Audi A4 Lease Questions

duntuk

I'm about to lease a car in a couple of weeks (2007 audi a4 ) under my father's name (who has perfect credit)...

(my credit got ruined due to identity theft--so putting it under my name isn't an option)

Would it be possible to start a new business (s-corp), and qualify for the same lease under my business (even if it's only 1 week old)?

What's the cost difference between a personal and business car lease? how about the cost of insurance?

Basically, i want to be able to write off this lease on my taxes (because car would be used 60% for business) ... so i'm not sure if i'll even be able to do that, if the car was under my father's name, therefore the business lease would come into play.... so not sure which would be more "cost affective"...

Thanks for any input on this.
-ales

side note: i also just became and "independent contractor" , and i am planning on starting an s-corp for better taxes.

larwil324

Hello;
I think your tax related questions could be answered best by a good Tax consultant.

papapapaul

I just leased a a4 and here were my numbers:
0 down
36 months
15k /per
MF 0.0008
Resid: 0.57

Hope this helps people out there

giampiero6

Hi Papapapaul:

Thanks for the note. What does that work out to for a monthly payment?

Thanks a lot.

G

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi escortowner. Vehicles' money factors and residual values are set by the bank that you are leasing them through. Individual dealers to not have the authority to alter banks' published residual values and they cannot lower banks' buy rate lease money factors. Dealers are often allowed to "mark-up" vehicles' money factors to add additional hidden, back-end profit to deals. That is why it is important to know exactly what your vehicle's money factor should be prior to finalizing your deal.

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CarMan@Edmunds

You're very welcome alcarmedia :shades: . Good point about the all season tires. As an added bonus, consumers who live on places that get snow won't have to change their tires in the winter if they get the all season tires. Those performance tires can be pretty slippery in the snow.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi Afraz. Is $34,635 this car's MSRP or its selling price? If you let me know what they both are I will gladly tell you what I think of this deal.

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CarMan@Edmunds

HI sestra. I am sorry to hear about your car problems. Unfortunately, once you signed your lease contract and physically drove your car off of the dealer's lot it was yours. You cannot give it back at this point. You certainly can express your displeasure to the dealer and see what they will do for you, but they are not obligated to do anything but fix your car. Hopefully the dealer will repair your car properly the first time and you will not continue to have problems with it. Make sure to document all of the repairs that you have had done to your car, including keeping the receipts and taking notes on who you spoke with. In the unfortunate and unlikely event that your vehicle continues to have problems you will need this information if you decide to proceed with a Lemon Law case against Audi.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi pootie562. This particular discussion is for consumers to discuss leasing the Audi A4. You will probably have better luck getting a response to your question if you post it in the following discussion: "Audi A4 2005+".

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CarMan@Edmunds

You're very welcome, giampiero6. I'm glad that you enjoy it :shades: . How many months are left on your current A4 lease. Trying to get out if it early will likely cause you to spend more than you have to to get your new A4. You would probably better off waiting until you are closer to the scheduled end of your current lease to get a new car.

If you are set on getting a new A4 now, I can give you an idea of how much it would cost to lease one. I just need some additional information from you first, including the car's approximate selling price, how long you want to lease it for, and how many miles per year you need to be able to drive it. You should be able to get an idea of what sort of selling price to expect by visiting the following discussion: "Audi A4: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi techson. the car that you described probably has a spread of around $2,500 between its full MSRP and its dealer invoice price. You were quoted a discount of $1,186 on it. There's still some room to play with here. If you are in an area that has a decent level of competition, it wouldn't hurt to shop around to see if you are able to beat this price. there's no guarantee that you'll be able to, but it doesn't hurt to try.

Also, the money factor that you were quoted for this car is way too high. Audi Financial Services' current buy rate lease money factor for a 24 month lease of a 2007 A4 2.0T Sedan with quattro is only .00080. It appears as though the dealer that you are working with is attempting to mark your car's money factor up to add additional back-end profit to your deal. Make sure that the dealer that you lease from uses this car's buy rate to calculate your lease payment.

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CarMan@Edmunds

You're very welcome, a4fan.

Car_man
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papapapaul

G,

With the Audi Care,taxes etc. It worked out to be 401 a month.

Hope this helps

CarMan@Edmunds

Hello franklyjas. The car that you described, which sounds pretty sweet considering how loaded it is, probably has a spread of around $3,100 between its full MSRP and its dealer invoice price. The discount that you are being given on it $3,235 looks very attractive to me. It is probably very close to dealer invoice. Furthermore, the money factor and acquisition fee that you were quoted are right in line with Audi Financial Services' base numbers for this model. If you like the car, I personally don't see any reason not to pull the trigger on this deal.

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giampiero6

Hi Papa...

Thanks a lot for the info. I appreciate it!

Best,

G

giampiero6

Car_man...you rock the globe. Thanks. I have 2 payments left on my lease. Here are the additional figures you asked for.

Approx. selling price: $40,600
Lease term 36months
15k miles
0 down 0 drives

Just to remind you the car in question is:
2007 A4 2.0T Cab, heated seats, premium package, sports supsension

I'm getting close to making a decision...You advice is appreciated. Thanks again.

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi franklyjas. This vehicle's lease program varies by term and mileage allowance. For now I will assume that you're interested in a 36 month lease with 15,000 miles per year. Let me know if you want something different. Audi Financial Services' current buy rate lease money factor and residual value for a 36 month lease of a 2007 A4 Avant 2.0T with 15,000 miles per year are .00080 and 55%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi again franklyjas. Unless you are able to lock in your ordered car's lease program you actually will have to use the program that is available when your car arrives to calculate its monthly payment. If you can lock in Audi's current lease program, a number of manufacturers allow this...I'm just not sure if Audi is one of them, then you will have the option to choose the program that is available now or the one that is available when your car arrives, whichever one is better.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Thanks giampiero6 :shades: . Two remaining payments isn't that bad. I still personally would just wait two months to get a new vehicle rather than wasting my final two payments on my old one, but what you do is up to you.

OK, let's take a look at the deal that you were quoted. A base 2007 A4 2.0 CVT Cabriolet without quattro has a spread of around $3,100 between its full MSRP and its dealer invoice price. You are being given a $1,900 discount on the model that you are interested in. That's a pretty decent price. There's still a little bit of room there so it wouldn't hurt to shop around, but I doubt that you'll be able to do much better than the price that you've already been given.

Now let's work up a lease payment on this car. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2007 A4 2.0 CVT Cabriolet without quattro that has an MSRP of $42,500 and a selling price of $40,600 through Audi Financial Services right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $508.

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pure3

Car_man...or other knowledgeable members:

I'm looking at a 2007 2.0TQ Avant (6spd, convenience, heated front seats, sports suspension, premium, and rear side airbags). I haven't negotiated any aspects of the deal, so I'm curious what you think I can gain in negotiations. Here's the first offer:

36 Month Lease
12,000 miles/year
MSRP $36,010
Price $35,500 (I backed into this #)
Invoice $33,369
MF 0.0008
RV 54%
Down = First Month + $575 Acq
Tax = 7.7%

Monthly Payment = $475.55 + Tax

The salesman indicated that because Avants are rare, and 6 speed Avants even more rare, there wasn't much wiggle room on price. Any truth to this?

Also, I'll be trading in my 2002 A4 1.8tqm with an approximate trade-in value of $13,200 (Edmund's) and a payoff of $5,000. I don't want to apply this towards the down payment...will they cut me a check after the payoff? And, can I gain any tax credit for the trade-in? If so, how do I calculate this? (all the online calculators try to roll the equity into the down payment).

Thanks in advance!
-PuRe

raidertt2001

When I bought mine in Jan. 06 there were only 3 07 Avants with MT6 in the SF Bay area and something like 4 in the State of CA. I believe it because I called pretty much EVERY single dealer in the state trying to find one. Fortunately the one I wanted was close buy and available.

07 A4 Avant MT6 Brilliant black
Sline
Ti package
NAV
Premium
Convience
Bluetooth
Cold

Basically everything for $500 over invoice. Now this was on the absolute last day of the sales year...Jan 2, 07 so they were somewhat motivated to sell. fwiw

good_carma

Car_man and other knowledgeable members,

A couple of Audi dealers have quoted me a certain invoice price for a 2007 A4. But when compared it to the Edmunds (or other websites') invoice price, they've added about $500 and call it the 'pre-inspection delivery' and 'ad-association fee'. This looks like a big scam to me and I just walked-away. I couldn't find much info on the web about such fees for new cars. So what is going on here?

Also, these dealers are asking for $500 above their "pumped" up invoice. Reading this thread and other threads on this forum, it does appear that these dealers are trying to overcharge - simply because of the lack of 2.0T A4 quattros with 6MT. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

edwardsf

I am not an expert but I do know that "invoice" is not synonomous with "MSRP." That is, invoice is supposedly the dealer base from which every additional dollar is profit. Certainly there can be other hidden incentives but you seem to be saying that you are being ripped off if the dealer charges you something over their base. If you look back on this forum for the last 2 years (which I am guessing you have not), you will find that the actual sale price for A4s is normally between $500-$900 above invoice. But this price is for a group of knowledgeable buyers - Edmunds readers. Most folks pay more.

giampiero6

Sir. You rock. So I'm reverse engineering something like .0008 MF and somewhere like 66% residual on the 2007 A4 2.0 no Q Cabriolet. Is that correct?

Thanks again. I feel very confident I see what's going on now...

samsaks

This is long. But any help would be highly appreciated.

I was interested in leasing an AUDI A4 2T Quattro. I had wanted to take delivery of the car on Dec 30, but due to the saleperson/ finance manager (at the dealership) not having given me complete information on all the documentation required the approval did not go through.

Thereafter, I finalized a lease on the vehicle and obtained the approval in the first week of January from Audi Finacial Services as per a special offer then currently being offered. $379 per month, Money Factor - .00115, Residual - 73%. I negotiated a deal $430 a month with only the first payment down.

Since I was travelling out of the country for a couple of weeks, I requested the dealership to be able to pick up the car after I return since I had not been able to take delivery when I wanted to be able to take it and I would now be taking delivery only to not use the car at all for the rest of the month. The dealership readily agreed and did not at any point inform me that there is an expiration date when the approval lapses.

I also made the PAYMENT FOR THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF THE LEASE as a gesture of good faith and firm intention to lease the vehicle. A referral of mine did infact sign the lease and take delivery of another vehicle at that time (all conditions were identical).

I was scheduled to return on the 29th of January, but due to the global British Airways strike, my flight was cancelled and I could not return till the 6th of February. On calling the dealership upon my return I was informed that my approval had been cancelled (even though I had never been informed about a deadline) and I would have to get reapproved at the new (much higher) rates. The fact that I had already made the first payment was deemed irrelevant.

I do understand that the dealership could not reasonably be expected to hold the car indefinitely, but the least I could expect from AUDI and the dealership was to have been informed. I was not reachable by phone since I was abroad, but my email address as well as the contact details of my colleague and referral (we had finalized the deal for both the cars together) were with the dealership. I recieved neither an email nor did my colleague get word that the approval would be cancelled by a certain date so that I could have been informed.

I have called the dealership and they have informed me of their inability to do anything since this is in the hands of Audi Financial Services (AFS). I called the AFS helpline and the customer care associate informed me of her inability to help me. Do I have any options at all?

Thanks a lot,
Sam

pure3

raidertt2001,

That's a great deal. Any tips to get them to that price? (I know you asked on AW how to get down there).

Were there other factors involved, i.e. a trade-in or dealer extras like tint and clearbra? I'm having a hard time getting my dealer to go below $1,500 over invoice on a 6MT Sline Avant.

Maybe I need to order a car from California

-PuRe

dman

Picked up my 07 A4 2.0T S-Line w/ navi and DSG (no Titanium pkg) two weeks ago and it feels like I've been driving her for a lot longer than that already.

$1000 over invoice (I asked for $500 over)
0.0008 MF
3yr/15k miles a year
$1600 down (around $90 going to cap cost reduction)
I had about $2500 in negative equity from my trade-in so I had to roll that in
Security deposit was waived
Residual was 56% I believe, it went up 1% after I added the $550 Audi maintenance program but that only increased my monthly payments by $5.
MSRP on the car was just over $42k (I don't have the exact numbers in front of me).

I actually made my offer based on some deal that someone else on this forum got which was why I was asking for $500 over (they had gotten an S-Line too). Dealer told me he could do $500 over for a regular A4 but not the S-Line version. No big deal.

They offered me about $1k less on my trade-in but I was ok with that. However, they ran the carfax on my trade after the offer, discovered it was an accident before I owned it. Honda dealership I bought the car from did not disclose the accident from me at the time of purchase over a year ago. They told me it was a corporate car with a clean title (it had a little over 5k miles on it) and treated the sale like a new car and gave me the low finance rate (3.9%). Even after finding out about the accident, the Audi dealer did not back down on their initial offer and that really impressed me.

Saw my old Honda selling at a used car dealership down the street and they are asking about $3k more on it compared to what I traded it in for. After I factor in the tax credit I get for trading it in and the refund I'll be getting on the $1600 7yr/100k extended warranty I bought (and never used) it looks like I did pretty good on that trade-in afterall.

mel27

Thinking of leasing a '07 A4 2.0T Quattro, wanted to know if this sounded about right....
Prem Pkg / Conv Pkg / Heated Seats
MSRP = $35,285
Invoice = $33,303
Price = $33,803
36mos/15K/ 0 down
Cash due = $1502.54 (1st month pay included)
payments = $463.54
-thanks

mgd191

Hi Car_Man:

Here's an quote I received today, what do you think?

Audi A4 quattro 2.0
Premium/Convenience/Cold Weather Pkg.
36 Months/20K miles per year
MSRP: $35610
Selling Price: $34000
Residual: 0.57
Money Factor: 0.0008
bank fee: 575
documentation: 167
Total monthly: 556.56 including 50.56 of tax
I had everything capitalized based on your previous post advice. Also, there is a 10% tax in my area. Thanks!

dgarb

Car_man, Do you have any knowledge or experience with re-leasing an Audi at the end of the first lease? I have an '06 A4 that will be coming off of lease and I would like to re-lease the car for another two years. The Audi web site lists this as an option. I am wondering if the lease terms are favorable? thanks.