S4 New vs Used

[ERBY]

Hi,
Would be interested to hear views on the above for an S4 Avant, I have been looking at used B8's but have noticed on some threads here that some of you have made substantial savings on list price & therefore benefit from your desired spec. I have investigated 'car wow' and have had responses back but seem disappointing compared to some of the numbers some of you have suggested…hints, tips, wisdom all appreciated.
Many thanks
Dave.

 

[Rich M]

Hi Dave,

Out of interest, what specs and quotes have you got on carwow?

I think a fair few of us managed to get good deals as dealers were probably managing to get decent sale figures for Q1. Also i believe there was a price increase on models after March and Audi were also contributing £2000 towards purchase which they may have stopped.

Regards

 

[firecracker69]

Hi Dave,

Can't comment on the S4 itself, but there are always deals to be had!!

I used a place called Drive The Deal, they were the cheapest when building a new car. You build your car with everything you want, it then gives you an instant discounted price. You can chose to do the deal through them in which case it goes out to all the Audi dealers as a tender for your business, the one that agrees to build for that price is then passed your details and you deal with Audi directly, Audi then pay Drive The Deal £500 as a finders fee. Note - you do not part with any money, you deal directly with Audi - that simple!

I got £8k discount on my new build, the difference is I wanted to buy locally so I could go into the dealer and discuss. I approached a few Audi dealers, some outright said they couldn't do it as that would be at their cost price, but I then found some dealers that would do it. Each dealer in all fairness told me the same thing, they only have 12% in a car, 1 dealer told me to get to that price they would only make £60? Either way, I got 3 dealers onboard in the end willing to take my order at an agreed price - this price was slightly higher than Drive The Deal, but I was happy with that to deal directly with my local dealership, personal preference.

 

[scotty76]

When I was looking the second hand prices were very high and the discount on new ones was good. I believe the current finance offer is this one:

A4:
Solutions PCP Finance from 7.0% APR
with £2000 deposit contribution*

Taken from Audi UK Deals - New Car Prices from Orangewheels

I didn't check out all the brokers as the carwow offers were good enough. I then took the best offer and emailed my local dealers, one got close enough to be worth doing.

 

[ERBY]

Hi,
I have priced an avant black edition The Audi configurator actually worked out less than the same spec on car wow? (Unless I've made an error) Ive also spoken to Broadspeed but haven't configured through their website as yet...

 

[Keef]

Hi David

My story is similar to the ones above, I’m incredibly pedantic about spec and colours, so second hand was a non-starter for me.
Plus when I started looking at prices, it became apparent that I could order a new one for not too much more (in some cases less!)

In the past, I’ve started with drive the deal or orange wheels (which ever was cheaper) then used this to beat-up my local dealer.

This time, my spec was just over £48k, I’d got this down to £43k ish from using drive the deal and a few dealers (to be clear a lot of these discount websites seem to work on options, rather than discount the base model).
This was back in February and was based on the Quarter 1 solutions finance deal (2k from dealer and £1.9 from finance)

Someone suggested carwow, the best offer I had for my spec was just over £39k (including the dealer and finance contribution)
After two hours in my local dealers, they begrudgingly priced matched to keep my business….even though they said there was zero profit for them (my heart bleeds - lol)

The Quarter 2 deal is slightly worse, and from what I gather, offers aren’t quite as good – however I’m sure there’s
still good deals to be had out there - I think a lot depends on time of year and dealers targets.

It’s worth taking screen shots of deals to arm yourself then going into the dealers, and be prepared to walk away!

Where are you based?

Let us know how it goes??
…good choice on Avant!


EDIT: to clarify, the Q2 deal is slightly better in terms of contribution (£2K) but worse in terms of APR
Plus there was a 1.5% price increase on the 1st March

 

[firecracker69]

Hi David

My story is similar to the ones above, I’m incredibly pedantic about spec and colours, so second hand was a non-starter for me.
Plus when I started looking at prices, it became apparent that I could order a new one for not too much more (in some cases less!)

In the past, I’ve started with drive the deal or orange wheels (which ever was cheaper) then used this to beat-up my local dealer.

This time, my spec was just over £48k, I’d got this down to £43k ish from using drive the deal and a few dealers (to be clear a lot of these discount websites seem to work on options, rather than discount the base model).
This was back in February and was based on the Quarter 1 solutions finance deal (2k from dealer and £1.9 from finance)

Someone suggested carwow, the best offer I had for my spec was just over £39k (including the dealer and finance contribution)
After two hours in my local dealers, they begrudgingly priced matched to keep my business….even though they said there was zero profit for them (my heart bleeds - lol)

The Quarter 2 deal is slightly worse, and from what I gather, offers aren’t quite as good – however I’m sure there’s
still good deals to be had out there - I think a lot depends on time of year and dealers targets.

It’s worth taking screen shots of deals to arm yourself then going into the dealers, and be prepared to walk away!

Where are you based?

Let us know how it goes??
…good choice on Avant!

Good points raised here!

My £8k discount did include the £1,900 contribution from Audi, but the brokers make this clear on their websites. I ordered mine at the end of Feb so maybe I also got a good deal from it being Q1 as well.

Also, as Keef says - there are still deals to be had! I would recommend phoning around dealers like I did, if a dealer is struggling on its monthly quota they will sometimes sell at cost (or even at a loss my dealer told me) just to make their number, making a loss on the odd car doesn't concern them IF it means hitting their monthly/quarterly quota!

 

[Tay]

What age/budget were you looking at for a used S4? I was in a similar position to yourself as it was quite fussy with the spec I wanted.

As I was intending on financing the car, I had a few quotes for new and used (with and without massive discount) and depending on your budget the costs may well be very close.

I myself ended up purchasing through orange wheels with a £9k discount. If assume you've been researching plenty but I can give you more info on the prices I was getting from a variety of options if you'd like.

 

[ERBY]

…helpful stuff, thanks - its good to get some perspective as only a few months ago I didn't have a care in the world then I began to worry about the mileage on my current car vs its value & then my curiosity began, next minute I'm looking at second hand S4's for 35k (& crapping myself) then fast forward I'm staring at 40k plus and questioning my ethics (not to mention justification to my other half!) but like yourselves there are only very few cars that take my fancy & have to accept these sorts of prices
I think finance plays a big part also, funny how deals seem to be much more favourable when you take Audi finance?!?
Regards.

 

[Keef]

…helpful stuff, thanks - its good to get some perspective as only a few months ago I didn't have a care in the world then I began to worry about the mileage on my current car vs its value & then my curiosity began, next minute I'm looking at second hand S4's for 35k (& crapping myself) then fast forward I'm staring at 40k plus and questioning my ethics (not to mention justification to my other half!) but like yourselves there are only very few cars that take my fancy & have to accept these sorts of prices
I think finance plays a big part also, funny how deals seem to be much more favourable when you take Audi finance?!?
Regards.

Ha ha, yep it soon snowballs!
Don't worry about the finance, if you don't want or need it, and can fund the car by other means- take the discount then cancel the finance in the first few days! its common practice on here and other forums :icon_thumright:

 

[t955daytona]

Same here,
We looked at ex demo ones, without sports diff or dampers and they worked out 3k or more dearer than a new one in our spec. We ordered in late April and got £8k off including the finance contribution. Overall £38.5k for the car we wanted in the colour we wanted worked for us. I can't wait till Sept ( although it's my wife's daily driver)

 

[scotty76]

…helpful stuff, thanks - its good to get some perspective as only a few months ago I didn't have a care in the world then I began to worry about the mileage on my current car vs its value & then my curiosity began, next minute I'm looking at second hand S4's for 35k (& crapping myself) then fast forward I'm staring at 40k plus and questioning my ethics (not to mention justification to my other half!) but like yourselves there are only very few cars that take my fancy & have to accept these sorts of prices
I think finance plays a big part also, funny how deals seem to be much more favourable when you take Audi finance?!?
Regards.

Lol that's me back in March. I was keeping my B7 forever. Took the S4 out and suddenly wanted one. But they're expensive so I'll get a second hand one. Hang on they're not cheap how much more is a new one...

 

[ERBY]

Hi all,
Still in my 'world of procrastination' but have made some teeny weeny progress!? Some more Q's (sorry!) Car wow resulted in a fair offer from a dealer but as I'm looking at September for delivery thats another four months of depreciation in my car (fair enough) thus resulting in a smaller deposit - Is four months the norm?
I thought I would compare orange wheels to car wow and the result was a 1k less on car wow on my spec (8.5k overall on list & includes 2k audi finance contribution) Now does orange work any differently to car wow with regard to results or like car wow does one receive a load of 'bids' attempting to get close to the orange price?
Am I assuming correctly that black editions ultimately make a saving with regard to those options that are included..as I would opt for privacy and B/O anyway, I'm just a bit old school when it comes to chrome & am not sure about it - especially the grill, I remember the chrome styling of the grills being one area which stood it apart from other A4's..?(correct me if I am wrong)
Lastly - I'm confused with regard to telephone prep..is there a basic standard bluetooth set up or does 'bluetooth prep low' require a tick?
(This stuff woke me up at 01:05…05:00 & 06:00am) - it should be enjoyable right?? :-(

 

[scotty76]

4 months is about the right wait time. I ordered in March and my build week is this week. Should get the car ~4 weeks after that. I have a part ex value on my current car and the dealer was confident it would be about the same come exchange day. I guess it depends on how old your current car is? Mine's a '57 plate so will be 7 years old in September so it's on the flat bit of the depreciation curve now.

I haven't ordered a black edition but have added the black styling pack so will get the black surrounds. It's your choice, why do you feel you must have the black edition? I didn't pick it because I wasn't that bothered for 19" wheels and that was about it! I find 18" tyres expensive enough.

The spec sheet for my car has this on it:
9ZX Mobile telephone preparation - Bluetooth interface

I didn't add that as any kind of option.

 

[ERBY]

I assumed that if I was going for privacy, B/O & flat bottom SW anyway - then it wouldn't be much difference on price…I was a little concerned about 19"'s with regard to ride, I have found suspension in audi's harsh but bearable in the past - i'm now older, with children & have spent the last 4yrs in a merc riding on air in comparison!! I then drove a model with damper control which I found to be a revelation...but appreciate your point re tyre cost.
So basic mobile bluetooth is std then?
Am I correct about the grill differences?