and then leverage the offers against each other. The more dealerships in your area competing for business the bigger the leverage you have. Never just walk into a dealership and try to work out a deal. Always be prepared with offers in hand.

markcincinnati

I believe your conclusion is backwards -- the best prices are on cars NOT sitting on the lot. The car sitting on the lot costs the Dealers Acquisition Price + what are generally called holding costs. A car special ordered has virtually NO holding costs, so the dealer can discount the car and make more money vs the same discount off of a car that has a cost increase literally every day.

I've read articles that suggest cars cost more than they need to simply because US customers will pay hundreds, even thousands for the ability to test drive the car and buy it all within a few hours time. I went to two Audi dealers (one in Switzerland and one in Germany) and they had cars to test drive, virtually none to sell. I believe lead times were quoted at 8 or 9 weeks (or about 4 weeks less than for us here in the US). Apparently, we pay for our instant gratification.

What I'd love to see is a model where it would be actually possible to drive a version of an Audi with any option offered. The dealers, in my experience, rarely have Prestige models in stock for test driving, unless they've dealer traded. The reason, of course, is that the Prestige models have unattractive lease rates compared to P+ models. Also, it would be great to see cars in the flesh in a variety of colors and even a model to show what could be done by Audi Exclusive.

When the S5 came out, first time, our dealer had ONE that they could not sell that was for test driving, period -- it had a 6-speed manual transmission and a V8. I used to go to the dealer every couple of weeks and take it out for a drive. I believe the same was true of the newest Q7 -- they had one that could be driven, but none that could be actually sold. They had, at my dealer, no shortage of orders placed by customers.

I believe they have an R8 in stock -- but it appears it is on the showroom floor to drive "order bank" or "sold" orders, although I assume they are "allowed" to sell it.

We'd all benefit in terms of discounts, if we planned our new car deliveries and bought them NOT off the lot but ordered them, waited 100 days and then picked the car up within days of its arrival.

Not gonna happen.

neubs

No one seems to account for the parking space that costs money. Opening up the real estate has a value to the dealer that doesn't exist in the ordering scenario. Also, the longer one sits there, the more they typically reduce the price... so there is something to be said about what I'm referring to. Getting out of holding costs has a value.

As far as the local dealers - I live in LA. There is a weird amount of Audi dealers within an hour of me. They all have multiple prestige cars but sell out of the premium plus extremely fast. Now thinking though it - geography plays a major part. The lot turnover is extremely high here. The dealer closest to me has 750 cars on their lot..... I could see your point in a market where maybe 2-3 S4's exist across all dealers within the hour radius.

Going to get a quote on a special ordered car and compare it to the lot car I was quoted on..... will report my findings....