HunterWagner

Ok, so I bought my wife a Prestige Q5 back in July and we love the car. At that time I believe I received about 8.5% off of MSRP. Before purchasing her the Q5 I have been drooling to get an S5 Sportback for 2 years now. I have built up a large down payment and I am ready to buy. I have found the particular car I want and it is as follows.

2019 S5 Sportback
MSRP: $68,510
Prestige
Daytona Gray/Black Interior
Carbon Fiber Inlays
Black Optic Package
S Sport Package
Warm Weather Package

They also have the BS USB cables and Audi protection kit added which amount to about $400. They sent me their sheet stating that the invoice was $65,090 but I have a hard time believing it is that high. Would an initial offer at $63,000 be fair? That amounts to about 8% off of MSRP. Thanks for the responses!

HunterWagner

I meant to add that I live in Houston, TX.

Verybumpy

You can try but unless the dealer has some decent factory incentives, I don't think they will go below Invoice.

HunterWagner

Verybumpy

My guess is its supply and demand. I think the SB is sought after more so than the other models thus the dealer can request a higher price knowing they could sell it to another buyer.

SCarGuy

I can confirm that is the invoice for that car - last year there was around a 6.5% margin between MSRP and Invoice regardless of the model (it's always % not a fixed $ amount - the more expensive the car, the more than % translates to dollars). This year that has now shrunken back to about 6%, but, Audi says they will be increasing incentives for various models. So far that has been largely true, and they dropped interest rates across the board. Remains to be seen what will happen as the year progresses.

This is where the "what did you pay" stuff becomes tough - every model has different programs, and much of that stuff varies by region and changes monthly. On a Q5 there have been, by and large, much more significant contributions from Audi than on Sportbacks.

Are they offering it to you at straight invoice? For my region for Feb, there is $0 coming from Audi on a Sportback. They are offering money on a coupe. But there is a $750 loyalty incentive

HunterWagner

No their initial offer was pretty dinky at only around $1685 off + the $750 Audi loyalty rebate (which is offered by Audi). So they only initially offered me around 2.5% off of MSRP before the $750 rebate. With the rebate it only comes to a 3.6% discount, though they add in their $775 "Dealer protection kit + tinting" so it wipes out the $750 rebate. So it seems Audi manufacturing is getting greedy by setting such a high invoice price unless they are giving large hold backs right now to the dealers. Either way i am not paying that close to an MSRP for a car, if they can't at least 6.5% off of MSRP then I can just wait a few months. If it never comes down then I guess I will just keep driving my caddy .

JD15

Based upon my negotiations in January to present for an S5 SB, dealers in TX can definitely go far below what you were offered and even below the supposed invoice. From what I have encountered, there seems to be more support from Audi right now than in December or early January and better deals are out there.

SCarGuy

Audi $ was strongest in December. January and February really didn't have much change on A5/S5 sportbacks. They traditionally get the least support anyway because demand remains strong for the body design.

But yes, it should not be difficult to get under invoice + incentives, and without a lot of back and forth either. While every dealer loves to make a profit on the front end of a car, it's a fairly competitive marketplace out there, so deals are always available to be done

Audi's invoice to MSRP has been about the same for a while now. There really aren't these massive holdbacks either - it's a weird segment in the auto world, because you're at the higher part of the scale, but not as high as the highest. The margins that some of the domestics enjoy on trucks in particular is huge, and then the next tier up in car (Porsche, etc) also tend to enjoy wider margins as well. All other things being equal, the profit on these cars comes on the service side of things, not the sales side. Those extras you mention always become a great equalizer - dealer A gives a massive discount, but then has these arbitrary extra costs...tint, or admin fee, etc. Vs another dealer who's discount % was less, but it might have been the better "deal". That's often what gets lost in the "what did you pay" discussion. I get asked the stuff all the time because I'm routinely viewing competing dealers offers and asking to match/beat them.

I am in PA, but, can easily do a deal down in Texas and simply ship the car. Have done it multiple times. So if I can ever help, lmk. I've sold cars to multiple forum members thusfar.

What you're asking for is not at all unreasonable, and then having any incentives stacked on top should be easily doable locally. If they can't or won't, lmk, and I will definitely make it worth your while.

JD15

In that case, the motivator may be a dramatically larger inventory than in December and January. At that point there were little to no 2019s, whereas at the some of the large dealers in my area there has been a deluge of S5s (not many S4s though). The dealer I am working with right now seems far more motivated than several others I corresponded with in December and early January.