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Audi A6

6920 messages,  Last post on Dec 26, 2012 at 7:05 AM

You are in the Audi A6 Forum.

What is this discussion about? Audi A6, Sedan

Messages Page 517 of 692

#5160 of 6920 Does Audi want me? by cpeterson3

Feb 03, 2005 (8:36 am)

I must agree with a number of the recent comments made and would like to interject from a current buyers prospective. I am 3 months away from the termination of my ’02 A4 lease and was up until recently, looking forward to the ’05 A6 as my next car. As has been well documented, the launch of the A6 has been less than spectacular bordering on non-existent. I first saw the car in France in September and began dreaming but to this date, I have seen 1 on the road yet more Phaetons in the same period!!! With all respect to those outside of New England, our market is absolutely crucial for European auto producers. Audi has always enjoyed a solid following here as the products complimented our environment and egos but without competitive pricing and marketing, their future is bleak amongst the ever-widening field of choices from more reliable manufacturers for less money.
 
I think my wife and I represent an opportunity for most mid to upper tier auto producers. We are 34-35, both corporate professionals, no children yet, just built a home in plastic, suburban Conneciticut subdivision and whose incomes are healthy. It difficult to say that without feeling like a heel but this is one of the pictures marketers are looking for. October, after looking at 10 vehicles, we replaced my wife’s leased ML320 with a purchased, loaded ’04 XC70 for $31,750. The A6 Avant? laughable pricing. Not apples to apples autos but to spend that much on Audi apples would have been foolish.
 
Back on track, we are 3 months from the A4 lease termination and have yet to hear from the dealership or from Audi!! For anyone is sales, you know that retention is a major challenge, that 10 – 20% of new revenue first goes towards making-up the lost business of the prior year and a simple principal of business is that a new customer is more expensive than an existing customer. Audi is about to loose me yet is making no attempts to conserve my business.
 
Isn’t model line stratification intended to bring someone in young & cheap and nurture them for years and sold units to come? Successful or not, opinions aside, we seen Cadillac and Volkswagen adjust their entry points seeing their margins dwindle and the competition for my discretionary auto income explode. In 1998, I owned a 1995 Saab 900S convertible and was the second owner through a private sale yet Saab had my name and relentlessly marketed me through emails and mailings their new 9-3 and 9-5. The production level of those materials was impressive and campaign theme catchy. I didn’t buy another Saab then but today respect their efforts… hhmmm, considering a 9-5 lease today can be had for $400 but an A6 for $700, that savings will pay my monthly CC membership fees. Maybe that’s where I’ll be this weekend - 1 of the 3 local Saabs dealers amongst the 4 Audi dealers.
 
Audi, bring back 1999’s $399 a month program and save your launch!!!! or then again, there’s always leasetrader.com or swapalease.com.

#5161 of 6920 I looked at the new A6 by carnaught

Feb 03, 2005 (8:40 am)

last weekend. I was overall favorably impressed with the car for the money. When I inquired about any special lease rates, I was told that there were none. The salesperson went on to decisively say that the car "was only out for a month" (and what did I expect?). With virtually no one at the dealer at the time I found it curious that he was so arrogant.

#5162 of 6920 We seem to be saying the same thing. . . by markcincinnati

Feb 03, 2005 (9:43 am)

. . .based on what I can glean from the previous few postings, including my own, this is NOT an issue of "affordability" for the posters; nor is it an issue of believing that the Audi (the new A6 for instance) is overpriced from an MSRP perspective.
 
But, "this class" of car is overwhelmingly leased by folks in their mid thirties to probably mid sixties who have a 6 figure household income. Probably, the education of many of the customers of this class includes many four-year degrees. Certainly there must be a decent representation of Master's degreed folks, too. Moreover, the number of "professional" people (Doctors, Lawyers, Architects) and management types must be quite high, too.
 
I think the thing that just bothers us is "knowing" the value proposition just isn't there. Probably many of us would pay $700 a month for a stripped A6 if we didn't know that a better equipped 5 was almost $150 a month less.
 
No one likes to feel they have been taken -- even if Audi's price is "fair" -- just knowing that the others are out there (even if we tell ourselves they are being subsidized by their respective finance arms) for big bucks less, sours us on the brand.
 
My wife is typical: she has a BA, MBA and JD, is employed by a large public corporation, makes good money and can afford $700 a month payments on a $40,000 car. She doesn't really want an Infiniti G35x, but after driving it and knowing that for the same out of pocket and the same term, the Infiniti (which actually performs better than the current A4 3.0) is $555 a month and has a 60,000 mile warranty and offers a "free loaner" G35 (the dealership has a fleet of 50 of them) when the car is in for service and the Audi dealer rents her a PT cruiser from Enterprise -- well her current payment of $709 per month just ticks her off.
 
Her current car is a 2003 Audi. She needs to order a new car (assuming a 12 - 14 wk lead time) at the end of March. She has priced both a new Ultra Sport A4 3.0 and the G35x -- I can hardly imagine her acquiring the Infiniti -- but she thinks Audi is "driving her away" -- offering instead a "loyalty dis-incentive."
 
Last night she had me configure a maxed out Volvo S40 T5 AWD (just south of $39,000 equipped the way she wants it). The Infiniti even beat THAT price, but the numbers are closer so she may jump from Audi to Volvo JUST to keep a European car (those of you who have had multiple European cars KNOW they do indeed "feel" different than even the best Japanese cars, no matter what their pedigree).
 
This sense of "being driven away" is the most egregious issue. I do not make my wife's decisions but I certainly do attempt to influence her; and, I must say it is beginning to be very difficult to defend Audi to her no matter how much I opine (that the Audi is "better.")

#5163 of 6920 And furthermore. . . by markcincinnati

Feb 03, 2005 (10:06 am)

. . . I drove the G35x myself (and a BMW "x" and a Merc C240 AWD and several other cars -- and two: the 300C AWD and Acura RL, remain on my personal "look see" list.) Moreover, just reading the test report of the M35 gives me pause, but I am less sanguine that it will have a decent launch lease program, so maybe that is nuts to even consider, but if it has a decent lease program, well, it too, could be a contender.
 
The point is, these other cars are NOT BAD -- I would be OK with the BMW or the Mercedes -- and even the Volvo S60 type R was impressive!
 
And. . .
 
I don't yet have any strong feelings for the G35x but I was impressed with its power and brakes. And, the Sirius sat radio was CD quality. So, although I remain unconvinced, I see her (my wife's) point about the Audi loyalty dis-incentive.
 
A Program Note: Interesting editorial by Brock Yates about European cars -- I recommend it to your attention.
 
If, and it is a fairly big if, we stray from the fold, I know I will miss Audi (nothing even comes close - IMHO). But unless all the other guys raise their lease prices or Audi lowers theirs, well I just don't think we want to be dissed like that.
 
Perhaps I should go to confession.

#5164 of 6920 Re: And furthermore. . . [markcincinnati] by rjlaero

Feb 03, 2005 (10:34 am)

Replying to: markcincinnati (Feb 03, 2005 10:06 am)
The comment of leasing a stripped A6 for $700 a month is a little off base. You can look on the Audi USA website and get some lease information. Each region of the US is different, so prices may fluctuate.
 
Some dealers were advertising a 47k A6 Quattro with premium & convienence packages for 499 a month w/ around 5k down for 24 months. For around $2500 down, you could be right around $600 a month...give or take a bit.

#5165 of 6920 Audi jumped a level by gold233790

Feb 03, 2005 (10:54 am)

I think a main issue here is that the C6 jumped a level. You used to have three distinct sedan lines- A4, A6, A8. A4 was high-end entry level luxury, A6 comfortably mid-level luxury, and A8 opulent high-end. Now, I don't see any advantage of the A8 over the A6- except for the additional space you achieve in the L version.
 
It's more like an A7 now, leaving a huge gap from where the A6 buyers/leasees came from. My local dealer mentioned that he is seeing more A8 owners migrating to the A6 than he is A4, countered to it being heavily in the other direction as recently as a few months ago.

#5166 of 6920 Re: And furthermore. . . [rjlaero] by cpeterson3

Feb 03, 2005 (11:14 am)

Replying to: rjlaero (Feb 03, 2005 10:34 am)
Please don't enocurage enyone to put $5K down on a lease. Why would one loose the buying/investment power of that much money? If your willing to put $5K on a lease, your better off getting the lowest possible purchase price, put the $5K as a deposit and finance the rest over 3 years using today's low rates and then sell with some equity built in.
 
$5K down on 24 months is not $499 a month but $707.

#5167 of 6920 Re: And furthermore. . . [rjlaero] by markcincinnati

Feb 03, 2005 (12:23 pm)

Replying to: rjlaero (Feb 03, 2005 10:34 am)
The information I passed along assumed NO MONEY DOWN, 36 months, 10,000 miles per year and an MSRP of $48K -- lease price on Feb 1, 2005 was $698. I would hope if I coughed up $5K up front that my lease payment would drop AT LEAST $25 per $1,000.
 
Even then the payment would be $698 - (5 x 25) = $573 per month for 36 months with ONLY 10,000 miles per year and .25 per mile over 10,000 miles per year or 30,000 on the lease. This is no "deal." This is just "not competitive."
 
And. . .
 
Why would anyone put money down on a lease for pity's sake?

#5168 of 6920 Re: And furthermore. . . [markcincinnati] by andys120

Feb 03, 2005 (1:15 pm)

Replying to: markcincinnati (Feb 03, 2005 12:23 pm)
Why would anyone put money down on a lease for pity's sake?
 
Most people are conditioned by advertising to believe they must put $ down on a lease. They don't realize that there may be a wide latitude for negotiation on a lease depending on market conditions,

#5169 of 6920 Re: And furthermore. . . [markcincinnati] by tayl0rd

Feb 03, 2005 (1:45 pm)

Replying to: markcincinnati (Feb 03, 2005 12:23 pm)
Why would anyone put money down on a lease for pity's sake?
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. That is like LITERALLY throwing away $5K! Personally, I would never put anything more than tax/title/license down on a lease. Then again, after a horrible experience with a Toyota lease years ago, I probably will never lease again.
 
Leases never have made a whole lot of sense to me. You pay for the depreciation on the car, turn it in, then have no car! If you like the car, you buy it, but you end up paying for the car TWICE. I can't see paying for a car for 8 years. And the residual value will always work out to the dealer's advantage. If you come to an agreement on a low residual value, you're going to pay more on the front end for the lease payments. If you do a high residual and end up wanting to keep the car, you're going to pay through the nose to buy it. Also, if you do a high residual, you're only allotted a handful of miles per year and if you go over that and don't buy the car, you're really going to get your trousers pulled down for going over the mileage and they'll probably stick you for some new tires, among other things.
(This stuff didn't happen to me, BTW.)
It's just a lose-lose situation for the consumer. Why would you want to pay for the "privilege" of driving one of their cars?

Messages Page 517 of 692

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