Need opinions

[DIZAZNDOOD320]

Hey guys i own a 2014 Q7 Sline and i still have 24mo left in payments. The Audi dealer has been emailing me to upgrade to a 2018 Q7 prestige. This is what they offer.
$4027 towards a new vehicle. I may recieve $2789 base on Galves trade in equity after they payoff our loan. Is it worth trading for a 2018 if i can get a good number on a new prestige?

[SQive]

Yeah. If it's in your budget and the numbers work for you.
The new ones are a lot nicer and lighter, with much-improved tech.

[lml999]

Well, you'll realize a $30,000 hit in depreciation on your '2014 if you trade it it. You're at the end of the steepest part of the depreciation curve on it right now. Over the past 4 years you've lost a ton of equity in the car due to depreciation, and the smart move, moneywise, is to drive it for another five or ten years. If you don't sell the car, the depreciation doesn't matter...but if you trade it in, you will realize that $30,000 loss. Most of your loan repayment, at this point, is principal, so you've already paid most of the interest on that loan.

Furthermore, you will have a new five or six year loan on the new car, so you'll pay another $10K in interest on that car. Oh, and by the way, you'll take a $10,000 depreciation hit the minute you drive the car off the lot. And...since it's a 2018 vehicle, it will be a model year old in another couple of weeks, so it will take another immediate depreciation hit.

You're getting screwed, financially, on both ends of this deal.

Now, I don't know your financial situation, or whether your current Q7 is old, tired, broken, all scratched up, ash trays full, etc. If you can write the car off for business, maybe the financial damage is less severe.

Me, I like to buy cars at when the depreciation curve starts to level out. Bought our '10 Touareg TDi 3 years ago at less than 50% of original retail. Buying the replacement '13 Q7 at 1/3 of original retail. Bought my '04 allroad 4 years ago at 5% of original retail. Yea, the cars aren't quite as shiny, and we pay a bit more in periodic maintenance, but we don't have a $700 monthly payment on any of our cars....

Others will have their own opinions. :)

[SQive]

Oh, and by the way, you'll take a $10,000 depreciation hit the minute you drive the car off the lot.

Wrong! You'll lose that (~15%) as soon as you sign the papers. True fact.

[captain_video]

This is why I buy used cars just out of lease and then hang onto them until they die. They have low mileage (usually around 30-35k), are very clean, and have been well maintained. Many still have part of the original warranty left on them. The last two Audis I bought came with Audi Care so I got the 45k maintenance done on them for free. Audis have horrible resale value, but that would never stop me from owning one. I recently bought a used 2014 Q7 Premium Plus and traded in my 2005 A6 3.2 Quattro that had just under 100K miles on it. The dealer gave me diddly squat for it even though it was a really clean car. I'm not even sure I got enough to cover the taxes and registration on the Q7. I might have gotten a couple thousand more for it if I sold it outright, but I figured I had gotten my money's worth out of it. I paid about $32k for it used with only 31k miles on it and had it for about ten years. Never had any major problems with it and it was a great car.

I haven't owned a new car since I was single. The last one I bought was a red 1979 Mazda RX-7. Now I let others suffer the depreciation just so they can get that new car smell. Prices of new cars are insane nowadays. I still remember when my parents only paid $2000 for a brand new 1970 VW Beetle and sprung for the AM radio option. At least that model came with a gas gauge and no foot lever that you had to manually switch over to the reserve gas tank if you ran out of gas.

[justinperkins]

According to your dealer, my super rusty 2007 WRX with frame issues is worth more than your 2014 Q7

[lml999]

According to your dealer, my super rusty 2007 WRX with frame issues is worth more than your 2014 Q7

Maybe...looks like they're giving him $12K or maybe $15K to clear the 24 months remaining on his original loan. So, they're giving him $18K or $20K in trade in. Looks like retail on his car should be in the range of $30K to $35K.

That's another $10K to $20K down the toilet.

My current tally is that the move from a four year old car to a one model year old car will cost the OP $60,000. WOW!

Can this deal get any worse?

[lml999]

Maybe...looks like they're giving him $12K or maybe $15K to clear the 24 months remaining on his original loan. So, they're giving him $18K or $20K in trade in. Looks like retail on his car should be in the range of $30K to $35K.

That's another $10K to $20K down the toilet.

My current tally is that the move from a four year old car to a one model year old car will cost the OP $60,000. WOW!

If one of my children asked me about doing this, I'd smack them in the head.