2014 S4 Lease End Options

[fraiskir]

Hello Folks,

I'm nearing the end of lease on my 2014 S4 6MT located in NorCal. I was hoping to get few questions answered before I decide what to do with the car.

About the car:

• Premium Plus trim - Loaded with options (Sports diff, B&O, 19" wheels etc.)
• Only done 21K miles out of the allotted 36k
• Residual of $32400
• KBB values a dealer trade-in around $34k to $37k. Private party range higher by $1k to $2k
• Excellent condition
• Similar S4's in the dealership is priced a little over $40k
• Audi care cover for 1 more year

The way I see it, these are my options:

1. Buy the car
   
   • This has been an amazing car. Love the ride, amazinly smooth shifter and Sports Diff FTW - it eats up the curves which NorCal roads can throw at it.
   • I need to account for the tax (8.5%) and the paperwork which I have to do.
   • Has anyone done a buyout finance through AFS? Will they come close to their CPO APR?
   • I did see credit unions/banks offering end of lease buyout loans. How different is this compared to a used car loan?
   • The main risk I see with the buyout is the current Audi/VW emission scandal. Any yet-to-be discovered firmware workarounds might ding the resale value, probably not as bad as TDIs.
   • Besides regular maintenance (break pads in the near term, tires already replaced), any other big expense that I should be aware of? Does the water-pump issue affect 2014 models? Extended warranty at the end of 4 years (additional ~2k) might be a good idea
   • The lease essentially works out to be a deferred purchase. Considering the different scenarios, had I decided to buy the car initially vs buying now, I would be breaking even to about $1000 profit by buying now. This is mainly due to lease incentives at the time.
   • If I went this route, planning on keeping it atleast for the 3 years.
2. "Sell" the car to an Audi Dealer
   
   • Only Audi dealers can get the car at the residual price besides the lessee and they pay 0 tax This was confirmed when my friend with an S5 was trying to sell the car to non-Audi dealers.
   • Try to get one of the NorCal dealers to offer me $$ for taking the car considering the low residual and the fact that they can make atleast ~6k to 7k reselling it.
   • What is a good value I should expect here if I'm not gonna buy another Audi?
3. Lease turn in
   
   • $350 turn in fees. Hopefully my other options work out.

Thanks!

[StefanoScalia]

Dude, list the car on Craigslist. Profit.

[fraiskir]

Won't I have to buy the car first and then sell it? Is the hassle worth the profit?

[Dannydyn]

Flip it. Buy it out of the lease and flip for profit.

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[Dr GP]

Here is the problem. In the last 6 months of your lease, if you sell the car to anyone, Audi Financial Services will make them pay retail price. So it is not realistic to trade the car in to a non VW/Audi dealer.
But you or a VW/Audi dealer can buy it for the payoff price. You can buy the car from AFS/VW Credit, and resell the car. I believe in CA, if you resell the car in a specific time frame, you only have to pay tax on the sale once. But since I don't live in CA, I could be mistaken. So if you can find a buyer, I think you can flip the car and put money in your pocket. You can also trade the car in on another Audi product. That will put money in your pocket or apply it to your new car purchase or lease. Above all, it is not in your financial best interest to just give the car back. It has equity which you will be giving it up if you turn it in at lease end.

[DannyDeez]

Call different dealerships and see how much they'd be willing to give you for your car. I sold my leased S5 back to the dealership a few years ago with no hassle at all.

[fraiskir]

Thanks for the tip guys. Will follow up with the dealers and AFS. Definitely not thinking of turning it in.

[Audi Control]

Here is the problem. In the last 6 months of your lease, if you sell the car to anyone, Audi Financial Services will make them pay retail price. So it is not realistic to trade the car in to a non VW/Audi dealer.
But you or a VW/Audi dealer can buy it for the payoff price. You can buy the car from AFS/VW Credit, and resell the car. I believe in CA, if you resell the car in a specific time frame, you only have to pay tax on the sale once. But since I don't live in CA, I could be mistaken. So if you can find a buyer, I think you can flip the car and put money in your pocket. You can also trade the car in on another Audi product. That will put money in your pocket or apply it to your new car purchase or lease. Above all, it is not in your financial best interest to just give the car back. It has equity which you will be giving it up if you turn it in at lease end.

This! If you sell the car within 10 days of your lease end, only the buyer will have to pay tax on it and not you.

OP, I am in the same boat as you where I will have equity by my lease end. My initial thought is, if you don't need a different car, what kind of car could you get for only $32k that has the performance and looks of the S4. Personally, I will most likely trade it in for another lease as I like getting a new car every 2-3 years and not having to worry about warranty. I think it comes down to preference.

[fraiskir]

This! If you sell the car within 10 days of your lease end, only the buyer will have to pay tax on it and not you.

OP, I am in the same boat as you where I will have equity by my lease end. My initial thought is, if you don't need a different car, what kind of car could you get for only $32k that has the performance and looks of the S4. Personally, I will most likely trade it in for another lease as I like getting a new car every 2-3 years and not having to worry about warranty. I think it comes down to preference.

This is exactly my thoughts as well. There isn't anything that comes close to S4 around $32k. I'm reading mixed reviews about the CA tax rule about the 10 day window for resale, especially considering the title transfer. Will have to do a bit more research on that.

[vwblackb5]

Yes. If you have positive equity, it would be foolish to just return it. Leverage that equity and shop it to the highest bidder, but definitely use it to your advantage.

If Audi NA decides to not bring the B9 RS4 in 2018, I'm probably jumping ship and leveraging positive equity of my B8.5 for an F80 M3.


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[SportVier]

I would just buy and keep it for a while. You clearly like the car and you've already taken the big hit. You won't be losing nearly as much going forward, especially given that it's a 6MT. This is exactly where I usually buy: 2-3 years old and 20-30k miles. At that point you still get a couple of years under warranty and depreciation has slowed WAY down. Based on market values, looks like I've "spent" the equivalent of ~$125/month over 2 years and 20k miles so far on this car. Totally worth it!

[Audi Control]

This is exactly my thoughts as well. There isn't anything that comes close to S4 around $32k. I'm reading mixed reviews about the CA tax rule about the 10 day window for resale, especially considering the title transfer. Will have to do a bit more research on that.

I remember reading it on the DMV website. Check out the 2nd to last bullet point.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1...k/ch11/ch11_20

[JohnEnglish]

If Audi NA decides to not bring the B9 RS4 in 2018, I'm probably jumping ship and leveraging positive equity of my B8.5 for an F80 M3.

If we get anything it'll be the RS5 Sportback. The RS4 station wagon is Europe only.

One of my relatives usually just buys my lease at the end for whatever the residual is.

[vwblackb5]

If we get anything it'll be the RS5 Sportback. The RS4 station wagon is Europe only.

One of my relatives usually just buys my lease at the end for whatever the residual is.

This leaked product roadmap goes up to 2018 only, so one can speculate they can still announce something. If they do decide to bring the RS4, I certainly wouldn't complain if they chose a sedan or avant. RS6 avant, one can only hope.. I have a '16 S4 so hedging my bets on 2018 as per my YOLO roadmap.

Curious about this R8 V6 version though ..




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[JohnEnglish]

The head of Audi Quattro GmbH gave this quote about the RS4

"An avant is what people expect from the RS4. As for a sedan, we have to think of where we want to sell cars, and what is expected there. The potential in China and the U.S. for RS models is getting us thinking about body styles that may work there—maybe a hatchback, like the RS7.”

So time will tell.

[SportVier]

One of my relatives usually just buys my lease at the end for whatever the residual is.

Smart relative.

[Dr GP]

Yes. If you have positive equity, it would be foolish to just return it. Leverage that equity and shop it to the highest bidder, but definitely use it to your advantage.

If Audi NA decides to not bring the B9 RS4 in 2018, I'm probably jumping ship and leveraging positive equity of my B8.5 for an F80 M3.


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Just make sure you do it before the last 6 month of the lease term. Otherwise you will not get the equity out of the car from a BMW dealer. AFS will make them pay retail price to buy the car.

[mlavelle92]

What color? I ended up getting my s4 with a 6spd from Virginia because there are hardly any manuals in the Bay Area

[Low Orbit]

I leased a 2016 S4 with the same options as you but with DSG. So far, not impressed with the new B9 S4 (turbo and no DSG/manual). If you like the B8.5 as I do, I would recommend just buying out the lease and get a CPO for a little over $2K. That's my plan.

With the B8.5 update in 2014, it seems the S4s are pretty darn reliable and as has been said, it's a bargain as long as yours isn't a lemon, especially with your low mileage and the rare manual. It's a no brainer IMHO.

[MVR 155]

If you like the car I would buy it...... you have already taken the hardest hit of depreciation and have positive value over the residual. If you decide to sell it sooner than later you are in a better spot vs. just turning it in on the lease.

[silver_a4]

I'm in a similar situation, what do you guys think on trading in for an e90 M3?

[emnahum]

If you like the car I would buy it...... you have already taken the hardest hit of depreciation and have positive value over the residual. If you decide to sell it sooner than later you are in a better spot vs. just turning it in on the lease.

Plus, you know where it's been.

[MVR 155]

Plus, you know where it's been.

I just got done with a similar dilemma........ I have a 2013 S4 that I purchased new in April of 2013. It's been absolutely reliable but I don't have any interest in owning the car outside of warranty. I know many will say that I'm crazy but my DD cars are under warranty while I own them (whether it's factory/certified/extended) as I don't like surprises. I was seriously thinking of ordering a new S6 at the end of this year so it would be here around spring time. I decided to keep my 2013 S4 as it's been paid for now for quite some time, it's only got a little over 30K miles, is still like new and I still love driving it. An Audi branded warranty through my dealer for 3yr/36K is costing me $2700 which is about 3-4 months of payments on the S6 after my trade/$$ down. I'm looking at the fact that I have already absorbed the hardest hit on the depreciation and the car will not drop in value much over the next 1-2 years vs. what it did in the first 3+ years. I really love the S6 and I can easily afford to make the payments or even buy it outright but why just throw the money away???? I would rather apply it towards another investment property at this point.

[fraiskir]

What color? I ended up getting my s4 with a 6spd from Virginia because there are hardly any manuals in the Bay Area

Its a moonlight blue metallic. MTs are becoming exceedingly rare, one of the main reasons why I'm inclined to keep the car.

[fraiskir]

I just got done with a similar dilemma........ I have a 2013 S4 that I purchased new in April of 2013. It's been absolutely reliable but I don't have any interest in owning the car outside of warranty. I know many will say that I'm crazy but my DD cars are under warranty while I own them (whether it's factory/certified/extended) as I don't like surprises. I was seriously thinking of ordering a new S6 at the end of this year so it would be here around spring time. I decided to keep my 2013 S4 as it's been paid for now for quite some time, it's only got a little over 30K miles, is still like new and I still love driving it. An Audi branded warranty through my dealer for 3yr/36K is costing me $2700 which is about 3-4 months of payments on the S6 after my trade/$$ down. I'm looking at the fact that I have already absorbed the hardest hit on the depreciation and the car will not drop in value much over the next 1-2 years vs. what it did in the first 3+ years. I really love the S6 and I can easily afford to make the payments or even buy it outright but why just throw the money away???? I would rather apply it towards another investment property at this point.

How good is the extended warranty? Is it the same coverage as the initial 4 year warranty?

[fraiskir]

I leased a 2016 S4 with the same options as you but with DSG. So far, not impressed with the new B9 S4 (turbo and no DSG/manual). If you like the B8.5 as I do, I would recommend just buying out the lease and get a CPO for a little over $2K. That's my plan.

With the B8.5 update in 2014, it seems the S4s are pretty darn reliable and as has been said, it's a bargain as long as yours isn't a lemon, especially with your low mileage and the rare manual. It's a no brainer IMHO.

Do you guys know if the CPO should be done when I'm buying the car or can it be done at the end of 4 year warranty period? Probably a question for the "too stupid to ask" thread, but how is this different from Audi branded extended warranty?

[vwblackb5]

Just make sure you do it before the last 6 month of the lease term. Otherwise you will not get the equity out of the car from a BMW dealer. AFS will make them pay retail price to buy the car.

Good point. I'd hate to miss out on rolling positive equity which translates into a cap cost reduction to offset the cost of carbon ceramic brake option for the F80 M3 lol

Still very optimistic on the RS4 coming in 2018-2019 before jumping ship..


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[tcoshea]

I found myself in a very similar position recently with my '15 S4. I was looking at a 3yr, 15k per year lease, and I only had 18k on the car. My buyout was $32k and change, and I was looking to jump into an F80 M3 or C63s. After a lot of debate, I decided to take the plunge and buyout the lease... and modify the car. I'm sending it down to the folks at AWE in a few weeks to get a few upgrades:

- AWE touring exhaust w/ resonated downpipes
- AWE s-flo intake
- H&R sway bar (back only)
- AWE Tuning belt, pulley
- GIAC Stage 2
- GIAC DSG tune
- H&R 10mm Spacers
- Alu Kreuz drivetrain stabilizer
- KW V3 coilovers
- SS Brake Lines

I'm planning on some HPDEs in the upcoming year at Pocono, and figure this will make the car a decent all around performer for a reasonable price...