Help with new 2014 purchase

[goondog]

Total Audi Newbie alert!

Thinking about an 2014 order in the next few month after seeing the 2014 online. Been in 335 leases over last decade and now needing a new purchase. I walked away from the 335 6mos ago and am driving an old 3rd car suv temporarily.

Wanting to order moonlight blue metallic or grey :
6MT
PPlus
MMI
SDiff with or without the AdaptiveDamping (havent looked into this option enough yet)
BO
BlackOption

Whats the best way to purchase? Use costco or ACNA 6% deal (is there really a the 6mos wait first??). Can anyone shed some light on custom order and price negotiations? With the 335 it was upfront before the order but they were all leases so i didnt care so much as long as my payment was in a ballpark. Now with the audi im not seeing any other incentives etc to help me have an upper hand. Thx for any suggestions or any purchasing tactics for the 14MY.

[Seis-Speed]

Start calling/emailing dealers. Tell them you will pay 500 over invoice and let them respond. I would just ask for the Internet sales manager. IF you are going to lease, check rates online for MF and residual, tell the dealer what you are looking for, they will give you a lease build. There is some incentives generally, but not like BMW, but you will be surprised how good of a deal you can get if you get several dealers involved. Again not like BMW. Just let them know you are serious, you want to buy, but you are new to Audi and you are shopping. In the end if it is close go to the best dealer an pay a little more. JM2cents

[goondog]

Start calling/emailing dealers. Tell them you will pay 500 over invoice and let them respond. I would just ask for the Internet sales manager. IF you are going to lease, check rates online for MF and residual, tell the dealer what you are looking for, they will give you a lease build. There is some incentives generally, but not like BMW, but you will be surprised how good of a deal you can get if you get several dealers involved. Again not like BMW. Just let them know you are serious, you want to buy, but you are new to Audi and you are shopping. In the end if it is close go to the best dealer an pay a little more. JM2cents


Sweet thx SS. Not leasing.
Ready to buy so ill start poking around. Just need to decide on color and adaptive damping if its worth it or not?
Im guessing it allows for comfort settings etc for around town? Any thoughts or opinions on this option would be great!
thx again!

also is it worth the wait applying to the ANCA for the discounts or better to ask a bit over invoice as they are both in the same range?

[SwankPeRFection]

In my opinion, adaptive damp is not worth it. It adds another thing that can break, limits your aftermarket shock options (if you ever want to go that way) and it doesn't even provide that dramatic of a change in driving characteristics. However, I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to suspension setups, so hardware vs electro appeals to me more because of it's diversity moving forward... and it's less stuff to break.

[MVR 155]

As suggested by Seis I would start calling/emailing dealers closest to you and see what they are willing to do. Some of the buying service programs are nice and can net you a great deal. You might want to look at joining PenFed since they too offer a nice buying service and very competitive rates should you choose to finance. My wife is full time Army but Im almost positive they offer membership to civilians (unless you are in the military) with opening up an account with them..... I think you only need to keep a $5 or $10 balance. I got a killer deal on my car but for grins priced one through the PenFed buying service and it was a great upfront price (about 5% off sticker price). Audi by rule of thumb has a 6% markup and no published holdback so invoice pricing will have you doing very well on your purchase. I believe there is an incentive in place currently ($1,000) for new owners coming from a competing brand such as BMW, if you have a copy of your registration still you may be able to get them to honor it even if you no longer "technically" own the car. With your list of options I really think you will be hard pressed to find a remaining inventory 2013 but if you did this would be a time where you could probably work a deal under invoice. Best of luck!!!

[drob23]

In my opinion, adaptive damp is not worth it. It adds another thing that can break, limits your aftermarket shock options (if you ever want to go that way) and it doesn't even provide that dramatic of a change in driving characteristics. However, I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to suspension setups, so hardware vs electro appeals to me more because of it's diversity moving forward... and it's less stuff to break.

Agreed, I have it and have since lowered my car, IMO it's not worth it. Wish I would have saved the money and invested it into coils or dampers to match the OE springs.

[SwankPeRFection]

The other option that in my opinion is not a good one is Adaptive Cruise. Adaptive Cruise sounds cool when you read up on it, but when you actually use it and experience it, it's horrible. My biggest gripe with it is the distance level it picks even on the lowest setting. I am not quite as conservative as the car is in terms of distance from the vehicle in front of me as I'm on cruise in the left lane and coming up on a vehicle that will move out of the way by the time I get to it. My way, I hover my foot on the brake just in case it's needed and I kindly ask the jackass to move over with a flash of my brights unless of course he/she knows how to drive and is already doing so because they checked their mirror and saw me approaching faster than they are driving. It's not unheard of me to be closer to the vehicle in front of me before it moved out of the way as opposed to the 4-5 car length (depending on speed, etc.) that the adaptive cruise control computer thinks it should keep before it decides it has a clear path to reengage the cruise. So, this constant brake accel bs the adaptive cruise does is just plain annoying... and I don't think there's a way to turn it off and go back to regular cruise either if so equipped. Just FYI before you spend your money.

[goondog]

Thx for all the info.
Ive eliminated the ADS after reading through some past posts about it. Ill still have a "pseudoADS" via the MMI interface with the differential so i should be OK.
Now to decide on black option...does look sweet with the moonlight blue.
Im a USAA member but no real discounts there, might look into PENFED though.
Will shoot for slightly above invoice and see what the local stealerships say. Thanks for everyones input. Wanting to order to get in before winter!

[SwankPeRFection]

There's always Panther Black if available for an additional cost. Very few will be around in that color. The Volcano red is also killer if they still make it.

[Seis-Speed]

I did not get ADS, because I knew I was going to get aftermarket suspension, if you like your car stock then I would get that option. As you can tell many of us go with aftermarket parts. Did you mod your BMW's?

[goondog]

SS-
Didnt mod the 335i's as they were all business leases. Dont do any track stuff either. But since im purchasing it might be fun to add some suspension down the road.
Ill drop the ADS and probably add the leather as Im not sure of the alacantra on the seats in the heat of summer and never had a car wo leather.

[SwankPeRFection]

Alcantara is not hot in direct sunlight. Actually all leather gets hotter to the touch and is hard to sit on with thin or shorter shorts. (Don't ask. Lol)

The only thing that bothers me is not being able to just hop in it if you're sweaty from sports or whatnot and getting them wet. It's supposedly a synthetic material that cleans up easy, but it would just bother me to do it. I lay down a towel. With leather I'd just sit and when I got up, I'd wipe it down. For me, even with the fear of a sweat shadow (lol) I'd still get Alcantara again. It holds you in the seat better than all leather does. It also seems to wear better too because the leather bolsters have some wear from getting in and out, but the cushions are like new.

That said, get what is right for you. I'm just sharing my likes/dislikes.

BTW, get a black interior (headliner and pilers). The darker color makes the inside wrap around you and it seems like you're driving a coupe instead of a 4 door.

[MVR 155]

I was hell bent on getting the Nappa leather, I bought my 2013 within a week or so of them suspending 2013 orders and about a month before they came out with 2014 pricing. My dealer was giving me invoice (have a hook up through my brother) and there was an additional $1K incentive since I was coming out of a competing brand. I also didn't want to wait 3-4 months to get the car so going with a 2013 made the most sense. I had a specific list of options I wanted and it had to be silver so my dealer located a car nearby but it had the Alcanterra seats, I did some research (much of it here at AZ) and found that everyone who had them loved them and they held up fantastically. They are definitely better in the summer with keeping you cool.... They breathe a bit better and don't get as hot when the car sits.

[drob23]

BTW, get a black interior (headliner and pilers). The darker color makes the inside wrap around you and it seems like you're driving a coupe instead of a 4 door.

Was just in an A6 loaner with beige cloth headliner, and it was startling how much cheaper it made the car feel. Even the F150 I'm in right now seems nicer with a black cloth headliner. Sat in an S6 at the Detroit auto show which had 40k (!) worth of options, one of which included alcantara headliner, now that was tits!

[goondog]

Sweet!! Thx for all the advice. This is by far and away THE best forum group- light years ahead of the bummerpost where i used to be.

Ok heres the next "issue" need help with. Dealer just held an order for my specs and misquoted a price via email to me. do i stick by it? Its way below invoice. Almost as if they forgot to calculate the MMI into the msrp.
Do I let them go with it and then discuss if/when they catch it? Im the service industry and when an employee ever misquotes or puts a cost of goods on item I honor it. Dont know if this holds true with auto deals though.
Any advice would be appreciated! Either way looks like im ordering an 14MY!!

[s4buckeye]

Sweet!! Thx for all the advice. This is by far and away THE best forum group- light years ahead of the bummerpost where i used to be.

Exactly.

As to the invoice issue, you could be getting the car under invoice anyway. the common refrain of getting a car for a few bucks over invoice is heard often, but I wouldn't ever say that's the best deal you can get. hold them to it.

[Mrads]

If they will honour their quote then you are golden. Is their quote include any incentives offered by Audi?

When I got my 13 S4 my price was below invoice but that was after incentives.

I also moved from a 335 to Audi and found the gang here on AZ way more friendly and helpful than the bimmerpost gang.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[SwankPeRFection]

In regards to the price they quoted. Call or email and simply ask if they're there is anything further to discuss in terms of getting the deal done. If they say no, then close the conversation with, "OK, so the car you'll be ordering for me will be as follows (go over exact model and all options) and the total sale price will come to (state the price they show)." If they say "Yes, that's correct.", that's all you need to say. Leave it at that. With this you've done two things. One, reverified the price they quoted you and given them a chance to make corrections if a mistake was made on their part. You have no need to question the price or point out a mistake. All you had to do is reverify the facts within the original quote, anything else is not your problem and you now have two instances where the price was quoted to you as you saw it, so if it is wrong, they can't argue that it was an initial mistake. [;)]


On the flip side, if they make the correction, you have the option to shmooze them into honoring the original quote, mistake or not. Just be nice and state that you'd like them to stand behind their quoted price.

[Seis-Speed]

I wanted Nappa leather, but after numerous people told me how much they liked Alcantara, I decided to give it a shot. I really really like it. I would not let that option be a deal killer at all. In fact if I ordered today I would get it w/o a cost difference. People who get in your car think Alcantara is an upgrade. Stick and diff are must haves everything else is personal preference. [:D]

[goondog]

Dang
Looks like they are not honoring initial quote (literally 3k below invoice!) so totally a mistake on their part. But are giving me 6% off msrp which i think is the ANCA discount. Do I have any more wiggle room here? Ill probably go for it if i can get them to meet at invoice price (52k)which would be ok especially for an ordered vehicle. But they did state a 3mos wait !

so far nothing fancy but all i need:
gray
6MT
P+
MMI
Dif
B&O
Black Optics

[bruins]

hey, that sounds like a great deal . . . picked up my car 2 weeks ago. paid 150 over invoice. happy with that, and no wait, as I found substantially what i was looking for by searching inventories on the internet. My S4 is Moonlight Blue with Black Nappa. Love the color.
everyone who sees the car stares at it and comments on the color. there is not one thing about it that I am unhappy with! I think the black optics package would look great with the Moonlight Blue or Grey. Good Luck!!

[goondog]

bruins -
thx man. Ill probably go ahead with the order at 6% off msrp. splitting hairs here vs invoice by a few hundred bucks.

gotta post a pic of your moonlight blue. My choices were bw the blue and the grey. I looked but not alot of posts with black option pics yet.
I just thought that grey would be easier to maintain and more stealth with the black opt but the blue would really stand out and have a wow factor!

tough call...

[bruins]

bruins -
thx man. Ill probably go ahead with the order at 6% off msrp. splitting hairs here vs invoice by a few hundred bucks.

gotta post a pic of your moonlight blue. My choices were bw the blue and the grey. I looked but not alot of posts with black option pics yet.
I just thought that grey would be easier to maintain and more stealth with the black opt but the blue would really stand out and have a wow factor!

tough call...

how do you post a pic with a reply????

[goondog]

Im not sure either but i see your moonlight blue in your sig. Looks great. Darker than i thought. Ill prob stick with the monsoon gray.
Gotta start calling dealers again and see if i can any at invoice.

[drob23]

how do you post a pic with a reply????

Go upload the pic to a photo sharing site like flickr, copy the url and then paste it into the image field you get from the editor. This site doesn't have image hosting capabilities...

[goondog]

Im in final negotiations.

Is flat 6% off MSRP a decent deal? That puts me about 500 over invoice for my order. Dealer trying to put another $895 on for shipping overseas (destination) but there is already one included in MSRP. Is there ever a charge for an order??

[QuattroRocket]

Im in final negotiations.

Is flat 6% off MSRP a decent deal? That puts me about 500 over invoice for my order. Dealer trying to put another $895 on for shipping overseas (destination) but there is already one included in MSRP. Is there ever a charge for an order??

Every car has freight and PDI in the deal, not sure why this car would require a special freight surcharge over the norm ???

[Cyncris]

Im in final negotiations.

Is flat 6% off MSRP a decent deal? That puts me about 500 over invoice for my order. Dealer trying to put another $895 on for shipping overseas (destination) but there is already one included in MSRP. Is there ever a charge for an order??

You might have to put some money down, but it will count towards the price of the car.
Just a word on Alcantera vs Nappa. If you have pets, the hair will stick to the alcantera more than it will your clothes...so you would have to clean it often. It will absorb smells like cloth, so if you plan to keep this for a long time and/or your wife thinks that bringing her salmon that she had leftover from dinner, home and "oh while we are out, lets stop by here....the food will be fine for 20 minutes, while we are inside" ....... you may want the Nappa.

[SwankPeRFection]

Does the original quoted price paperwork state "Price subject to change." or "Price shown here may not be final price." If there's no verbiage like that on it, tell them to honor it or you're taking them to court. [;)] lol Seriously though, why do they expect you to all of a sudden swallow it because they made a mistake. What kind of a show are they running over there? 6% discount under MSRP is bullshit. They should at least throw in Audicare for their fuck-up. If the sales manager doesn't like it, he can save the money on the backend by firing the person who did the initial quote paperwork. (I'm horrible, I know... lol)

[goondog]

Cyn/Swank
Thx. Im going to ask for invoice price and if not walk away and start looking around. They asked for a $1K deposit for an order that would be applied to cost.
Tired of jacking around and Ill let them stew on my deal for a bit.
Thanks for all the help! Ill let you know how it ends :)

[goondog]

Crud back to the board...

so im trying to get some hits close to invoice pricing and then did a search on some cpos and this came up:

2013 with 3500 miles
manual
PRESTIGE
leather
Diff
inlays

they are asking $51600 for it. buts its black/black and not 19" wheels. Probably could get them down more..looks like a solid deal for low miles, prestige cpo.
dont know if i should bite and wouldnt be able to see it in person and would have to deal with transport headaches.
anyone had experience doing long distance transactions without being able to drive car etc?? OR just stick with my 2014 plans more local.

[UmIsThisThingOn]

Im in final negotiations.

Is flat 6% off MSRP a decent deal? That puts me about 500 over invoice for my order. Dealer trying to put another $895 on for shipping overseas (destination) but there is already one included in MSRP. Is there ever a charge for an order??

That is standard for every car. You cannot get that dropped. You should look out for over the top paperwork charges and other BS add ons.

[goondog]

That is standard for every car. You cannot get that dropped. You should look out for over the top paperwork charges and other BS add ons.


UM-

Thanks. The other prestige car is sold so im back to my order:

gray
6MT
P+
MMI
Dif
B&O
Black Optics

dealer did remove the extra 895$

and is doing 6% off msrp (55795) making it $52450.
Looking around at other cpo and specific cars this looks like a decent deal.
Anything else i should be wary about? or any crutial options im missing?
They did say this is the bottom price and no other BS add ons.
What is typical for a deposit 500 or 1K?
Is typical build as stated 90-120days? seems like a while!
thx for all the help. Im also in no hurry so i could pass and try again dealing in next few months also...

[tgrundke]

UM-

Is typical build as stated 90-120days? seems like a while!
.

120 days from order to delivery is about right. One thing that you need to pay attention to is what your dealer's allocation looks like so that you don't get screwed waiting for an allocation slot before the order process even gets started. Each dealership gets allocated so many build slots based on their volume, so you'll want to be sure that after you order the dealer can successfully submit the order to the factory during the next window (IIRC, that's around the 15th of the month, but I may be off in my recall on that).

Good dealerships shoudl be able to provide you a commission number once the order is received at the factory, along with updates along the way. Good luck!

[bruins]

UM-

Thanks. The other prestige car is sold so im back to my order:

gray
6MT
P+
MMI
Dif
B&O
Black Optics

dealer did remove the extra 895$

and is doing 6% off msrp (55795) making it $52450.
Looking around at other cpo and specific cars this looks like a decent deal.
Anything else i should be wary about? or any crutial options im missing?
They did say this is the bottom price and no other BS add ons.
What is typical for a deposit 500 or 1K?
Is typical build as stated 90-120days? seems like a while!
thx for all the help. Im also in no hurry so i could pass and try again dealing in next few months also...

sounds like a good deal! you are passing on the 19" wheels? and the carbon fiber inlays look really good!

[john1300]

Hey all, I just bought a 2014 S4, and I pretty much did what people are advising here. I dealt with a bunch of dealers and just got them to make offers via email. I tried to keep it to email (and writing) as much as possible. In the end, I got a 2014 Volcano Red (my first and only color choice) for $300 over invoice which they had to get in from some other dealer. Some quick math is that that is about 6%-7% off MSRP. It seems like that, at least for this car, 7% off MSRP = invoice price.

The other thing that I did was use Consumer Checkbook's CarBargains service, where they negotiate for you. Costs like 180 bucks which seems reasonable. However, what I did not count on was that it took them about a month for them to complete this service, which was just too long for me to wait. If you have the time (or the patience, unlike me), this is a good way to go about it, you get firm offers in writing from 5 different dealers, and you don't have to deal with dealers. Unfortunately for me, it was 200 bucks wasted, because I got too excited to wait for them.

[goondog]

sounds like a good deal! you are passing on the 19" wheels? and the carbon fiber inlays look really good!

I am still considering the carbon inlays. need to see some pics with and without soon.


The Black Optics package states it comes with the 19" summer tires. Hopefully I have this correct! Am i off on this??
PPS on order form :
19" titanium 5 arm rotor design with 235/35 summer tires.

Definitely wanting the 19" but havent seen to many members with the BOptic pkg to confirm?

[goondog]

Back in the fold -

can anyone help with active dampening 1bL options - i dont track and never have. dont think this is the car that im going to start with so my questions are :
Is this active suspension stiffer than stock and does it lower the car?
i searched the forums and one post stated that in dynamic it was stiffer (there is some confusion on my point on rear thin sway bar)

thx for info.

[goondog]

ORDER IS IN!

I got a commision order for my s4

monsoon gray
6MT PP+
Red magma interior
Sports Diff
Adaptive Susp
MMI
Black Optics Pkg
BO Sound
Carbon Inlays

I cratered and am going not only leather but red magma...hope it goes with the gray exterior.
Also caved and going with the full ADS. I dont race nor have had the time to track (although one day...) so i cant see myself doing any huge mods on suspension. Although I did read a post that the ADS equipped cars could be modded to an extent?

Car should be here in mid-December. Now the wait. Ugh.
Thx for any input/advice. Probably have a couple days to make changes.

[isles1]

Advice:

1. Have the dealer print out for you the screenshot with the Comm # and the option codes ASAP. Make sure everything you ordered is actually there.
2. Do not wait until the car arrives to discuss what is due at signing and what fees will be charged on top of your negotiated sales price. I saw that you caught an extra destination charge, but you need to be on the look out for dealer prep fees and documents fees, which are BS and usually add up to a few hundred dollars that the dealer tries to sneak in. I am not sure what 6% off MSRP works out to in relation to invoice, but getting an ordered car for at or near invoice price is not the norm...so that would put my radar up for hidden fees.

[goondog]

isles1 thx!

i am gettting a printout later today and there is a doc fee ($79) and lien fee ($10) whatever that is. Ill blow those off when i get the revised order sheet. The extra destination fee is now corrected and gone.
Am getting 6% off msrp so about 400 over invoice which is ok with me as Ive searched around and this was the best deal in my area without traveling too far.
Thx again for the advice.