Joy_Joy_Joy, I am currently leasing my A3 with Premium and the Sound package for less than US$400 (including taxes) for 10K miles and less than $1000 down. I did not argue much since I found the deal to be fine. The DSG with similar MSRP was a little more expensive. I had a quote for $460 for the same configuration you asked for with 10K miles and $1000 down.

Maintenance? Not really worth IMO since this is a lease - if you go by their numbers with the 5K, 15K, 25K etc. maintenance and taking into consideration that the first one is free and you will do 2 to 3 afterwards at the most at $150 a piece (more or less - quoted by my dealer), it really does not make any sense.

Well, it does suck not to be able to add anything, I hate the fact that I cannot add a sport suspension unless I have to put it back to stock mod with the risk involved.
I am definitely going to flash the little puppy since you can bring it back to stock and is basically 'invisible'. As far as I am concerned, it is all about understanding the risks involved. Understand them and you can make the right decision for you.

Hope it helps

 

Regarding people leasing cars:
1) Doesn't require as good a credit rating as someone buying a car.
2) If your job situation gets bad or you undergo a lifestyle change, you can't terminate your lease. Very common for people to have to pay termination charges and all remaining payments to get out a lease.
3) Your required to drive less then 10K to 12K miles a year, otherwise the big excess mileage charge gets slapped on you. If you drive a lot you need to buy a car!
4) With leasing you can drive a new car every two, three, or four years, but you'll always be making payments! Great for business writeoff's, not so great for individual's tax wise, but you can live with smaller payments!
5) One fact most tend to forget you can't simply return a leased car to the lease company if health problems, or even death, occurs. Leases again are financial obligations, similar to loans and mortgages.
6) If you regularly mistreat your car, forget about leasing because the dealer expects only normal wear and tear and will make you pay to fix everything you damaged.
The only good thing about leasing is that your always operating the vehicle under the factory warranty.
A leased car doesn't belong to you, it belongs to the leasing company. Therefore, you cannot make modifications and install custom equipment that alters the car. If you do, you'll likely be charged for the cost of repairs to undo what you've done. Its as simple as that!

 

your right a leased car doesnt belong to me it belongs to the bank, but i bet you miss a few payments on that financed car, you will find out real quick who "owns" that car.


well then you cant mod a financed car either if you go by your definition cause it voids the warranty. folks with common sense dont plan on leasing a car that they know they are going to turn into a drag racer.... thats just silly man. oh, you also need to read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson-Moss_Warranty_Act, just becasue you mod something doesnt mean your warranty as a whole is void.

you are right about the next buyer shouldnt have to tear down the motor on his new to him car, thats why i dont buy used cars

 

Blue Jay, I think you, like alot of folks misunderstand why most of us who lease do so. It's not a matter of acquiring a vehicle we otherwise could not. I will ALWAYS lease (unless I decide to purchase my lease outright at the end of the lease) for the simple financial principal that you LEASE a depreciating value (which a car most definately is) and purchase an appreciating value (such as real estate). Why would one want to purchase something which immediately decreases in value? Witha lease, on the other hand, you are mereley payingfor the use of the vehicle. And I have leased my last 3 vehicles and modded all of them. My 2001 Passat was HEAVILY modded, (grill, exhaust, chip, wheels) and I got full value when I returned it and bought my A4 as the dealer I returned it to was selling me my next (leased) vehicle. They essentially bought it from VW Finance so it wasn't officially, per se, a Lease Return so you don't lose out when you mod your leased vehicle except if you leave the mods on when returning it (I had not saved stock exhaust orwheels).BTW, leasing an A3 is a GREAT idea except that, admittedly Audi Finance has crappy lease rates on it (as compared to, say, the A4). Not sure about that "bumper to bumper" warranty they're showing you but since the extended warranty which used to be offered throughout the life of the lease for Audis is no longer offered as of 2007 I'd purchase the $600 extended which WILL cover all factory service throughout the lease not merely oil changes, etc. It sucks Audi cut back on their full coverage but $600 seems like a good deal to me for no out of pocket during the terms of the lease!

 

People tend to forget that DSG requires a service at 35K, and that it costs $350- $400 by itself. The service contract is a VERY good deal in this regard, lease or purchase.

 

Is the optional service plan now $600, rather then $550 at start of year?

 

I paid $550 for my service plan 2 weeks ago.

 

As for the service plan... when leasing a car it is a very good deal!

I am leasing my A3 and have 15K miles/year... For the Audicare it was an additional $600... yes, it is prob more expensive than getting the services done seperately... but when you lease the car Audi offers a discount if you have the service plan b/c they know you will be returning the car and want to ensure it will be in the best possible condition... They know that if your services are "included" (or moreso, built into your payments) you are more likely to do them and do them ontime!

If anyone else leases and has opted for the service plan... check your contract closely... do you realize that if you don't do the services Audi can actually charge you more b/c the residual value they have determined on the car will go down if the services are not performed. This in turn increases the amount you will pay when you return the car... it is very much the same if you are over-mileage, the value of the car is less and thus they will charge you more (as this is a common issue it is clearly stated in cents per mile over) but if you read the details of the lease and the service plan you will see you can also be penalized for not performing the scheduled maintences.

 

Well, smartypants, I am glad for you. Glad glad glad glad glad.

My question to you is what are the cost associated with the 15K, 25K, 35K, and 45K scheduled maintenance? I understand our friends with DSG have a little more maintenance to do than out MT friends.

Afterwards, it is pure basic math “price of maintenance over the life of the lease – Audicare” If total is positive, go for Audicare, if total is negative keep the money in your account, earn interest and smile .

 

Your not listening to my point... there are many other factors that come into play than simply adding up the cost of the maintences and determining if it adds up to more than Audicare or not!

Yes, when you are buying the car this is the case... but a lot of other factors are involved in leasing.

The reason a lot of people lease is because their company has agreed to pay for a portion (if not all) or because it can work as a write-off for you... Most of the time (unless you are pulling shaddy sh^& on your taxes) you can not write off maintence, however you can write off the full lease amount in many sales positions... Thus, you are saving more money with Audicare by including it into your lease amount.