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Audi A4 2005+
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Comments
Meanwhile back to the A4 price. I got a 3.2 with premium, cold, NAV, lighting, upgraded audio with XM, sport package and walnut trim for $41500. This is about $1000 over invoice. They also included the splash guards and the premium all weather mats. As a current Audi owner I got an additional $1000 off. I also financed it through Audi for 2.9% for up to 3 years. I usually pay cash for cars but at that rate I figure I'm better off using their money for 3 years.
I traded in my current A6 and they matched the highest offer I got from the other dealers with whom I dealt. It was on the low end of Kelly Blue book but 3 of the 4 dealers were all around that number so that must be the correct price. I know I could make more if I sold it myself but I don't want the hassle. I'm not home much and don't want strangers around my house for my wife to potentially have to handle. I imagine that is why they made the deal since they'll make $932 over invoice plus whatever they can make on my trade-in. I might have been able to make an even better deal but I'm not after the last dollar and this Audi dealer has always taken good care of me.
From my perspective I got the car at invoice if you count the owner loyalty. I could make a better deal on a 2005.5 than I could on ordering a 2006. They can order 06's but they don't have any pricing yet so the dealer doesn't know how much the price is going to go up. He did show me their ordering info and the only thing that will be on the 06 is Bluetooth and the cold package will only have front heated seats not front and back anymore. They apparently are not going to have the advanced key as an option. That wasn't a big deal to me since a friend of mine has it and has had some problems with his as have others as you'd see on the A6 forum. He loves it though when it works. Just to me it wasn't a big enough deal to wait for the 06 which most likely won't have it anyway.
The difficult decision to me was going "down" from an A6 to an A4. The main reason I had gotten the A6 was because the 02 A4 had the 1.8T which was too noisy for me and the 3.0 which I didn't think had as much power as I wanted. The dealer had a 2.7T A6 that had been there for awhile and made me a good deal. My comparison of the cars in the current crop (A6, M35, RL, GS) showed that while they are bigger they just weren't that much bigger to justify the extra $8-10K that I would have had to pay. If the Acura dealer would have sold me an RL at invoice and taken his $1000 holdback as profit I might have taken it but the TL at invoice is $12K less and a better value. That's what got me thinking of the A4/TL class.
You can save some major money by getting a 2.0T. I like the engine and it is a major improvement over the 1.8T but the 3.2 is quieter and smoother. That alone saves you $4750 on the base price. The 3.2 has good power for the A6 and the A4 is a couple of hundred pounds less so the A4 3.2 really scoots. You can also save about $2K by foregoing the NAV but I wanted it, mostly for the cool/tech factor. Besides you can control a lot of things through the MMI which I found pretty intuitive. The NAV in the Acura is a little easier with touchscreeen and voice command but my wife has it in her Odyssey and finds that it is quicker just to touch a button than to give it the voice command so she doesn't use the voice much anyway.
Hope this helps. I plan on posting an update once I've had the car for a while. :shades:
The Ultrasport package has the 18's, gound effects, sport suspension, and a few other options packaged together.
Also, to my knowledge, UItra sport cars came with Ebony interior only, and it was a about a $3000 option on the window sticker.
That does look like an ultrasport car to me.
i'm debating whether to wait for the 06's or go through with a 05.5. an A4 CVT w/premium package to be specific.
you can get a better deal on the 05.5 but i imagine you'll also lose a whole year in resale value.
PS venus537, if you plan to keep your car a long time, say more than 5 years or so, then a one year difference in the model year of a car makes a surprisingly small difference in resale. Play around on kbb.com and you'll see what I mean. Mileage is a bigger factor.
saoc, which dealer? I live in NE OH too. Does your dealer offer a free loaner for service? Your write up was excellent.
Anyone in Canada recieved it ?
Let me know if you want the names of the salesmen. I think we're not supposed to list specifics on the forum.
I know we all are impatient (human nature, one would think). But cars are so expensive no matter if we pay cash, finance or lease them -- and usually we keep them for at least 3 years (which sometimes seems to be an eternity). So why are folks that order cars "as they want them" apparently in a tiny minority?
Not too many years ago, both Audi dealers here in the Queen City had plenty of demo cars and a few cars actually in inventory (and since both Audi dealers were also Porsche dealers they had virtually ONLY Porsche demos and no inventory of that marquis). Now both Audi dealers in this small city sell about 600 cars a year (so they say -- but I've heard the range is from 400 to 600 per dealership, so who really knows?). Most folks who buy these $30, $40, $50 (and up) thousand dollar cars share similar stories with phrases in them like this, "I paid $160 for pop up heated light washers that I did not want."
My neighbor got a bright red Audi because "it had the options he wanted," in a color he wasn't particularly fond of!? I didn't say this to him, but I thought "are you nuts?"
Don't most of us know when we want to change cars more than 15 minutes in advance?
My "old time" Audi dealer said over 75% of the new cars he sold were pre ordered and over 90% of the Porsches were thus. He retired and sold his business to a corporation that orders truck loads of cars at once, and virtually never does the dealer have the exact combination in stock -- even if I have two color preferences.
My wife ordered a new BMW X3 on March 18th and picked it up on or thereabouts May 7th (7 weeks, we figured). My Infiniti M35X takes 100+ days but part of that is Infinitis policy of accepting orders only once a month.
These cars configured exactly as you want them are or can be a joy to own and drive -- and when you order the car and then pick it up some 10 - 14 weeks later (typically) you get that "new car buzz" a second time. Anticipation is half the fun.
Moreover, the cost of an ordered car appears to be less than an in stock car more often than not -- due to floorplanning costs and the favor you are doing the dealer in allowing him to increase his allocation (this applies to particularly difficult to get cars especially.)
I read with great interest some slight nits some folks have at getting a car that either had something they didn't want, or settling for something less than what they had hoped for.
One of the guys I worked with picked up his A4 (a couple years back) without Xenon lights and without ESP -- his office mate ordered his A4 with both options. The one without ESP had a winter fender bender and of course we all told him it was 'cause he didn't have ESP (children can be so cruel).
Anyway, this is a heck of a lot of money -- about 3 months prior to your purchase you can order the car EXACTLY as you want it and then wait the 3 months and drive happily (or perhaps more happily) ever after.
I feel I am the only 99 BMW323i driver with cloth seats in Canada, BUT that is the exact way I ordered it! I am not concerned about having a car with a lack of popular options since resale value does not concern me. I intend to keep my 6.5 year old car (I still love my car) until I see a car that I truly fancy and I have not seen one yet. A likely temptation may be the A3 3.2 Quattro that is reasonably priced---an unlikely scenario unless I negotiate a really good deal.
I am new to the concept of ordering, and would like some advice. My basic question has to do with my trade-in. I've been used to thinking about my trade-in as part of the overall deal (i.e. I'll walk out if they don't give me a fair trade-in value) but if I order, am I at their mercy? is my only alternative to sell it myself?
By the way, I'm looking at a 3.2 A4 Avant with premium & lighting packages for $38, 546. A decent deal?
Thanks.
Has anyone tried 1GB cards for MP3 files and if so, how did it work??
The trade in, ideally, should be a separate deal so numbers cannot be played with. I would make the deal on the ordered car first (as if there were no trade in).
This is possible if the car is in production and/or if there is a legitimate dealer or factory price list that the dealer has to live with. I ordered a new X3 and a new M35X recently and was able to get the price of the car negotiated and the price of the lease payments (set at a will not exceed). Of course this would not work if the residual had dropped for some reason. At the BMW store they "fixed" the price -- no up or down once the deal was done, that is.
The Infiniti was fixed for two months at a certain price (and as a practical matter it will not go up and it MAY go down -- doubtful, however). Since the Infiniti takes more than two months, we were able to lock in the selling price and the money factor -- if the residual were to drop by a point that would effect the price per month, but the dealership said it would adjust the discount accordingly unless the residual went south precipitously.
Since I am not trading that is not an issue. Were I trading, I would have made the deal on the new car first (lease or buy no matter). Then bring the trade in as a separate issue. If you wish to have cash or there is a sales tax issue or some reason to have the deals intertwined,just keep your eye on the agreed upon selling price of the new car, so that no matter what happens even if you agree to it to save some sales tax or whatever, that you are "eyes wide open."
My concern is that once I've committed to purchasing the car, what's stopping the dealership from giving me a low price for my trade-in once the car comes in? I no longer have any leverage, do I?
Thanks again.
Do they have to be MP3's or can they be AAC files or the other formats. I haven't found any good advice as to whether to save my files in iTunes as MP3's or AAC or one of the other formats. Any advice?
BTW - the salesman says the ipod interface is due this summer and will be a plug-in in the glove box. He thought that it would display the song info but wasn't sure whether you lose the CD changer.
Yes, it's displayed in a directory list. You can set it up to have the songs displayed by the filename or by the MP3 tag name. I put my songs in separate directories according to the album and it has no problems transversing each of the directories. Not sure of limit on directory depth though. In the MP3 control screen there's an option to display the full MP3 tag information as the song plays. I haven't been able to get random (shuffle) mode to work yet though. The DVD ROM drive supports audio and MP3 CD-ROMs, but the 6 CD changer can't.
>>Do they have to be MP3's or can they be AAC files or the other formats. I haven't >>found any good advice as to whether to save my files in iTunes as MP3's or AAC or >>one of the other formats. Any advice?
It only supports MP3 format at bit rates from 32-320Kbps and VBR, according to the Nav+ manual. If VBR is used it can't determine the song length accurately. Max 400 files and 256 file folders. Supports .m3u playlists.
>>BTW - the salesman says the ipod interface is due this summer and will be a plug-in >>in the glove box. He thought that it would display the song info but wasn't sure >>whether you lose the CD changer.
This is what I surmised from all the information I've gathered. Most of the iPod interfaces emulate a CD changer through the same interface. I hope the Audi model can display the iPod song information.
I don't know how this works the whole world over, but the deposit is a bit of money to "keep you honest" in so many words. Anyway, all this stuff need not be related, the linkage can or cannot be there based on YOU.
You do need to know how much your car is worth typically -- and you will certainly overestimate its worth. You can sell it yourself for some amount probably "under" retail and hopefully over wholesale. Heck, you'll have 10+ weeks to try.
Or, you can get an offer from "one of many" dealers -- dealers don't just buy cars when they take in trades. But, there have been times when used cars (sorry, Previously Owned) carry a big negative (uh, like NOW comes to mind). Used cars due to several factors are worth less than ever, practically.
The logic: A brand new car can be had at zero or very low interest. A brand new car may have a subvented lease program that makes the payments on a brand new Whachamacallit SUX Mk II a couple hundred buck a months less than the payments (to buy) a 3 year old SUX Mk I (which everyone knows had problems with the "seals"). And, leasing a 3+ year old car? Sure it is done, but the lease payment on a car over 3 years old is practically the same as the monthly payment to finance the same car because the residual (which is part of the formula that makes the "magic" of leasing, so, er, magical!) is nearly zip, zilch, nada, virtually zero, that is.
So right now used cars are not very attractive to practically anyone, unless the car is perhaps over 5 years old, then the used car may have some more worth due to the nature of the "next anticipated" customer (very young, very old, credit not established, or a dozen other reasons that make a 1999 Whachamacallit Custom have waiting customers. Net net = your trade in may be worth far less than you think and far far far less than you hope.
Your transactions really should not be linked. You will, or at least ought to, get a good lease deal. You will almost certainly feel you have been slighted with respect to the value of your beloved trade in.
Now, one last drop of rain on your trade in parade -- assuming your car is over 3 and less than 5 years old -- it may not be all that attractive for the "man or woman" on the street to buy direct (from you). Why? Well, these days a 3 or 4 year old cream puff will be CPO'd by the dealer and the manufacturer, the warranty will be extended to 6 years or 100K miles, bla bla bla. Which car would you rather acquire "used" -- the CPO'd car with some protection from the mfg and dealer or the non-CPO'd car from "Bob, a guy I never met before and will likely never see again?" :lemon: :confuse:
Take a deep breath -- if all of this makes you feel like a victim or worse, do something different. Find the car that is close to what you want in stock and make the transaction all at once, linking everything, everyway you can imagine and be done with it. Get a good night's sleep. Don't let some poster here on Edmund's (me for instance) make you fret or feel guilty for anything. The deal that makes you happiest is the best deal for you -- regardless of what the rest of us slobs tell you.
I will conclude (thankfully you say) by saying you can order the car you want and "sell" your old car as part of a cap cost reduction, cash payment to you or any other way that floats your boat with respect to the broad term, "trade in."
Drive it like YOU live.
This and the above discussion about getting the exact car you want, leads me to several questions someone here might be willing to help with. First, do I forget trying to "find" the car and just order it? If I order it, do I wait and order a 2006 or is the wait for the 2005.5 model not that long? If there is a better way to try and get what I'm looking for what is it? Or do I just suck it up and pay the extra $2000 in extras or settle for a color that I'm not crazy about?
I'm getting fairly confused at this point what I should do. Any help in my decision is appreciated.
With the system in SD Card mode, choose MP3 controls on the MMI, dial over to random and press the control button. Back out by pressing Return and voila, the title bar will tell you that you are now in SD Cardx Mix... jumps amongst the directories nicely!!
>>The DVD ROM drive supports audio and MP3 CD-ROMs, but the 6 CD changer can't.
Do you know if the Bose system will play the new DVD audios in surround mode? My colleague was telling me that his new Acura TL has a DVD drive that will play high def surround sound DVD audio discs... has anyone with the Nav Plus & Bose tried this???
If you can wait for the car you want -- wait.
Why people buy $30,000 - 60,000 cars routinely "off the lot" is beyond me; I would do this only if the car I wanted EXACTLY was available. It hasn't been since 1976.
But that's just me.
If you are willing to suck up the $2K for stuff you don't want, then that seems OK too. I wouldn't get a car with a "fill in the blank" if I knew I could order one per my specs. But, heck, I built a house in 1990 -- and that took 7 months. In the scheme of things they are major purchases, we had to have "fill in the blank" amenities.
But it is YOUR money. The wait for an as yet unbuilt car is likely to be a minimum of 8 weeks (regardless of it being an 05.5 or '06.) If there is an already produced but NOT SOLD car on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean somewhere, that is an option to consider. The dealer should have access to "inbound" unsold inventory -- heck they'd love to put your name on it.
The 2006's will have bluetooth -- is that important? If it is, you SHOULD wait. Who knows what other little "continuous improvement" content changes will manifest themselves in an '06. The big motivator for me would be the higher residual which would mean a lower MO PAY on a lease.
For this much money, why settle?
But that's just me.
Until I am spending MY money, I really don't even have a vote.
Remember that dealers will love to move anything they have in their lot. Don't settle!! Not when we are spending North of $30k for a car. If you can wait or are able to get around with another car in the mean time, wait. Trust me, the worst thing to do is to have to spend this much money to get a car with options you did not want or without options you wanted.
Just my op. and keep us inform as to what you get
R
I know I'll be getting another Audi in three years from now (I just love my 1.8).
Thanks in advance
R
I just got my 2005.5 A4 2.0T Sedan Quattro with Tip. I had an A4 1.8T Avant 2003 that I used as a trade in. In few words, you can aspect improvement in every single subject that you asked. And, I'm comparing with my old car that had APR Stage 1 ECU upgrade (207 HP).
Most have:
Sport Package;
Bose
Really nice to have:
Premium;
Lighting;
Nav.
I hope that could help.
Claudio
Not to downplay the new V6, but this new 4 is impressive.
In the weeks since this first came up, my car has been road tested and the tech was able to reproduce the noise. Ultimately, after running it while up on the hoist, a group of techs decided it was something related to the differential and Audi replaced that. Unfortunately, I have heard a toned down version of the same sound now 3 times after the repair... in all 3 occasions I was accelerating through a left turn at an intersection... so I wonder if there is something related to the steering?
Any input is appreciated!!
Is there any way to "reset" the mapping function? Does this have something to do with the "set position and direction" function at the end of the setup menu??
I did have a chance to thrash the new 325i and 330i in various flavours (step/manual/active steer/non-active steer - all sports pack equipped) last Sunday at an auto-x style course at an event put on by BMW Canada at the local BMW driver training center. They had 10 cars to choose from and you completed a lap, came back to the short line and requested whatever type you wanted next. I still find the interior a step down from my MY2000 car, but the sport seats are great on the new cars, and the aux in and power in the bin under the armrest is great for anyone with an MP3 player of any flavour. The 325i was down on tires and felt a bit neutered on the top end compared to the 330i, but would probably be fine 99% of the time as well - might be different drving these in traffic than on an artificial course though and I haven't had the opportunity to do that yet. Re: Tip lag, I wouldn't say that the step 6 speed was especially quick to kick down (had one for my sighting lap, manual after that). I am impressed that BMW has gone out of their way to show off their new car (also went to an unveiling event which was done rather nicely), and the dealer has always been good. If only I could get the Avant but be serviced by BMW - I'm a little wary still of horror stories of AoA treatment of customers.
BTW, I do have one gripe with my current (nearly 6 year old) car - I had some surface rust start in out of the way protected areas. One was under the rear door sills, the other even more odd one was under the rubber seal for the trunk. BMW is covering fixing both at no cost to me even though it doesn't strictly fall under the rust warrantee (the standard perforation thing). Maybe it'll convince me to wait for a 325iX Touring (sorry Mark, just can't stomach that X3 look), even though I prefer the A4 Avant in many ways.
My local dealership doesn't have any in stock and it doesn't look they will get any in the near future either. I'll most likely have to order one.
I have test drove an old 1.8 and the new 2.0 quattro automatic. Leaves the 1.8 in the dust you say? Nice upgrade from a 96 Saturn indeed!
I must ask, if you were not going with Quattro, what made you decide on the A4 over the 325 ? I am currently going back and forth, and besides Quattro it seems like the 325 beats the A4 at just about everything. Except I guess the interior.
I am a current 2000 A4 owner and I had intended to stay loyal, but at the moment I am having trouble justifying it.
Scott
He offered me $500 under MSRP (whatever that ends up being). Is this worth considering?
$500 under MSRP depends on what you expect to pay. For me, I expected to pay in the neighborhood of $34500. The price he gave me is for $34750 ($1000 off MSRP). Considering that I'm placing a special order when they are trying to unload 05.5 models, this is pretty decent. As well, I'm happy to pay a very slight premium for the specific options I want on the car.
Anyone know if Audi has moved to an electronic key like BMW, MB, Saab, etc? Or are they still using the folding ignition key. Five years ago, it was a neat feature - now it seems slightly outdated versus the competition.
Thanks!
ds
He did show me the option list for ordering a 2006 A4 but didn't have pricing. Another minor change for the 06 is that the cold weather package has only front heated seats not front and back.
For me the Bluetooth alone wasn't enough for me to wait for an 06. I use the heated rear seats much more than I will the Bluetooth. They will be able to hook up my A4 with the ipod when it is available this summer.
appears to me that audi is configuring the packages so you'll spend more.
just found this place last week...what a wealth of info.
Anyways, I am thinking of getting a A4 Avant 2.0 in the next few weeks. I started out looking at the sedan, then the practical side(if there is one) said that I need to go back and look at the 05 Subi Outbacks. I live in the Pacific Northwest and do a fair amount of skiing/camping/mountain biking. Not a lot, say 5 weekend trips each per year. The a light bulb went off and I said AH HA! how about a A4 Avant. I can rack it with a nice Thule or Yakima system, have a little space in the rear for my stuff and still have a car that is a blast to drive. I am coming off 11 years of Honda/Acura ownership and am looking for something a little more refined than what I am used to. I want a car that drives, hugs the road, is fun, safe etc. It appears that Audi's reliability ratings have improved and this is important to me. I am used to putting gas in the car and going. Neither my Honda or Acura ever needed $1 more than the required maintenance I don't plan on having the Audi more than 5 years and the Audi Advantage warranty really looks like I will be headache free for at least 4/50. I don't mind spending a little extra here and there. I am really just looking for a car that is more of a drivers car than I am getting from Honda/Acura. My father just got a lexus GX 470 and I have been driving it for a few weeks. I must say that it is a nice ride. Lexus is giving Audi a run for the $$ on interiors. if the gas mileage wasn't so bad and I had an extra 10K Imight even get on...but that A4 2.0 is just a kick in the A** to drive!
I have test driven the Audi A4, MB c240, Acura TL, and BMW x3& 325i(06) and so far I love the Audi out of all of them
I am 6'1 1/2, 205 lbs if that makes a difference!
What are your thoughts on using the A4 as a kind of utility wagon? Is this enough car for a big guy like me? any thoughts on extended warranty for that extra year? how about the 3.2(little spendy for me but...) is it worth the extra $$
I see these are selling in my area @ close to MSRP( so edmunds.com says) Is there any chance on knocking a grand off on an all cash deal?
thanks...
I agree and support everything you wrote in your post -- except one: you say you plan to keep you Audi 5 years. Bzzzzz! Wrong.
Well, here's the modified take on this:
1. keep the car as long as you want within the 4 years or 50,000 miles whichever comes first.
2. as you near the "end of the line" (get this in writing, up front, as to the definition of end of the line) with the 4 years or 50K miles, have your Audi CPO'd (certified pre-owned) which will cost between $1000 and $1295 and will extend the AUDI warranty to 6 years or 100,000 miles.
3. If you are a 12K per year driver, keep the car 45 months and order a new one at that time and at the 48th month or 49,999th mile trade or turn the car in on the new Audi (or whatever) at that time.
4. Under no circumstances do you want to have this car be your financial responsibility beyond the 4 year or 50,000 mile point -- if you have that much money (i.e., enough money to self warrant), send it to me payable in cash, with my thanks.
Until you hear otherwise, repeat after me: Audis are "breathtakingly expensive" to maintain or repair out of the factory warranty (the Audi advantage). Do not let this great driving car become an albatross around your neck which, history suggests, could happen if you "run bare" (without a factory sponsored warranty).
Audis are fun, safe, often luxurious, refined and often high performance. Most folks think they are good looking 'sheens, too.
Until proven otherwise, no Audi and frankly no European car I can name (or afford, at least) is to be trusted out of warranty.
Having said that, my wife just took delivery of a BMW X3 and I ordered an Infiniti M35X -- we do not plan to ever have any time when we run these cars without warranties (so I guess that means I am also not yet convinced that even the mighty Japanese cars can be trusted without some "protection" -- I know, sounds like a condom public service announcement or something, but that's not what I mean.)
You will love driving your new Audi A4 Avant -- it is truly a great car. You have been duly cautioned and sworn.
P.S. If you are interested in an Avant, there may be some spiffy 2005 leftover Audi allroads that can be had for a "song" at this point (check it out.)
If I understand you correctly, are you saying I can take my own car and have it CPO'd and then drive it 2 more years or to 100K? Or do you mean I take the car to trade for a new Audi and when I trade it in the dealer CPO it and sells it...
I have not asked the dealer yet because I am still getting $$ together before I go buy, but I have seen a lot of people on various forums talking about extended warrantys. That is why I said I would drive it for 5 years. I just assumed that when I bought the car that the official Audi dealer would offer to extend my warranty as long as I like( and Pay for!!) and that I would bite and take it for another year or 15K( however many miles they offer.) The past 3 years I have driven 34k so I fall right in the 12k/year limit....
thanks for your help, Mark!
Audi is selling an insurance policy and they are spending the money to reduce the risk (think of it as a physical prior to getting life insurance). The money you give them is the premium. It seems that this is a vote of confidence for their cars' reliability if you ask me (but no one ever does).
Then during the CPO inspection they fix anything that they are certain will bite them in the warranty wallet.
You drive off with a car with 50K miles on it and if it is 4 years old you get another 50K in warranty or 6 years from the start (in your case that would be 2 more years if you only drove 12K miles per year.)
The reason to get this availability up front -- but not actually buy it -- is to give yourself some wiggle room as the 50K or 4 years comes up -- who knows you may justify that the cost of 4 new tires plus $1200 for the CPO is close enough for jazz for you to get a brand new Audi and not keep the 4 year old car after all.
This applies regardless of your method of financing, BTW. The leases apparently are now starting to be subvented which makes for a compelling argument to lease versus buy, but that is my bias showing too.