[secretwookie]

Hi everyone, great forum.

I'd apprectiate some thoughts on the following spec. With a new arrival on the way I'm looking to upgrade from an A4 Sline black edition to a Q5.

From my research so far it looks like it could be well worthwhile to buy from new and get my exact spec as the discount on a 1 year old model doesn't appear great.

I'm thinking of going for

Sline 2.0TDI 177 S tronic
19inch tyres
Brilliant Black (using the saving from paint to buy the options below)
Light pack
Sound pack (can't do without DAB and B&O having it in the current car)
Storage Pack
Power operated tailgate
Side window blinds

I love the look of the 20's on the Sline plus but i'm concerned about the ride quality given the car purchase is desiged to make things easy with a new baby.

The ride on my A4 with 19inch wheels isn't great but i'm assuming the equivilant on a Q5 should be better.

Any thoughts on this setup?

Considering buying with cash rather than on finance this time - This spec comes out at £37,190. Do you reckon I could haggle this to more like £35k?

Cheers

 

[secretwookie]

Decided to add moonlight blue to the spec above.

Went to a couple of main dealers today. First one completely uninterested. Second one I specked up the above after a test drive and asked for a10% discount to match the orange wheels price.

The response was you can't get that price, we can't match it, go and try and ring us back.

I'm in no rush so it will be interesting to see if they call me nearer the end of the quarter. Both dealers where busy with new registrations so may be more amenable later in the month. The first dealer had proactively contacted me to come in and sent texts offering trade in deals so a little surprising to see their lack of interest.

Have to say I love the cars and hate the dealers. All the back and forth with the finance people out the back and flat rate nonsense they try. Looking to buy on cash this time which clearly makes them less interested than on finance.

 

[secretwookie]

I've given Orange Wheels a try so will see what comes back.

I do like the look of autoebid

I'm assuming that it's only genuine Audi dealers who can supply new cars and will bid? Would I be right in thinking towards quarter end they are more interested in getting a sale at no margin to hit bonus targets etc?

 

[secretwookie]

You can get an base spec S Line Plus for 33.5k if you take out Audi finance, otherwise £34.4k. This means your spec would be £34.4k/£34.9k with finance/without.

I know you mentioned the ride, but it really doesn't make any real difference imo.

The deals are through drivethedeal.com. You'll get a dealer direct to match, but you'll have to work very hard - At the moment a lot of dealers don't want to sell cars!

I have certainly had to work hard but have signed up for a deal and will post some details when I pick up the car shortly!

 

[secretwookie]

Pics of new car in the readers drive section. Scuba Blue Sline Plus with black styling.

 

[secretwookie]

To finish my thread I had to work pretty hard to get my car sorted.

Stage 1 - Bradford - test drove a silver SE and stated interest in ordering from new. Asked for 10% discount given Orange Wheels quote. I was told that you couldn't get that sort of deal. I walked. Think my big mistake was stating I was looking to pay cash.

Stage 2 - Enquiries over the phone to a number of local dealers including Harrogate and Wakefield who all seemed pretty desperate in terms of texts and emails to get some quarter end business. Stated what I wanted over the phone in terms of 10% deal from new but started to say I would look at some finance as it was clear none of the dealers where interested without finance.

Stage 3 - Spoke to Bradford and went in and pushed a more serious deal. I wanted to order from a local dealer rather than Orange Wheels etc given the cost of the car and was prepared to do a slightly lower deal to do so. Managed to get just under 10% off on a Black Sline PLus, put down the deposit, signed for finance (with a view to cancelling it within 14 days) only to told the next day the car had been sold. Not impressed given I had negotiated the deal and would have had the car in a week rather than waiting for a new build.

Stage 4 week of Bradford being unable to secure any Synter cars on the list of available cars in the group. Apparently there was an amnesty where all cars had to be made available for sale across the network due to the quarter end.

Stage 5 - Went to harrogate to have a look at a nearly new Sline Special Edition. I was keen to get rid of my A4 as it was due a service and two new tyres likely to cost over a grand as it was its 3 year service so break pads likely as well. Told Harrogate the story and they said if we can get you one secured today will you buy it from us. They secured me the Scuba Blue and it arrived 10 days later. I exercised my right to withdraw within 14 days given the ridiculous Hire purchase interest rate of 17.9%.

Learnings - as per my last Audi purchase - I hate dealers

I hate the stupid back office finance shenanigans. The uncompliant sale of finance. If they sold loans like the finance a car in bank they would be in serious trouble.

They were only interested if I took finance, offering to pay cash went down like a lead ballon. Going in on a weekday in a suit made a big difference.

I hate the constant pressure when collecting the car to rate them highly on the phone surveys post purchase. I will decide how good to rate them.

All in a good 4 weeks hard work to get it sorted. Worth it in the end.